How to Develop Guitar Fingers

The guitar has six strings.

Seasoned, skilled guitarists seem to have fingers that were just meant to play the guitar. The fingers of a good guitarist are calloused, flexible and fast when the music calls for speed. The development of "guitar finger" doesn't come overnight. In fact, the first few weeks of playing the guitar can cause finger pain and irritation. Training your fingers to play the guitar is a process of consistently practicing some helpful strategies.

Things You'll Need

• Metronome

Instructions

1. Practice every day. It sounds simple, but this is the most effective tip for developing guitar fingers. Consistent practice forms calluses. Inactivity causes these calluses to soften.

2. Play a guitar that has heavier gauged strings and a higher action. The higher action means the strings sit higher above the neck. This distance from the neck plus the thicker strings are harder to play, which causes you to develop strength and toughness at a quicker rate.

3. Stretch your fingers every day. Use your picking hand to slowly stretch apart the fingers on your other hand.

4. Play scales or other patterns at differing rates of speed. Start slowly and build speed as you go. Use a metronome if you have one to help you keep a steady tempo. A common pattern that you can use is first fret, second fret, third fret and fourth fret. Start on the lowest string, work your way down to the highest string and then come back down to the low E string.

References

• Guitar Boomer; Guitar Tricks for Building Calluses; January 2008
• Ultimate Guitar; Finger Strength and Speed Building; August 2008