The first thing I'd do is look at your setup. Maybe you need lighter strings and/or lower action. I've bruised my fingertips in the past, fighting with instruments that weren't tweaked properly. That has nothing to do with calluses and it takes a little while to get better. Playing lightly and relaxing more is great advice but you have to have your bass in order. I know everyone's different but I have not found roundwound strings to be particularly hard on my skin. I routinely play rounds for hours at a time with no pain.
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Will my fingertips ALWAYS hurt after playing for a few hours?
- Thread starter George Ortega
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- fingertips soreness
There are some things that come with playing longer sessions, tougher skin and tissues is one like any athletic pursuit. Working into it gradually, using proper technique, equipment is crucial as well as proper preparation and consistent practice. Consider the recommendations made here and I might add another. Because I am not playing as much or as long as I have in the past and I like to play pretty hard my fingers have gotten more sensitive at my age. I have started to wear a cotton glove on my plucking hand and that helps a great bit. You might consider trying a pair.
This. I got up to 4 hours a go with one of my bands and once I got used to it, no pain. And I play hard. But if it’s your fretting hand, I think you might be squeezing too hard.
Edit: I now have hand pain because of medication, and use Musicians Practice Gloves.
Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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plucking hand or fretting hand?
if you are worried about your plucking hand then you might want to learn how to use a pick
As others have said, try using a pick for a while. Maybe do 30 mins of finger playing and then switch to the pick.
I was mainly a pick player until a couple of years ago when I started to really work on fingerstyle. I've never had sore fingertips even after 3 or 4 hour jams and I've got virtually no calluses. It may be due to the fact that I use flats or tapewounds as rounds are more harsh on your fingers.
Just last week I had a very, very small cut under my index fingernail. Didn't even know it was there until I started to play and simply couldn't. Had to play with a pick only for 5 days and it was great. I'd forgotten how much I like the attack and the vast range of tones I could get with a pick.
I was mainly a pick player until a couple of years ago when I started to really work on fingerstyle. I've never had sore fingertips even after 3 or 4 hour jams and I've got virtually no calluses. It may be due to the fact that I use flats or tapewounds as rounds are more harsh on your fingers.
Just last week I had a very, very small cut under my index fingernail. Didn't even know it was there until I started to play and simply couldn't. Had to play with a pick only for 5 days and it was great. I'd forgotten how much I like the attack and the vast range of tones I could get with a pick.
This was what I was going to say. I have no calluses and no finger pain (other than arthritis). You need to not dig in so hard. Higher amp volume and lower action and a lighter touch. Playing over the pickup or using a ramp can also help you stop.
Well that’s a good thing. Another thing though: some people have an allergy to nickel. So if you’re using nickel rounds that might be something to discuss with your doctor.
A few hours is a pretty good amount of time.
I had a 3-hour gig on Sunday, and my fingers were fine. I've done 1-hour intense practice sessions that had my cats yowling, too (if the feet are dogs, the hands gotta be cats, right?). So it depends how hard you're working, of course (that gig was pretty chill, for example), and also if you're taking care to build up the calluses vs routinely overdoing it to the point of hot spots or even blisters.
We all like to think that if we power thru discomfort, we ultimately gain the greatest strength and endurance, but no--musicianship is tiny-muscle athletics. We have to train our body parts, quite carefully, and it's incredibly easy to abuse them even when we're well conditioned. The same was true with my embouchure when I was playing both oboe and trombone at a university level.
While my calluses are petite but well established (averaging an hour a day practice time), I can still easily make my plucking fingers feel uncomfortable and tender within 10-20 minutes if I abuse them. They're like lips that happen to be on my hand. (heh for the weird visual)
No shame in stopping practice when you feel your fingers have had enough, and indeed, that's THE right time to stop. Tomorrow's fingers will thank you for pacing yourself today!
I had a 3-hour gig on Sunday, and my fingers were fine. I've done 1-hour intense practice sessions that had my cats yowling, too (if the feet are dogs, the hands gotta be cats, right?). So it depends how hard you're working, of course (that gig was pretty chill, for example), and also if you're taking care to build up the calluses vs routinely overdoing it to the point of hot spots or even blisters.
