Toughening up fingers

[RadioBlackout]

Hey everyone,

I'm a violinist who has been learning guitar on and off for some time now.
I'm used to pressing strings down firmly (well "square-ly" if that makes sense) to get a good sound for fingered notes on violin but with the guitar this ends up really hurting my fingers. I expect some pain to be a part of the learning process but I get a little concerned when my fingers get blistered and bleed.
Will my finger pads just toughen up by themselves if I keep working at it?

[Blueline]

Your fingers will begin to build callouses the more you play/practice. I would be concerned about the bleeding though. How often and how long do you play? Where are your finger bleeding?

[claytonking]

It's pretty normal for your fingers to hurt. You will eventually build up some tougher skin on your fingers, but in the meantime you could get some lighter gauge strings. These are generally more flimsy and easier to press down.

If you're guitar hasn't been set up, that could be the perfect thing for you because they will not only replace the strings for you, they might actually be able to lower the action on your guitar (making the strings closer to the fretboard). A set up is usually ~$35 + the cost of strings.

Hope that helps

[Cat]

Use ultra lights...cheap, too: .008's

Cat

[jason brann]

i doubt he'll see this, but you finger a violin by pushing the string all the way to the fingerboard. on a guitar, you just push it down hard enough that it's below the fret level. his fingers are bleeding because he's using wayyyy too much pressure.

[chykcha]

i doubt he'll see this, but you finger a violin by pushing the string all the way to the fingerboard. on a guitar, you just push it down hard enough that it's below the fret level. his fingers are bleeding because he's using wayyyy too much pressure.

yeah, you are definitely using too much it sounds like. Only press down far enough to get the note and no more