Fingers NOT hurting after playing for a long time

[Yukino]

Yeah, this probably sounds weird. Every beginner seems to be talking about having sore fingers when starting playing. I am about a month in and I feel NOTHING. My fingers are not hurting (nor toughening up ) even after long bass sessions. I feel like I'm doing something wrong Can anyone tell me why this is the way it is?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

It depends on how lightly you play. A lot of new players think they need to attack the strings with a lot of force, but it's just not true.
Turn up the amp & pluck the strings lightly. Let the amp do the work.

 

[Yukino]

Thanks for the reply, but what about the calluses?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

If you don't play with enough force, you shouldn't develop calluses.

 

[Yukino]

Thanks again. I will keep this in mind.

 

[Aberdumbie]

KBD is dead right. I worked the road full time for ten years four solid nights a week and never had callouses. Only reason I have one now on my index finger is because I tried to cut that finger off ten years ago and the nerves are dead so now I overcompensate. Thus it has developed a callous..... Look everyone is put together differently. Some folks have thicker flesh than others. Look at it this way. You aren't doing something wrong. You happen to be doing it quite right.

Edit... Only having been at it a month you may not know if your bass came equipped with flat or roundwound strings. If the strings have ridges when you run your fingernail across them, they are roundwound, harder on your fingers and have to be replaced regularly...... Conversely if you run your nail down the strings and they are slick, congratulations as you have flat wound strings. Much kinder to the fingers and almost never need replacing..... You may be learning on flats. If so I doubt you will ever have a sore finger or callous.

 

[micguy]

I think callouses are somewhat genetic. I never have pain from playing, I never shred my fingers, and I play very light gauge strings, but I have callouses that are plenty tough - I have to work at my technique to get soft attack, as my fingers are pretty hard.

 

[aaronious]

I play 4-5 hours a day. I practice a lot and jam a lot. I have good technique.

I've never had a sore finger in my life. When I was a chef I got callouses from holding a knife. My hands will get torn to shreds during a weight lifting session. But I can play bass all day and nothing. Every one is different, I wouldn't worry bout it.

 

[Wfrance3]

You're fine. I think all bassists get callouses when they start to gain proficiency they longer and more practice. At some point tho, you find a comfort zone in your technique and learn the volume and attack you like to play at. I have some callouses, but they are left hand ones and are nowhere near as pronounced as they were when I was a death grip on the neck beginner.

All that to say, if you are happy with your playing and it sounds good to others, your fine. And als not a slacker if that was something you were worried about.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I am sure your fingertips are toughening up. They aren't supposed to look like your feet. If you aren't in pain, you must be doing something right. Keep it up.

 

[2112]

Your body will adapt to the environmental changes you expose it to, as long as the changes are gradual enough and paced appropriately. This is the same concept that body-builders use to develop their physiques. And as with body-builders, it's sometimes good to warm up before getting down & dirty to allow your body time to adapt and avoid injury.

If your playing style is so light that you never micro-injure the surface of the skin on your fingertips or the fibers of the muscles in your fingers, you may not get blisters, calluses, and temporary muscle soreness.

If your playing style is hard enough that it causes reasonable micro-injuries, they then heal when you're not playing, and the resulting scar tissue makes your hands more resistant toward the same micro-injuries... hence the blisters, the build-up of calluses, and the temporary, minor muscle soreness that lead to the overall strengthening of your hands.

If your playing style is so hard and/or so frequent that you feel pain while playing or muscle soreness that lasts more than a day or so, stop immediately and consider changing your style, slowing down, and/or getting checked out... you're pushing yourself past the ability of your body to adapt and creating injuries beyond reasonable micro-injury that can cause bigger problems.

 

[ZenG]

Yeah, this probably sounds weird. Every beginner seems to be talking about having sore fingers when starting playing. I am about a month in and I feel NOTHING. My fingers are not hurting (nor toughening up ) even after long bass sessions. I feel like I'm doing something wrong Can anyone tell me why this is the way it is?

You did buy strings for it ...right?


Kidding...Welcome to TalkBass..

 

[dxb]

Playing guitar for a couple hours straight still makes my fingertips hurt, but I don't think playing bass ever has. The thin treble strings on a guitar tend to dig in like little knives but fat bass strings don't.

 

[Hounddog409]

Yeah, this probably sounds weird. Every beginner seems to be talking about having sore fingers when starting playing. I am about a month in and I feel NOTHING. My fingers are not hurting (nor toughening up ) even after long bass sessions. I feel like I'm doing something wrong Can anyone tell me why this is the way it is?

I've been practicing 1-2 hours everyday for the past 3 years and have yet to have any finger pain.

 

[el_Bajo_Verde]

I've never had calluses and I never will. My hands don't really sweat which is probably why.

 

[somegeezer]

As someone who has played a long time and has no callouses to blunt it, I also don't get sore fingers. Perhaps you have just started with a good technique that takes some many years to figure out. But your fingers should be fine, that's a good thing.

 

[LowActionHero]

It's happening cuz you're LUCKY!!

I've been playing bass and/or guitar for around 30 yrs and I still use that Second Skin or New Skin or whatever it's called once in a while.

Whatever you're doing, keep doing it!

 

[JGbassman]

Well as said everyone is different, technique is different and the end result is different. Playing at home in a sitting position and lightly striking the strings, I don't get sore fingers.

I do however will get sore finger tips on my plucking fingers during live shows due to how I dig in to get the tone out of SS Roundwound strings and my hand position being a bit different than when I'm sitting. I notice this a lot more when I've been playing basses with flats more prior to switching to rounds. The flats are smoother, and I don't dig in the same way as I'm not trying to get the same sound.

I haven't been practicing much lately as I've been dealing with a sore thumb on my plucking hand I dislocated earlier this month. It's not fully healed so I'm probably compensating for it with my fingers. I'm sure this has a lot to do with it as well.

I really wouldn't worry about it too much, if you aren't in any pain and finger tips are ok, no worries. I'm sure you have callouses, just not to the point they are thick and heavy.

Good luck with your practice. I'm not sure if you are playing out much, but the energy from a live show tends to cause me to play a little more aggressively.

 

[okcrum]

I love the folks who think calluses are a mistake. How hard you play doesn't explain why you get calluses on your fretting hand.

Charles Mingus used to trim his with a razor blade.

 

[fourstringdrums]

I don't recall ever having sore fingers, at least not my finger tips. My joints might hurt, and my arm muscles after a while, but I don't get calluses from playing bass in the same way that I did when I was trying to play guitar.