Got Blisters? The Painful Side of Learning Guitar

“I’ve got blisters on my fingers…”

Allegedly Ringo Starr uttered these words as he tossed his drum sticks across the studio after numerous takes of the Beatles song “Helter Skelter”. Reportedly there is a dispute as to whether it was actually Ringo who said those words on the recording, or if it was John Lennon. One of the arguments is that Ringo, a drummer, was not as likely to develop blisters “on his fingers” as Lennon, a guitar player.

If you are just starting out on guitar, maybe just beginning guitar lessons or even shopping for your first guitar – you are soon to discover the results of pressing virgin flesh to metal…Ouch!

Hold on – don’t run off just yet! Things will get better, I promise.

If you’ve ever spent an afternoon in the yard raking leaves for a couple of hours, you probably walked away with a couple of blisters on your hands. Painful battle scars for your efforts.

But if, on the other hand, you raked leaves for a living, and did it every day, eventually those blisters would turn into hardened calluses, and you wouldn’t even notice the feel of the wooden handle in your hands.

Guitar playing is very much the same. In the beginning you are exposing the soft flesh of the finger tips to the harshness of metal guitar strings. It stands to reason that, before too long, this abrasive abuse is going to result in some pain!

But rest assured that this is something we all go through in the beginning stages of playing guitar. There is just no way around it – but it is temporary.

Many of my beginning guitar students ask what can be done about it. I know they want some sort of “magic bullet” answer – some insightful words of wisdom that will provide an easy fix.

And although I am sympathetic to their plight, the truth is, there is no easy way around sore fingers in the beginning days of playing guitar.

The only real way to solve the problem of sore fingers is, quite simply, to play guitar! The more you play, the faster your finger tips will harden with calluses, and eventually you won’t even feel the strings beneath your fingers.

Moderation is the key in the beginning. You shouldn’t suffer with agony, and when it gets bad, put the guitar down and take a break.

But by spending a little time each day, even just 20 minutes or so, you will find that your blisters (and the pain) will be gone before you know it!