Building Calluses....

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Theresaamusic

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I have played guitar for a while but after a long session of playing my fingers are red and dented. I am developing some calluses on my middle and ring, but I need tips to make them thicker. I heard rubbing alchohal works but I'm not sure if that is true. Is there any other ways or is it just practice?
 
When I was seven years old, my big sister (12 years older than me) was teaching music from home and reluctantly and at the insistence of my parents agreed to have me join her weekly beginners guitar group.

One day, early on in my lessons I was complaining about sore fingers, in fact I think I must have been complaining about everything, in fact I think I was probably a disruptive and annoying little brother lol.

Anyway she said to me, "open your mouth, stick your jaw out a bit and drum your fingers along your teeth" , I said "will that help me to get stronger fingers ?", "I don't know" she said "but at least it will shut you up for a while".

:) :) :)
 
I've never tried the urine trick, but I will say that the second best thing is practice. Yes, your fingertips will hurt, but don't forget to moisturize your hands, or the calluses will peel right off.
 
liam_fnq said:
Some won't like the sound of this but it's the absolute truth. The best thing to build calluses is urine. It's a little less disgusting if you use your own.....................
Click to expand...

Great for taking the pain out of blisters during the break when you're gigging.


So I hear...
 
The urine suggestion just sounds too much like some tale made up by some drunk musician --- we have a bunch of educated people here, what in the composition of urine, which is mostly water, and various compounds dominated by hydrogen and nitrogen (urea, uric acid and creatinine) could possible help callous formation? Inquiring minds want to know.
 
garyg said:
The urine suggestion just sounds too much like some tale made up by some drunk musician --- we have a bunch of educated people here, what in the composition of urine, which is mostly water, and various compounds dominated by hydrogen and nitrogen (urea, uric acid and creatinine) could possible help callous formation? Inquiring minds want to know.
Click to expand...

Ummm, yeah. This.

Perhaps exposure to urea/uric acid would begin to toughen the skin. Perhaps (though I doubt it). In any case, you would need a lot more than the occasional whizz on your hands. And it would take a lot more than just a few seconds to a minute of exposure. Still, if you want to pee on your hands every couple of minutes for a month, or soak your fingers in a bowl of urine for an hour at a time to try it out, who am I to judge?

Building callouses comes from use - whether via playing or working. There really isn't any shortcut.
 
Actually, the nUUbie challenge for this week was "see if you can get all the decent Uke players to piss on their fingers".

nUUbies beat Pro Players 1 - 0 and go on to play the Luthiers in the final, where the challenge will be "see if you can get Chuck Moore to inlay a turd"
 
Last edited:
If you want to add an extra layer, you could try "Rock Tips"... http://rock-tips.com/

Eventually you will build your callouses up, be patient and play every day. If you play a lot, it will only take a couple of weeks.

–Lori
 
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