Music has become so special to me that I am considering learning to play the acoustic guitar. I was told that I'd get blisters on my fingers. To what extent is this true, and how did you cope with this?
Since I don't know any fellow guitarists, I would really appreciate your advice.
Thank You.
[This message was edited Tue Aug 24 16:34:38 2004 by gyro34]

use light nylon strings, it won't hurt very much. I can touch in hot things with the top of my fingers without feeling the heat for about 2 seconds, it's cool :p

I agree, start ouit with a nylon string guitar. They're cheaper too.
However: blisters etc come with the territory. The only way to cope with it is stop,playing when it hurts too much and start playing again as soon as it doesn't.

hectim said:

I've seen in a few magazines that some guitarists put some type of band aids in their fingers. Do you know if these are effective?
[This message was edited Tue Aug 24 16:28:52 2004 by gyro34]

It might hurt a little at first (use light strings and it will be easier, or nylon as stated before), but you don't need to get blisters unless you play too much.

If you play gradually more and more, you WILL develop calluses on your fingertips.

Playing with band aids seems like it would inhibit your playing, but I'm sure it could be done.

I agree with the above comment. You will get calluses on your fingertips, but eventually these will harden and playing will be a lot easier. I can't stress enough the importance of repetition when you first start playing.

And before even thinking of buying a guitar, get a metronome. Don't be one of the many guitarist who after a couple of years can play pretty well but has a terrible timing. Metronome metronome metronome. Geddit?

hectim said:

Is there a particular brand that you would recommend?

I see some valuable advice here. It's good to know something concrete about guitars before walking into a store with a vague idea of what I want. Yeap, I can put up with a little pain and callouses.
[Edited 9/13/04 20:25pm]

hectim said:

lol thankyou, you just made a drummer's day
[Edited 8/29/04 20:01pm]

Don't worry about it. After a while your fingers will just harden up. It's not like blisters or anything, they just develop hardened callous skin. Learn guitar, it's worth it.

Thank you guys for the advice and encouragement. I was hesitant but now I am ready to go ahead with my plan.