Finger Strength and Dexterity

I almost certainly don’t have to tell you this, but your fingers and hands are probably very tired from all the practicing you’ve been doing (hint hint)! The tips of your fingers on your left hand may also hurt from pressing the strings, especially if you play acoustic guitar, as the strings tend to be tougher. I’m here to tell you this is totally normal and necessary if you want to play guitar.

There are ways, though, that you can help to increase your finger strength. You will need this strength as you go along so that you can keep playing when you or however long you want to and you will ultimately be able to play better too, as any guitar chord will be easier for you to make. Try doing this exercise:

Lay your left hand (the hand that will ultimately be picking the notes on the fretboard) on a flat surface like a table or desk. Lift your fingers up one by one, starting with your pinky finger and ending with your index finger, and then back again. As you go, see if you can do it faster, not allowing the other fingers to move as you lift one finger at a time. To mix things up a little, you can come up with different patterns. This will teach you to have control over each finger, which will directly help you when forming chords later on. What’s even better is that you can do this anytime and anywhere there is a flat surface, so you can be practicing the guitar without even having a guitar in hand! Here’s a video that demonstrates this exercise:



Unfortunately, the only time the tips of your fingers on your left hand will stop hurting is when your fingers grow calices where you’re pressing onto the strings. This may sound gross and unsightly, but really it is only the hardening of the skin in only that particular area that hurts so that when you press on the strings, it won’t hurt as much. It is completely unnoticeable, and only you will know it’s there.

You can compare this to when you buy a new pair of shoes. You wear them for a day, and they might hurt really badly because you have to “break them in”. After your feet hurt for a while, and even after a couple blisters appear and heal, a week or so goes by and you can wear the shoes without them hurting much at all. What’s really happening is your feet are adjusting to the new shoes and growing calices in places that need to be protected. When playing guitar, your fingers need to do the same thing to protect against the strings of your guitar so that you can play for hours on end.

Tags: Finger Dexterity, Finger Strength