Sore fingers

[mikeydee]

Am I doing something wrong?

I play in a covers band and we usually do two one hour sets. Mainly I play finger style right handed but I have a problem with my finger tips.

I am noticing that my right hand finger tips are quite sore after playing - I was wondering whether this is typical or is it a sign of poor technique, playing too hard, being feeble etc.

Love to hear any opinions on this.

I use a pick on a couple of songs and I am thinking that I will start using it more if I cant rectify this.

[ezbass]

Do you get sore fingers at rehearsals? If not it could be that adrenalin at gigs is making you dig in harder. Cures? Well using the pick more often is definitely a solution (I've done this mid gig when I've had an attack of sore fingers). Another way forward is to practice more at home to build up those callouses. Conversely try and play softer live.

[Coilte]

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1365967246' post='2046725']
Do you get sore fingers at rehearsals? If not it could be that adrenalin at gigs is making you dig in harder. Cures? Well using the pick more often is definitely a solution (I've done this mid gig when I've had an attack of sore fingers). Another way forward is to practice more at home to build up those callouses. Conversely try and play softer live.
[/quote]

+1.

Hire up the amp and play softer. If you are using stainless steel strings, they can can be hard on the fingers.

[mikeydee]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your comments. I suspect that you are right about playing too hard. To be honest from my view that's good news as compared with other types of technique modification it should be fairly easy to lay off a little or adjust the amps volume.

In terms of strings I just use Ernie Ball strings which are Nickel I believe. I was wondering about trying some others to see if it made a difference but not sure what types are best.

I think rehearsals do lead to a certain amount of soreness but less because we play less at rehearsals and of course there is less adrenalin going on. I think that what I will do is switch to pick for a few songs and see how that goes. Next weekend I have gigs on Friday and Saturday night so I will need to be extra careful to lay off on the.

Mike

[bigjohn]

I get sore fingers after playing gigs. Less so, but still, after rehearsals. Even with flatwounds.

I don't mind though. Nowhere near as bad as it once was back in the day. Probably because my technique has improved, I use louder amps and I don't rag my fingers quite as silly

[Dave Vader]

Yep, get them all the time, particularly if I don't bother practicing much between gigs. Keep them callouses up or you lose them.
Especially if you like digging in and hitting the thing hard.

[mikeydee]

eeugh just searched for finger calluses on google images - I don't recommend it!

Recently (last few weeks) I haven't been practicing as much as usual which is probably 30 minutes every day. On the other hand, though not literally, I wouldn't say that I have much in the way of callusses to start with. So I guess that is the point I need to man up a little.

[Rumple]

I suffer from this sometimes, when I first start playing at a rehearsal I don't turn the amp up loud enough and end up playing too hard to compete with the rest of the band and get sore fingers, I now try and make sure the amp is up to 11 (not literally) to start with even if I have to turn down a bit later as it saves my fingers.

[redbandit599]

I used to get this when I gigged a lot back in the day, and it was due to digging in too much under the influence of adrenalin. Technique and playing softer with a louder amp has pretty much solved it for me now.

But, a quick tip that helps to toughen up your finger tips is to dip them in surgical spirit a couple of times a day, after a week or so they should start to toughen up a but. Not like getting callouses, the skin just seems to get a bit tougher.

[Lee Carter]

thin layer of superglue on the tips of my fingers used to do the job for me (until the tips toughened up), re-apply in the breaks. Worked a treat.

[PJT]

Surgical spirits, on the fingertips, helps to harden the skin with no loss of feel

[Damonjames]

The saying is true, no pain no gain! So long as we are only talking surface pain and not muscle/tendon pain. I think the problem lies in your preparation, you say you practice for 30 mins a night and then do two 1 hour sets at a gig.... Think how much training a professional footballer trains per day for two 45 min halves, I'm tipping its more than 22.5 mins!
Remember, don't over do it to the point of doing an Injury, but the harder you train (or practice) the easier the big game (or gig) will be. Good luck, and remember pain is only temporary!

[DiMarco]

Sore fingers? set up your bass proberly so you don't have to play so hard imho.
Lowest possible action and a nearly 100% straight neck here - never any pain! Dig in for added fret noise.
Your playing will be more controlled and grooves will be stronger, slapping will be easier as well.

This is a win/win situation really.