Hi all,
recently I have developed pain in the middle (hinge) joint of my index finger, left hand, I decided recently to start learning guitar and it was while practising basic chords that the pain emerged, anyone recommend any cure?
Thanks,
Noel

Hi,
Learning to play the guitar is rough on the hands and fingers. It takes some time to get the finger-tips toughened up and the finger joints and wrist joints loosened up and flexible. Take it easy on the practice and let your fingers rest a while. Take it slow and the fingers and joints will get stronger and tougher in time.

In my view, this is one of the reasons many individuals start guitar lessons and then give it up, because their fingers get really sore and it hurts. However, diligence and endurance (and a strong desire to learn) will help.

Hope this helps.

Rick

Not to knock and guitar-pianists out there, but I hear a lot of issues that come about with this combination. I think in both instances it may be up to the person's particular physiology and having really good technique in both.

Rick, your statement suggests that enduring discomfort is a normal and expected part of learning guitar. As someone who knows exactly zero about guitar, I find that surprising because it's so different in principle from learning piano safely—i.e., most of us understand (I hope!) that any pain, soreness, etc. from piano practice means that something is surely amiss.

Have I misunderstood, or does learning guitar really mean experiencing aches and pains—but that they're not a sign of doing something wrong and actually should be played through as part of the process?

Steven

Well, with piano we try to stress a relaxed hand. When watching some of those guitar chords the hand can appear to be everything but relaxed!

Of course, I don't have any guitar experience either.

Somehow I think if I ever got into guitar I would wind up trying to write my own music on it. I pretty much know I'll attempt this on the piano eventually but not quite yet. I'll start up a thread on the composer's forum one of these days!

there isn't one... if you are taking lessons its best to check with your teacher, as it could be a problem with tenssion in the hands, chich is stopping you from playing correctly, leading to pain in the hand. I would get ti checked because if left you could end up with serious problems and not be able to play

Hi Steven,

Good question! I can tell from all your posts that you are very intelligent and methodical in your thinking. And, you are right to an extent… pain is usually an indicator that something is amiss that needs to be corrected or otherwise remedied. However, have you ever heard the phrase “no pain, no gain”? I suppose that is what I meant by my comments.

When I haven’t played my stringed instruments for a while and then I decide to play them, my finger-tips still get really sore, and even develop blisters on occasion; as I continue to play, all the while enduring the pain, the soreness slowly subsides and the blisters turn to calluses.

Hence, the avid guitar players have tough finger-tips continuously and don’t have to endure the discomfort of getting the fingers toughened up all over again. It’s the same principle when someone with office hands decides to change careers and start working as a carpenter or a plumber, or someone who works with their hands a lot; they will inevitably have to endure some discomfort or even blisters on the hands before they get toughened up. Have you ever shook hands with a plumber?? (Hopefully not right after she/he has unstopped a clog in the sewer line )

As a disclaimer, I am not a physician, or a psychologist (but Monica is ) so I would recommend that someone learning to play the guitar do some research on finger-tip pain and discomfort in relation to learning to play the guitar.

On the other hand, I have never experienced any discomfort or pain whatsoever from learning to play the piano. The piano is a lot more user friendly when it comes to that sort of thing in my view.

I hope I have answered your question to your satisfaction.

Take care,

Rick

I still have calluses from teenage guitar playing. Picking up the viola I had to limit my practice until they got thicker (otherwise it hurt like hell). As for being relaxed, both left and right fingers have to curl unnaturally, dystonia is a common guitarist problem.

Rickster, thanks very much for revisiting this. I appreciate the clarifications that you, AnthonyB and kbk have provided.

Now that I have some insight and have considered how very different the physical aspect of playing guitar (and other instruments, too) is from piano, I feel kind of dense. I've seen string instruments played, after all, but had somehow forgotten about the need to hold strings against a fretboard with pressure.

It's a good point that piano is relatively user-friendly, something that's especially easy for those of us who've never played anything else to take for granted. And it makes it seem especially important to emphasize to newcomers to piano who have played other instruments that "no pain, no gain" doesn't apply here!

Steven

I think a lot of the members here have seen this YT video of me playing my banjo, but I hadn’t played my 5-string banjo for months when I recorded this video. My fingers were a little sore afterward too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdZeIFpQHx4

I still enjoy my stringed instruments, but my favorite musical instrument is the piano (for now, at least ).

Rick