Guitar Lesson Two - Left Hand Technique

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Guitar Lesson Two - Left hand Technique

Left Hand:

Unless I tell you otherwise, all left hand exercises use the classical hand position.

Most of the left hand exercises that I give you in the beginning will not sound much like music. They are designed strictly to develop the muscles and coordination of the hand so that you *can* play music.

This exercise focuses on using every combination of two fingers. It starts at the first fret of the low E-string using only the index and middle finger playing across the strings like this:

Notice that when you get to the high E-string, you don't reverse the order of the notes. You still play 1-2 on the way back down.

Just like the exercise in lesson one, the index finger plays any notes on the 1st fret, the middle finger handles the 2nd fret, the ring finger takes care of the 3rd fret and the pinky gets the 4th fret.

With this in mind, I'm simply going to describe the rest of the exercise.

Next comes the middle finger and the ring finger. Play 2-3 across the strings and back (remember you're now playing the 2nd and 3rd frets).

Now 3-4

Then 1-3

Then 2-4

Finaly 1-4

This constitutes one set.

Move up 1 fret so that your index is on the 2nd fret and repeat the whole thing. Keep doing a set and then moving one fret higher until you reach the 5th fret.

Once you have finished the set at the 5th fret, you're going to turn everything upside down and backwards like this:

Remember that your index finger is at the 5th fret so, you should be using your pinky and ring for the example above (4-3).

Now play 3-2

Then 2-1

Then 4-2

Then 3-1

Finaly 4-1

Now move down to the 4th fret and do it all again. Keep going until you get back to the 1st fret.

Eventually you will be able to take this exercise all the way up to the 12th fret and back without stopping. You could try adding an extra fret or two every few days but don't try to rush your progress. It's important to let the left hand develop at it's own pace or you may begin to suffer tedonitis (personal experience). There's no need to hurry.

This lesson is divided into four parts:

Theory

Technique - Left hand

Technique - Right hand

Music

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