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manXcat
Registered User
Joined: 02/17/18
Posts: 1,476
manXcat
Registered User
Joined: 02/17/18
Posts: 1,476
12/26/2018 5:35 pm

John has said it all. I'll reinforce what he said more or less. Mainly, apply common sense.

Continue if you can. That's important. But try several short sessions daily, three ×15 minutes each would be sufficient, but 20 minutes each would give you a full hour's practise. And have a day off every three of four if you need to, without feeling guilty. But then discipline yourself to attack it fresh the next day.

If that doesn't work for you, have an extended break, but only as long as necessary. IME, even at their noobie sorest and lacerated, two or three days was sufficient for painful tips to recover or heal sufficiently to play again. Raw apple cider vinegar applied externally dermally to the tips with a cotton bud or ball will both alleviate the soreness and accelerate toughening of the tips.

Pressing too hard when fretting is a common noob trait, especially on acoustics. Be aware, and try not to apply vice like pressure when you play. That will be difficult initially with all the other things you are learning which are new to you, not the least of which being it's a motor skill we have to learn to control in each finger. It takes time.

String gauge and type/brand? Lesser gauge and quality strings can help. If the strings are really old ditch them. Old strings will tear up your fingertips, very quickly if corroded.

Lastly, check the action (string heights) on your guitar, and that frets are level. Particularly around the first four frets when learning open chords. The how to info is out there on the net. A steel rule or something as simple as the straight edge of a piece of paper with increments marked on it will do as a basic checking tool. In the final analysis, it could nothing to do with your guitar and just noob hands, or that exacerbated by high action or dodgy strings fixable with a simple neck relief adjustment or a set of new strings.