We all like to think that if we power thru discomfort, we ultimately gain the greatest strength and endurance, but no--musicianship is tiny-muscle athletics. We have to train our body parts, quite carefully, and it's incredibly easy to abuse them even when we're well conditioned. The same was true with my embouchure when I was playing both oboe and trombone at a university level.
While my calluses are petite but well established (averaging an hour a day practice time), I can still easily make my plucking fingers feel uncomfortable and tender within 10-20 minutes if I abuse them. They're like lips that happen to be on my hand. (heh for the weird visual)
No shame in stopping practice when you feel your fingers have had enough, and indeed, that's THE right time to stop. Tomorrow's fingers will thank you for pacing yourself today!
Oops. Didn't see that before so ignore my previous reply completely.
It could be that your action is too high so you're needing to use too much pressure, or your action is fine and you're using too much pressure, or friction from roundwound strings are causing it. I'd say try some flats and get your bass set up properly. I'm pretty decent at doing basic set-ups but getting a GOOD luthier to do a full set-up is well worth the money.
The only time I've had pain in my fretting fingers was when I was still playing guitar and started to dabble in bass. I was learning Come Together on an acoustic bass and all the sliding up and down the roundwound strings gave me a huge blister.
I've actually lost all my tough fingertips that I used to have from guitar. Now whenever I play guitar my fingertips are sore after only a few songs.
If the bass’ setup is acceptable and you’re pressing the strings hard enough to cause pain after a while then you need to change something about the way you’re playing. Gorilla strength is wholly unnecessary. There’s no need to “crush the neck” for any kind of sound. A light touch does the job and lets you easily play all night, night after night. Besides, pressing hard also slows you down.
Look for a teacher to help you make the technique change you need. The concept of the change is easy but the discipline to work on it long enough to overcome your year of embedding a bad habit will be hard. Hard, yes, but well worth the effort if you want to play in an ensemble.
Look for a teacher to help you make the technique change you need. The concept of the change is easy but the discipline to work on it long enough to overcome your year of embedding a bad habit will be hard. Hard, yes, but well worth the effort if you want to play in an ensemble.
I've been playing over 30 years. No callouses, no pain, and I can play for hours and hours at a time. The OP said it was his fretting hand that was hurting, which makes me think you're either squeezing the strings way too hard or your bass needs a good setup so you're not using so much force to fret a string.
No. It goes away quickly. After 50 plus years I can say it without reservation. Stay at it for a while and suck it up. It shortly becomes all pleasure and zero pain. It's like making love. If it hurts, you're doing something wrong.
I think the OP has something wrong going on... I just came off five straight four-hour gigs with no issues at all. Many folk play out routinely and have no problems. I’d be definitely letting a specialist or two examine my technique for a bit if I was hurting like that after several hours.
Well sure, but playing for somewhere over a year vs presumably playing for over 10 years (seeing a TB join date of 2009
) means some different levels of things like consistent routine, obsession with the instrument 
, and certainly, ironing out of bugs in technique.Also, I'd bet that many of us here would be impressed with 20 hrs of playing time in 5 days. I am! That's more than the average player is likely doing; I'd guess that very busy working players are doing 20 hours in 7 days, if that. And also, 5 hours of downtempo blues (my 3-hour gig Sunday was mostly that) is waaaay different from 5 hours of backing up Al Di Meola.
I strive for that level! But I'd also take a day to maybe work on slap or picking if my fingers hurt after 2 hrs practice the night before. And slowly build, build, build.
This isn't about your callouses. Those protect the top layer of skin. You're very likely bruising the deeper tissue closer to the bone. (Or perhaps even irritating the fingertip bone itself if you don't have a lot of tissue padding it.) I run into this occasionally and I've been play for longer than I care to admit.
Shorten your practice sessions, or break them up into smaller sessions with breaks in between. You don't want this to become a chronic problem driven by inflammation that's easily triggered. Playing for a few hours is equivalent to playing most gigs. Stop playing before it hurts and give yourself time to recover before playing again. Eventually you'll be able to play longer with less discomfort.
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