Have you struggled with stiff or sore fingers while playing guitar? If so, you're not alone. Not only have I heard this from many students but I experience it myself (ah… the joys of getting older).
Here are three things you can do to help.
Stretch a little.
This is something that I do regularly and it's helped me a lot. You can start your practice with a few stretches as part of your warmup routine.
I’ve found it helpful to do a few stretches throughout the day as well. At the request of students I’ve created a lesson on stretching. You don’t have to do them all. I recommend picking a few to get started. I have my favorites but everyone's different.
Hand Stretching Warm-up Routine for Guitar Players (You’ll want to login to RGS).
Warm it up.
It's definitely helpful to start your practice with something easy as a warm-up routine. But let’s not stop there.
In addition to having a warm-up routine try warming up the room a bit to make it easier on your muscles. I'm not talking to the point of sweating like in a Hot Yoga class. Just a few degrees warmer than normal.
I've also had students that warm up their hands by dipping them in warm water for a few minutes. I haven't tried this one myself but it does make sense.
One thing I do is massage my fingers. I had one teacher recommend using pain cream to massage the hand and fingers at the beginning of a practice session. I wouldn't want to get too reliant on that but it's another tool to use to keep on practicing.
![Depositphotos_9830645_s-2019 sore fingers](https://realguitarsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Depositphotos_9830645_s-2019.jpg)
Lighten it up.
One of the biggest improvements I've made is to put lighter strings on my acoustic guitar. I've always played with light gauge strings (gauge .12 - .53). About a year ago I read an article about a player I admire that uses extra lights (.10 - .47). I decided to try them and I've never looked back. It's relieved a lot of the pain in my left hand and made playing my acoustic more fun.
I'll admit that for a long time I thought playing with lighter strings was cheating. At the minimum it would destroy that sound of my acoustic. It's not cheating and the sound is fine. I did have to adjust my playing a little bit. It took some time to learn to strum and pick with less force with my right hand. Now I'm accustomed to them and I'm glad I gave it a try.
That’s all I have for now.
What has worked for you? Leave a comment below so others can share your experience.
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