My fingers are killing me!

Here's a good question posted to the Banjo Buddies discussion list:

"I just began take banjo lessons the other day and MY FINGERS ARE KILLINGME!!! How long does it take for them to start callusing over??"

This answer came from Sherry Chapman who is a regular on the discussion list in answering questions. She's a banjo teacher in the West Texas area and always willing to help others out.

"Perhaps you're pushing too hard on the strings. Although when you first start out you might have tender fingers, they shouldn't be sore (unless, of course, you're practicing 5 or 6 hours a day).

If you're having to really push hard to make clean clear chords and/or fretted notes, then perhaps you should look at your hand position. It should take very little pressure on the string(s) to make clean, clear notes and chords.

Try this: put the fleshy part of your thumb at the back of the neck of the banjo and arch your wrist over the fretboard. This should put your fingers in position to reach each string (the 1st 4, that is) easily.

Now, when you fret a string, be sure your fingers are as close to the fret as possible without touching it."

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