Finger Pickin

OK, so I started finger pickin the last couple days, and really have been doing it excessively. I'm learning "Bron Yr Aur" by Zep and its been givin me hell to say the least. Really a whole different animal than what I've previously been playing. My mind is going like 8000 places at one time, so its been tough. But anyways, this entire is finger picked. (If you haven't heard it you must. Theres a good vid of some little kid playin it in the Places To Go forum.) So, my fingers on my picking hand are hurting a bit. I've even got a blister on my thumb from the first night I started learning this song. Is this normal, or is my technique messed up? I thought probably its another callous building thing, but wasn't sure figured I'd ask.

Thanks for any help.

Heres my progress on Bron Yr Aur thus far after 2 days. Its slowed down quite a bit from what Page does it at, and its pretty bad. But I recorded it so I figured I'd post it. Really gives me that much more respect for Jimmy Page. Guy was a genius.

Bron Yr Aur disgustingness

Sounds alright man!

Yeah the more you play anything on the guitar, the longer you will be able to do it and the less it will hurt. People who play for long periods at a time develop musical endurance. Take Sonny Rollins for example, he was able to play just one song that could last over 3 hours!

So assuming I keep finger picking on a regular basis, will I develop callouses on my picking hand also? My fretting hand typically isn't the problem, though even though I've been playing heavily for 2 years, my finger tips occasionally hurt still. Just wondering what the status on that will be with time.

Thanks for listening btw. Needs a lot of work, but I'm getting there.

Yeah, you'll get callouses on both hands.

My only other thought is that with your fretting hand you might be using too much pressure - causing the pain. I think everyone I have ever taught (including me) has been guilty of this. If you haven't already, spend a session just finding out how little pressure it takes to get a note to sound.

You get used to wrestling the guitar when you start, but when your figers are tougher and you've gathered some technique, you don't need to hold the neck so tight....

Just a thought...

Not sure if I put too much pressure on the neck, I don't think I do, I'm usually pretty relaxed. I think it may have something to do with hopping between guitars with totally different action, and fairly often.