perma-dents

[dragonlady7]

Ha! I just noticed today-- I was actually doing something else, and poking something and noticed my left forefinger had an odd dent in it, or a... kind of... stiff patch.... and oh there was one on my middle finger too? how weird? and the skin at the edges was kind of... rough? Like maybe the skin is too dry, but I don't usually get that right on my fingertips, it's sort of weird, like--
and then it suddenly hit me--
Calluses!!! I'm succeeding in getting calluses!!! from playing the banjo! Which is what I wanted to get and was starting to despair of! Regular practice every day, and also learning slides I think, has managed to make it happen!!
It's sort of subtle. But yeah, my fingers hurting a lot isn't what makes me have to stop practicing anymore!

So uh. Three weeks, I guess, of daily practice, is what it takes.
And now I've got weird permanent dents in my fingertips.
(OK they're semi-permanent, I know they'll go away if I stop.)

Comments

[shy_magpie]

Congrats! Must feel rewarding to have a physical marker of your hard work!

[dragonlady7]

Ha ha, it's more that it won't hurt so much when I want to play for longer periods! A couple of weeks ago at the end of the lesson the teacher was trying to teach us slides, when you pluck the string with your right hand, and then slide your left-hand finger along the string over a couple of frets, and it's a cool thing but it was agony for my poor soft fingertips after already nearly an hour of playing. So-- I'm glad I've begun to master the technique, but more importantly have built up the calluses so I can work even more on the technique!

[shy_magpie]

Ah that makes sense!