Catch 22

I've been trying to learn guitar for 8 months now. My fingers no longer hurt when I'm not playing but I'm still stuck with the pain when I am. Right now, I'm on the Simple Am and E lesson and I can't play the chords because of my index finger.

Catch 22: I can't develop the callouses without playing. I can’t play because I don’t have the callouses.

After 8 months, I'm really tired of the pain.

Hey & welcome! Soory for your frustration!

Originally Posted by: pdsterling

Catch 22: I can't develop the callouses without playing. I can’t play because I don’t have the callouses.

[p]What kind of guitar are you using? I've seen too many beginners get stopped by a guitar that needs a good setup. If your guitar has really high action (the string height from the frets) then it can be extremely difficult to even get started. It could be that you need to lower the string height by getting the bridge and/or nut adjusted. Also lighter gauge strings can help.

Have you tried other guitars? You might try a friend's guitar. Or go to a local music store & try some other guitars to see if they are easier to play.

I don't mean to imply that it's just as easy as getting a new guitar. :) But it could be a way of trying to identify a potential problem with your guitar.

Hello PDSTERLING and welcome to the never ending tutorial that is the guitar!

I have been playing now for 43 years, what I have learned is that as Mr. Schlegel says it could be your instrument or perhaps a too heavy gauge of string. What I have found that worked for me way back in the late 70's when I got into this was grabbing my father's (RIP) NYLON string classical guitar. A decent classical guitar will do two things for you; First, it will help you develop your dexterity because of the wide neck. Second, when you go back to the steel string acoustic or the electric, you will FLY through the fretboard because you will be quicker (everything's closer!). As an added bonus, and this is could be your solution to the pain issue, you will develop the calluses with a lot less pain!

Decent classical guitars are fairly inexpensive, the Stagg C542 from Canada, which I purchased for my wife to learn on was about $100.00US. It has very good tone and it stays in tune pretty good. So please don't be discouraged and stick with it! You won't be disappointed.

Thank you for your replies and suggestions.

My acoustic guitar is an Austin AA-25D

http://www.austingtr.com/guitar/aa25-d/

which I purchased at a music store. It has D'Addario EXP 10’s and the store said that they set it up to Martin specs. The associate at the store recommended going with an acoustic steel guitar so that once I had built up my fingers, I could play electric or classical. I could go back and have them check out the action.

I took some lessons for a couple of months from a guitar teacher. He moved too fast for me and I got overloaded, so I dropped the lessons. I did learn the natural scales and I do OK with those. I’m trying to build up my speed and not get my pick on the wrong string but after 15 minutes, I’m getting bored with the scales. With the scales, generally I’m not holding down strings for very long. In the Simple Am and E lesson, you must hold each cord for an 8 count and the first fret is a killer. It doesn’t take long before my index finger is too sore to play.

I’ll try to get over to Guitar Center soon. The closest is 50 minutes from here. Hopefully there, I can try some other options. Looking online, I see that there are some inexpensive classical guitars with good reviews. If I find something better, the trick will be to convince my wife that I need another guitar when I can’t yet play. :-)

You're welcome for the reply. Building strength, dexterity & calluses on a nylon string guitar as louielouie62 suggested could be a great solution.

Originally Posted by: pdsterling

My acoustic guitar is an Austin AA-25D

http://www.austingtr.com/guitar/aa25-d/

[/quote]

Thanks for the info! Like a lot of beginner acoustic guitars, that could be fine. But I think often the nut slots are cut pretty high & makes it really difficult for beginners. Especially at the first fret.

Originally Posted by: pdsterling

I did learn the natural scales and I do OK with those. I’m trying to build up my speed and not get my pick on the wrong string but after 15 minutes, I’m getting bored with the scales.

[/quote]

I appreciate that can get boring, but learning the guitar is all about boring repetitious practice. :) There's just no way to improve, gain skills & advance without repetitious practice. But you can & should make your practice more interesting by playing single note melodies with those scales, instead of just straight scales.

I encourage you to jump ahead to Chapter 3 & have a look at these tutorials on playing simple melodies across the strings.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1794

I also have a whole series of simple, fun melodies.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1014

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1024

Doing those has the advantage of being more fun & musical than straight scales. And it can also help you build your strength, dexterity & calluses! Then you'll be more prepared to attack that 1st fret on the simple chords.

[quote=pdsterling]

With the scales, generally I’m not holding down strings for very long. In the Simple Am and E lesson, you must hold each cord for an 8 count and the first fret is a killer. It doesn’t take long before my index finger is too sore to play.

Another thought here is that you might simply be trying too hard. It only takes a certain amount of pressure to fret any given note. Assuming the guitar is set up properly, often a beginner will try to crush the neck! And after a while that kills your fingertips! So, you need build calluses, but eventually you realize that you only need just enough pressure to fret a note right against the fret. Too much pressure is wasted effort, makes it painful & even hinders your playing by making it harder to release & get to the next note or chord.

Make sense?

[quote=pdsterling]

I’ll try to get over to Guitar Center soon. The closest is 50 minutes from here. Hopefully there, I can try some other options. Looking online, I see that there are some inexpensive classical guitars with good reviews. If I find something better, the trick will be to convince my wife that I need another guitar when I can’t yet play. :-)

Ha! I think a good first step would just be to try some other guitars to compare. If you find that another guitar makes it easy to play those simple chords on the 1st fret, then you know your guitar might need to be adjusted. However, if you find that all the guitars are still difficult for you, then you know you just need to keep working on building your own finger strength & calluses.

Hope that helps! Let un know how it goes!