Too much practice?

Hi,

So I finally started doing guitar lessons, I bought a guitar like 20 years ago to never touch again until now, and currently in chapter two of GF1 (i did replace the 20 year old strings and cleaned up the guitar, if you were wondering). I really love Lisa's way of explaining and her videos, i could binge it all at once but doesn't seem like a good idea.

Anyway. With the current covid measures in place, I've got a lot of spare time to grab my guitar and practice.

Now i was wondering, is there something as "too much" practice? I grab th guitar multiple times per day and try some fretting and some very basic melodies or start of melodies, to a point my fingertips are quite irritated (almost like the lyrics from summer of '69).

Is that the moment I need put away the guitar for the rest of the day and continue/retry next day? I'm having difficulties not to pick up the guitar for a bit and fiddle around with it.

Furthermore, at what point is it a good idea to book a 1 on 1? Right from the beginning or when I'm a few weeks in?

In forward thanks for your advice.

Regards

Erik

BTW.

Although I joined GT like yesterday, i have been following a few free online introduction lessons for a little over a week.

Hey Erik,

When your left-hand fingers start getting too sore, ease up for sure. You probably want to avoid blisters because then the skin will start peeling more, and once your fingers are too sore you will be hating it. Better to build up the callouses more slowly.

Good news is, you can practice plenty with your picking hand. (And also a good time to work on some ear training, reading, or music theory!)

Never too early to do a One On One. Just decide when you want some specific feedback and then go for it! One of our instructors can quickly point out any basic errors you're overlooking.

-Carl.

People here have said good things about Practice Gloves. Apparently they allow you to still feel the strings without all the pain.

Once your fingers can play again, you can use the glove when the fingers start to hurt. That could give you some more practice without the pain. You will still want to build your callouses. Soon you should be able to go glove free for longer streches of time.

Karl know where of he speaks about blisters, they reek havoc on your callouses, they hurt and they can really set you back. It is depressing to have to remove a large flap of, what were, perfectly good callouses from your finger tip.

On the other 'hand'...

It's illogical to me that a "practice glove" does anything more than delay the inevitable and the formation of calluses. YMMV.

I've asked forum members before about their experience but got no feedback.

Thanks for all the feedback. I dived a little deeper into the finger pain and how to prevent and eventually get over it.

Apparently I was (also) pressing down way too hard on the strings, which in its turn had to do with the (in)correct positioning of the finger(s) on the fret. Another tip I got was that, when practicings only the chord grips and changes between chords, without strumming, you don't have to press hard either.

I'll make sure I won't get blisters and regarding the gloves, I have to agree with john of MT. Also the first time I have every heard of such a thing as practice gloves :p

Originally Posted by: Carl King

Hey Erik,

When your left-hand fingers start getting too sore, ease up for sure. You probably want to avoid blisters because then the skin will start peeling more, and once your fingers are too sore you will be hating it. Better to build up the callouses more slowly.

Good news is, you can practice plenty with your picking hand. (And also a good time to work on some ear training, reading, or music theory!)

Never too early to do a One On One. Just decide when you want some specific feedback and then go for it! One of our instructors can quickly point out any basic errors you're overlooking.

-Carl.

This is very good advice. When I started, I would play till my fingers were sore, then I would quit until they felt better. Had I used that time to practice my strumming and used my left hand to mute only while I practiced my strumming, I wouldn't have to catch up the strumming at a later point.

At this point my chords and solos are decent, my strumming still sucks :)

Originally Posted by: glmoore001

Originally Posted by: Carl King

Hey Erik,

When your left-hand fingers start getting too sore, ease up for sure. You probably want to avoid blisters because then the skin will start peeling more, and once your fingers are too sore you will be hating it. Better to build up the callouses more slowly.

Good news is, you can practice plenty with your picking hand. (And also a good time to work on some ear training, reading, or music theory!)

Never too early to do a One On One. Just decide when you want some specific feedback and then go for it! One of our instructors can quickly point out any basic errors you're overlooking.

-Carl.

This is very good advice. When I started, I would play till my fingers were sore, then I would quit until they felt better. Had I used that time to practice my strumming and used my left hand to mute only while I practiced my strumming, I wouldn't have to catch up the strumming at a later point.

At this point my chords and solos are decent, my strumming still sucks :)

Dito on All of the Above!!!!!