pushing too hard - remedies? mental tricks?

Hi, everyone,

Pushing too hard on the strings has been causing my fingertips to go tender too quickly, limiting my practice time. I've been playing for 8 months now, and I have decent calluses, but I can't seem to get past 45 minutes/1 hour of playing (especially when practicing fingerpicking) because I sort of "wake up" to find my fingers jammed down on the strings and hurting. Does anyone have any mental tricks or healthy habits to help correct this?

Thanks!

Canaan

ps all the instructors here are great, but I am particularly enamored of Caren Armstrong's lessons. What an amazing, direct communicator she is.

Work on playing lightly with your left hand. Jeff, here on the forum, had a great way to get a sense of how hard to fret the strings. Hold your guitar so it is stable and the neck does not move. Now place a finger on a string and lightly mute it, dont push it against the fret just yet. Now slowly increase the pressure on that finger until it first sounds a clear note..... That is how hard you need to pressure the strings, nothing more. You will probably be surprised at how little pressure that actually is! Now, activly work to include that light pressure into the way you play. Keep in mind, how using a Light touch is the key.

At 8 months, you probably have good calluses. What you should now strive for is a light touch. It may take some time to work this into your playing routine, as it is a subtle thing. But just remember how light a touch it takes to make your guitar strings sound clearly, and... RELAX.

Death Grips are for holding on to a cliff so you don't fall, like, to your death. When you get down to it....Death grips, are just that for a guitarist...... death.

Work on lightening up your touch and fly away from this dead end.

I can relate and second what was said about the light pressure. I have read that technique in a couple different books as well. I was finally starting to lighten my pressure after 8 months of playing but it was too late for me and I developed carpal tunnel in my fretting hand. (Also because of my other hobbies like ukuelele and sewing....).

But, it is a really important problem to correct as soon as possible for the sake of your hands and wrists. You can do it!

(I also really like Cari!)