Fingers hurt

Sore Fingertips

I am a beginner, but have been playing uke, since the beginning of this year. I play everyday, so I have built up some good callouses on the finger tips of my fretting hand. However, even with my callouses, if I play a lot, my fingers will be sore. And then cannot play too much the next day, as the tips underneath the callouses will stay tender. I will have indentations in my callouses, that sometimes even stay there for a day, if I play alot. So, even with my callouses, it can still get tender underneath, so if I play for awhile and push down hard, my fingers get tender and it hurts. I usually try to bear it and play as much as possible anyway, but wonder if anything can be done.

I know it also hurts more due to my strings, which are Southcoast HML RW. The Low G and C are wound, and the E and A are pretty narrow gauge and high tension. When I play on another uke with high G aquila strings that are thicker gauge and lower tension, it is a bit easier and my fingers dont get quite as sore or not as fast.

ANd not sure if I maybe push down harder than I need to, but seems at least that I dont get a clean sound with trying less pressure. Now of course, if one is fretting not so close the fret, then have to press harder to get a clean sound, so I try to be conscious to push down as close to the fret as possible.

Just wondering, if this goes away, as I dont see it is due to not having enough callouses, as I think they are as big as they are going to get.

Or maybe I need to try and get some lower tension, thicker gauge strings. Wonder if others experience any issues, even after building up callouses? Thanks

UkeInTW, how long do you play each session? Maybe you're playing too long. As far as pressure when fretting: Try fretting a string with minimum pressure and, if it doesn't sound right, press a little harder. Do that until you can fret with the least amount of pressure you need for a good tone. And, if each session is very long, go take a walk or somethin'. ld:

Your action may be too high. Do a forum search here or on Google. Here's a UU thread to start.

Check your action and it is likely you are pressing harder than need be. Sting diameter, hardness, etc. can also play a role. You only have to press hard enough to get a clean sound.

Round wound strings will take a little more pressing than plain ....You don't say what sizes of uke you have (I assume more than one from your text)but the answer is to swap between the two if you want to keep playing around the pain ,aches and soreness....plain strings do not fight back as much as wound .......

If you play Bari or Tenor mostly maybe consider getting a little cheap soprano to just strum on when the cramps take over ...you get to carry on playing ...you are still fretting and you can shake the fingerstyle cramp and stiffness out of the right hand with some strumming.........or take a long walk and a harmonica.

Hi All,

Thanks for all the replies.

I have a Turner Compass Rose tenor. My string action is about as low as it can get. HMS set it up for me and said they lowered it as low as it can go without buzzing. And maybe it is a hair too low, as it does make it more difficult to pick over the fretboard a bit without hitting the board sometimes, so sometimes if I am picking, then try to do it more over the soundhole instead.

I practice for varying times, so in the morning, maybe for 10-15 minutes before work, then at lunch for maybe 30 minutes, then in the evening for maybe an hour, or longer, and one night a week for 2.5 hours, if it is the one night a week I have an uke class. And on weekends maybe in total 2-3 hours / day or more. I have another tenor (Lanikai) with aquila high G strings and do notice they are lower tension, fatter, so are a little bit easier on my fingers. I guess I can take more breaks, but want to practice more so I can get better, and really enjoy it.

This may sound crazy but spend more time practicing with the Lanikai if it is easier on your fingers. I love the sound of tenors and had one with high tension strings but I would spend more practice time on a concert with light strings. I could play that forever with no discomfort.

I'd do the exercise where you make a chord shape with very light pressure on the fretboard and strum, and just keep increasing pressure slowly until you discover the actual minimum amount of pressure you need to get a clean sound. I know that early on, I was pressing way too hard. Sometimes, it's technique too though, because for example, I use to have trouble particularly getting a clean Bb, but with practice and improved finger positioning, I now find it not as difficult. I would also experiment with different strings (thickness/tension) or change up instruments, as CeeJay suggested. I do think you should be able to play longer without so much discomfort. I play several hours a day, and sometimes play my baritone all day with relatively little discomfort,no I think you should experiment a little.

It's funny. I've been playing banjo, and guitar for years, so I have pretty good callouses too. I haven't had sore fingers for years. But I recently took up the uke, and my fingers have been really sore lately. I think its because I am learning a bunch of new chord forms, and they are awkward, so subconciously I put a lot more pressure on the strings than I normally would. My tenor has the nylon strings that came on it from HMS, and the action is really nice and low. I'm pretty sure (at least I hope) that this will go away after a while when the chord shapes and fingerings become more natural to me.

