ok guitar players, a question-

[mopinko]

any tips for building up the calluses imma need to play?

[multireeds]

1. P.R.A.C.T.I.C.E. n/m

[JoeOtterbein]

2. Lots of...

...practice!

[unblock]

3. i've always been told "play until it hurts, then play some more"

i've never taken that advice, which is why my guitar is gathering dust in the basement. mostly i stick to the piano....

[Alpeduez21]

4. You need to practice more

I play banjo but the principle is the same. Instead of playing for an hour and being discouraged b/c your fingers hurt. Play for 15 or 20 minutes 3 or 4 times a day. Give your fingers a break. 2 half hour sessions would work. Basically, play more.

[Alacritous Crier]

6. This!

[NoSheep]

5. play play play

[Blues Heron]

7. Don't overdo it

use an appropriate amount of force to fret your strings - don't jam your fingers down on the string. Watch for nerve involvement at the fingertip - mess up a nerve there and it can last for years.

[John Ludi]

8. Get a cheap practice guitar, preferably an acoustic

with high action and use it for scales and finger exercises...but like the post above mentions, don't overdo it. Don't be in TOO big a hurry as it takes time for those to build up and you don't want to fuck your fingers up in the interim.

My first guitar (that I stole out of a storage locker when I was a 12-year old thief) was a spectacularly shitty no-name acoustic that I banged on for hours at a time until I got an SG copy a few months later. I'm surprised I didn't shred my fingers more often than I did, but in my case it worked out without permanent injury (luckily) as 44 years later I'm fairly good at the thing and my fret fingers are like little hammers.

[stevil]

9. All of the above plus....

Print up a scale chart and learn the shit of it. Get that pinky in shape, you'll need it.

[KatyMan]

10. Sorry, completely disagree.

Learning on a crappy guitar doesn't make you better. Learning on an acoustic doesn't make you better. Practice does. Nothing will make somebody give up on playing more than making the basics hard. Or using an instrument like an acoustic that isn't suited for what they want to play. If a beginner is into Zeppelin or just rock in general, grab an electric and start learning songs you know and love. Learning Kumbaya on an acoustic doesn't help anybody and will make Joe or Jane Beginner quit in a heartbeat.

My first guitar 35+ years ago was a cheap pawn shop Les Paul copy ($40 then, so about 100 now). A year or so later I bought a Fender Squire Tele as my next guitar. I don't think I even touched an acoustic for several years after I started, and today I would put my acoustic skills up there with any average player. A guitar is a guitar, and the faster and easier a person can get the basics down the better for them and the longer they'll want to play.

Just my 2 cents of course.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. I Know What I Hate!

And, I don't hate your advice.
Beginning players should have every advantage and minimum barriers to learning.
An electric with 9s is ideal. Would even be nicer with something like an Epiphone with the shorter scale. String tension is lower.
Unless one is bound to learn classical or flamenco, I agree on your idea of using an electric.
I bought a decent acoustic & an Ibanez SG copy back in '79. I still have the acoustic.
Since I had been playing jazz piano for 15 years at that point I could figure out the chords, just needed to get my fingers to go there without thinking.
I wish I had stuck with electric until I got pretty good, then picked up the acoustic. But, I didn't do that.

[mopinko]

14. 'sokay. i wasnt gonna take that advice.

when my kids were in the band we sought out used good instruments, and considered them an investment.
you have to train your ear as much as your fingers. same w voice.

found my ax today anyway.
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/103444759

[mopinko]

13. this advice is moot. a guitar found me today.

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/103444759

[ProfessorGAC]

11. There's No Trick

Just takes time.
In the earliest time, just have to grit your teeth a bit and grind through.
As someone else said, don't overdo it, but you do just have to work through it.