Beginner Guitar Lesson 2 – Proper Guitar Hand Position, Form and Technique
Old habits die hard, that’s a saying that fits for almost anything in life. It’s no truer then when you’re learning to play guitar. Starting out with the good guitar hand position, form and technique is a must. When I first started out I didn’t take the time to worry about proper technique and it hindered my progression as a guitar player until I took the time to learn it the right way.
Focus
The most important thing to remember is how you hold your left hand on the fret board. You want to ensure you’re using the tips of your fingers, not the fleshy part. If you bend your fingers over too much you will blunt or mute the other strings around your finger.
To accomplish correct finger positioning you also need to be mindful of where your thumb is placed. Your thumb should be parallel to the back of your guitar neck and not creep up over the top. You shouldn’t be able to see your thumb while playing.
Pressure
When your pressing on the strings and holding your left hand in place you want to only press hard enough so that the string presses against the neck and it sounds clean. If you press to hard you’re going to get a sore hand quickly. This can be a big problem when you’re in the middle of a song.
Now I know you aren’t playing songs yet, but learning to apply the right amount of pressure when you begin will save you from having to relearn the concept later on.
Strumming and Holding a Pick
Holding your pick should be done similar to applying pressure on the neck with your fingers. You want to hold the pick firmly enough so that it isn’t slipping out of your fingers when you strum. If you find the pick is moving around first try softening up your strum, this could be the culprit. If you’re already strumming quite softly try applying more pressure to the pick.
Strumming should be done from the wrist, almost like you’re flicking something off your hand. Strumming with your entire arm is going to not only sound bad (because you’re strumming too hard) but you also risk breaking more strings then usual.
Take the time to work these focuses into your daily practice routine. It’s important that you don’t learn bad habits at the start because they’re tough to break later on.
Our next lesson introduces String names. If you’re ready to go on now click here for lesson 3 guitar string names.
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