Are anyone else's fingers numb?

Hello!
I am super wet behind the ears when it comes to uke's. I started playing a few weeks ago, and like some of the other posters, its become an quasi-addiction. I too have a uke at home and uke at work, granted they are both SUPER cheap, but none the less I can sit in my office at home and work and strum away. BTW, bflat and Em are rotten pains still....

I like to build things, fly rods, flies, computers, golf clubs, etc. So naturally I am interested in building a ukulele. And the luthier's forum so far has been awesome. So look for some dumb questions out of me in the near future.

I bought ukulele's for my volleyball team this year, as I have an islander who always brought hers to practice and the girls all loved hearing it and playing it. I threw an extra one on the order for myself and have been unable to put it down since.

Thanks in advance for hearing me out on stuff and all the patience needed for a noob.

Just wait till your fingertips start peeling...

erm.. yeah, its normal at first... it goes away as you build up calluses on that partictular part of your hand--tippy tips of the fingers are an uncommon callus spot, I guess

Welcome to UU! Sounds like you've got the fever and are starting to toughen up your fingertips. Soon you'll get callouses and it'll seem normal. You can tell when you are a little "seasoned" when your fingertips on your left hand look flatter than the other hand.

the tips of my fingers don't hurt anymore from playing guitar or ukulele but in the mornings if i have played too much the day before my hands are all stiff, that can't be healthy for someone who is only 20.

Yeah, the first few weeks were the toughest. Then you get callouses, then they mellow out and your fingers feel more normal (but a bit less sensitive at the tips).

Oh, and try 0402 for E minor. And often 0202 (Em7) will work - I use that in place of Em probably 80% of the time.

Thumper said:

Oh, and try 0402 for E minor.

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That's brilliant. Thanx!

And when you get to the point where you're ready to upgrade your instrument I'm willing to bet that you'll notice a difference there as well. Some of those cheapies can be really hard on the fingers and especially so on soft pink newbie fingertips.

(And +1 for Fuzzy for having a Captain Beefheart avatar. Trout Mask is an all time fave. (I've got a white label promo vinyl with the insert.)

ukuleG said:

the tips of my fingers don't hurt anymore from playing guitar or ukulele but in the mornings if i have played too much the day before my hands are all stiff, that can't be healthy for someone who is only 20.

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Ah, youth... I'm 52 and have suffered from arthritis since my late 20's. Guitars didn't cause it but they didn't help much either. At 35 I developed a condition called Dupytrens contracture, where tendons in the palm contract, pulling the fingers down. This limits my reach between notes on the fretboard. When I started the uke, I found that suddenly that limitation was decreased tremendously and I played and played and played, like I was suddenly granted a musical stay of execution. Now I find that the nerve on my right index finger, just below the pad on the first joint, tingles like mad if I play too many barre chords with it. So I adapt when it gets bad. What are you gonna do?

It's always something!

Wow, thats good to hear that you're playing though. yeah, I find that my first and middle fingers are starting to come back, but the last knuckle on my left index gets all kinds of agitated while barring the first two frets. I know im just a weiner, but I am waiting for that to knock off.

As far as ukes go, I am hoping santa brings me a nice(er) tenor, after that I seriously want to start looking into builds. Kits firts, then lumber....i love working with wood, etc. I will never play a recital hall, sunday morning praise service would be a miracle, but I love playing to my kids and eventually would love to take the thing to family reunions, camping, etc. I just love having something to do while i sit and read forums..

Thanks for the heads up on the Em chord, i will be transitioning to that asap.

i have to say, this site is amazing. People are unbelievable kind, i have been on forums where people speak down to noobs, etc. not here, and you all have to know how much that means to me.

Thanks.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Uke's.

If you ever want to play some nice Ukulele's swing by the Denver Folklore Center.
Real nice guys, Jeff knows his stuff and they don't care how long you hang out playing the different Uke's they have hanging on the wall.
http://www.denverfolklore.com/

Swallow Hill does great lessons and Hosts a Uke circle too.

NICE! good to see a fellow oxygen deprived uke player...

i will have to check it out, now that my volleyball coaching is done for the season (pss, its never REALLY over) i might have some time in the evenings to check it out...

Thanks for the point in the right direction.

Don't worry, funkyjedi. You're not alone.

There are other people whose fingers hurt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPsbDUZvfFo

classic.

i figured it would be a clip from saw....

yeah, thats me, the old woman who pulled landscaping duty.

Hey F. J.,

I've been playing about every day for a month and a half. My finger tips calloused over, flattened out, and stop hurting after about a month. Practice everyday. Stop when your finger have had enough for the day.