Sounds like the action is a bit high and in turn you are pressing too hard.

Play it and work it out, play it and work it out. Stretch your fingers and hands constantly even when your not near the Uke. Use a tennis ball to build the muscles in your hands when your not playing, I kept one on my desk. The tips of your fingers are callused and in time you will not even notice they are, they just become numb. Your Uke is a Turner and set up by HMS I doubt there is anything wrong there with your action. Pressing to hard is a fine line, you want that crisp note but sometimes you have to ease off a little. Also try to take a day or 2 off and give your hands and fingers time to heal. Just my 2 cents theres alot of good advice here hope this helps you.

Everybody's already given some good advice. There are many things that play into sore fingers. You may have more sensitive nerves than others. You may be playing too hard. You may be sliding your fingers over the wound strings while using too much pressure. Give yourself a break and sit back and play the chords in your mind. It can be a better learning process than playing when your fingers hurt. Visualize a chord you're learning and see your finger placement in your mind. You can even "air ukulele" it as if you were really playing what's in your mind's eye. If you can see it, you can play it

I don't play ukulele a lot, but my wife does five days a week, several hours a day. She has never had a callous due to that amount of playing. But, she plays large gauge strings and a soprano banjolele -- so not much finger pressure is required.

By the way, your are to be commended for taking your playing seriously enough to get sore fingers. Nobody can say you're not serious about it

Ericchico, thank you for the tennis ball tip! I've been struggling with hand strength for so long, and have now put a tennis ball right here on my desk. What a great tip!

As for the original post, i, too, struggle with finger and wrist pain from time to time. I'm sure my technique is not quite what it should be (yet!). I just take a few days off, maybe use a little ice from time to time, and it passes.

Keep at it! But pace yourself. I know that's hard when you want to play every minute of every day. But the body knows best ...

How old are you? Age can also be a factor. Stay hydrated too, most of us don't drink enough water. I'm 58 and sometimes have the same problem with my fingers. I have sometimes had a problem with the callous on my index finger being tender. I found that the skin was cracking a bit. I've made an effort to try and hydrate more as well as filing the callous down.
Lot's of good advice from everyone who replied. Good luck.

I have a few ukuleles in the house that I play, and I've noticed that the one cigar box soprano makes my hand/fingers/wrist hurt. I did some studying while playing and found that the more squared shape of the neck made me change my thumb position quite a bit, putting a lot more strain on my left wrist and hand. I've tried to be aware of it, but because of the corner feel on the neck, it is hard to compensate for. I am thinking of taking it to someone and having the neck more rounded, like a traditional ukulele. Of course, with your Compass Rose, your neck shouldn't be a problem, but your thumb placement can alter all the muscles of either hand. Just something to think of.

Another tip with the tennis ball instead of gripping it in your palm and squeezing which will help, try using your thumb and pressing with alternating fingers like doing finger dexterity exercises. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.

I don't get this at all with the uke, but pretty common on my steel string acoustic. And I'm positive it's more from me pushing too hard. Practicing more on the uke with less tension sounds a good idea to me, but harder if it's the other you prefer the sound of.

D.Jackson said:

It's funny. I've been playing banjo, and guitar for years, so I have pretty good callouses too. I haven't had sore fingers for years. But I recently took up the uke, and my fingers have been really sore lately. I think its because I am learning a bunch of new chord forms, and they are awkward, so subconciously I put a lot more pressure on the strings than I normally would. My tenor has the nylon strings that came on it from HMS, and the action is really nice and low. I'm pretty sure (at least I hope) that this will go away after a while when the chord shapes and fingerings become more natural to me.

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I believe this is an accurate analysis. The key here is applying too much pressure. One overlooked cause for too much pressure is your own excitement level! you overdo it pressure wise because you are so high on what your doing. At 40 minutes or an hour into and old time session - about three songs the way these things go, my old, old, callus' start to ache. I find if I tone down the volume; a right hand function, my left hand automatically compensates by applying less force too. The pain level drops to my tolerable levels and I can play for maybe a half hour more until I need a break.

The pain comes from too much force applied to too small a surface area. Assume your fingers always apply the same amount of force when you note or chord. You can decrease the force you apply to move the strings organically/mentally. This is hard; or you could try raising the action so that the force your fingers normally apply to this is just right to accomplish the increased amount of work required by the higher action. (A mechanical solution). In either case for any action there is an equal but opposite reaction. If you get the forces in balance or nearly so there will be less reaction -pain. (The unstated reaction force is string tension).

This last bit of gobbledy-gook is a Contrarian Approach. If it doesn't make sense to you ignore it.