Callin all guitar gurus! Or anyone who can play guitar!!?

Question:over the past week or so, i've learnt a couple of hendrix songs, but as a result, i've also broken 2 strings in 2 days!
is this normal? am i strumming/plucking to hard? how often is this supposed to happen?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: over the past week or so, i've learnt a couple of hendrix songs, but as a result, i've also broken 2 strings in 2 days!
is this normal? am i strumming/plucking to hard? how often is this supposed to happen?

Try strumming/plucking softer and see if your strings still break.

Check and see if the string is breaking in the same place each time or if the break seems to be random. If it's in the same place, check for rought spots in that area.

Often a string will break at the tuner, at the nut, or at the saddle. If it's breaking at the tuner (or close to it), you might want to look at other ways of winding your string. For instance, you might want to wind more string onto the tuner, which places less stress on the string where it passes through the tuner shaft. if you find a "rough" spot at your saddle or tuner, you can use an old wound guitar string to act as a file to file this down (or you can use a very small file or even a piece of sandpaper). Just make sure you don't enlarge your nut slot too much or take your saddle down to the point that it changes the radius of your strings at the saddle.

You might also check and see if the strings are breaking when you are bending or when you are just strumming.

Some brands of string are just more prone to breaking as well, so you might try a different brand of string.

you're plucking wayyyy too hard.

Yes you might be playing too hard. But there might be other factors here. You might be tuned way too tight, the strings could be way old, or your guitar might have a rough spot on the bridge or some other place that is rubbing on the strings. If it continues, take it in to a music store and ask them to set it up for you.

Kaisergirl pretty much summed it up. I will mention that the lighter the gauge of string you use the less tention it will take to break it. Two things you might want to consider are either going to the next heavier gauge stringi.e. if you are using 00.9 - 42.0, go up to a00. 9 and a half, there are only a few companies that offer this gauge and if you can't find those at your local store go to a 10 or whatever the next higher gauge is. The other thing you can do is have your saddles replaced with a teflon type saddle, I think one is called string savers, they will allow you to play lighter strings with less chance of breaking. Hope this helps.