Guitar Lesson Seven - Left Hand Technique

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Guitar Lesson Seven - Technique

Left Hand:

Here is a left hand exercise for developing finger independence and muscle control.

Start by placing all four of your fingers on the B-string like this:

Now, without lifting fingers 2, 3, and 4, move your index finger over to the G-string. Then move your middle finger over to the G-string, without lifting 1, 3, or 4. Now your index and middle fingers are on the G-string, while your ring and pinky fingers are still on the B-string. Finish up by moving the last two fingers, one at a time, over to the G-string. The trick is to move only one finger without moving the other three. Piece of cake right?

Now, starting with the index, move each finger, one at a time, back over to the B-string.

Then, do the whole thing again, only this time, start with the pinky and reverse the order - 4, 3, 2, 1.

You don't use the right hand at all for this exercise. You can keep that hand in your pocket or use it to flip through the tv channels with your remote. It doesn't matter. Also, the left hand doesn't have to actually play the notes either. Some of the notes can't be played anyway. All you are doing is working the coordination of the fingers. However, it is a good idea to insist that each finger actually presses the strings down as if you were actually playing the notes. This will help to develop strength in the left hand.

Depending on your muscle control, this part of the exercise may be easy or difficult. If it is easy, move on to the next phase of the exercise. If it is difficult, practice this for 10 minutes a day until it becomes easy, and then move on to phase two.

The next part of this exercise is to move one finger at a time back and forth between the two strings.

Start the same as before with all four fingers on the B-string. Just like before, move the index over to the G-string without moving the other fingers. Only this time, move the index back over to the B-string. Now do the same thing with each finger in turn. One finger moves back and forth while the other three remain planted on the B-string.

Now place all four fingers on the G-string and do the same thing with each finger, only this time moving each finger over to the B-string and back. This teaches your fingers how to move to a string above or a string below.

Easy? Move on to phase three.

Hard? Practice for 10 minutes every day until it is easy, then move on to the next phase.

The next part of this exercise is exactly like the second part, except that you will now be required to move two fingers at once in opposite directions.

Just like before, start with all four fingers on the B-string. Move the index over to the G-string. Now, as the index is moving back over to the B-string, move the middle finger over to the G-string. These two fingers move at the same time while keeping the ring and pinky stationary.

Now, move the middle back over to the B-string, and at the same time, move the ring over to the G-string. You get the idea.

Once you have worked each finger from the B-string, place the fingers on the G-string and practice moving the fingers to the B-string and back.

Easy? Hard? You know what to do.

Part four is the actual exercise I want you to practice, but you may have to work up to it with what I have shown you.

The exercise is to move two fingers back and forth repeatedly between two strings while the other two fingers remain in place. In other words, if you are working the index and middle fingers, those two fingers move back and forth several times between the two strings while the other two fingers remain in place.

Work every possible combination:

1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 2-3, 2-4, 3-4

Spend a little extra time on any combination that feels awkward.

You guessed it. Now, move the fingers over to the G-string and practice every combination moving to the B-string and back.

The idea here is to work the fingers until they begin to loosen up, but once you start to feel it in the muscles of the hand and wrist, stop and let the hand relax. Then work it some more. You heard me... ten minutes a day... every day.

This lesson is divided into five parts:

Theory Part I

Theory Part II

Technique - Left Hand

Technique - Right Hand

Music

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