I can't believe I've been struggling for over two years with this. I tried to do things the "right way" and assumed I wasn't built for guitar. Seriously, I've given up numerous times because of this. Thank you.
I bought my first guitar two days and I was already getting super frustrated with how difficult it was to fret with my hands. I just could not figure out how to place my hand on the neck to be able to fret and play cords, and every video I've watched has told me the only way to hold my hand so is to spread my fingers apart and have my knuckles parallel, rather than rotate my forearm. This makes things so much easier for me and its so nice to hear that I don't actually have to do that if it makes it a lot harder, especially as someone who is trying to teach themself and stick with this without getting so frustrated I give up. Thank you so much for this video!!❤
I always felt this way as a beginner. But due to me having small fingers, playing with this angled approach was not possible for many practical application as I couldn't reach the lower strings. So, I had to go with the classical way of fretting the notes.
I so appreciate this lesson! I've been determined to improve at guitar and have developed the habit of practicing for at least 10 minutes/day over the past two months, but I have struggled with the fretting mechanics, and I know I've been forming bad habits along the way that I'm going to regret unless I fix things sooner than later. Just subscribed. THANK YOU!
This and the one about balance finally did it for me. Massive improvement in just 2 days. Thank you so much for putting this out. Had been stuck in this rut for ages!
from my observation this what Marshall Harrison and Straten Marshall is doing when fretting their hand and the fingers have more freedom to move and play fast passage! Thank you so much for explaining everything.
For many yesrs I thought all those things you mention in the beginning, I found out 10 yrs later I had axonal polyneuropathy and it felt like I had to fight for every note, self diagnosis would be, if your doing say, your scale exercises and suddenly your arms feel stiff like they turned into wood, when I told that to my Neurologist he immediately knew I had a demyelinating autoimmune disease. It's just a public service announcement. I hope it helps anyone out there with similar issues
Thanks, Spencer! Originally the videos were supporting material for website I had. The website and the videos became too much to manage, and I shut the website down in 2015. Recently on a whim I checked the TH-cam channel and saw almost 4k subscribers! I was shocked to say the least, but figured if I only had to create the videos (and not also write blog entries and manage a WordPress site) it would be fun to see how subscribers / viewership would grow if I actively started creating content again. These first few new videos will likely be a refactoring / updating of what was already there. The video resolution of the old videos, for example, is awful, and even though there's still good information in there the videos can be a chore to consume, I think. After that I will start moving into new territory. I'm also interested to know what you all want to learn. What specific challenges are you facing that you'd like me to cover? Eventually my core evergreen content will be in place and I think it will be cool to cover viewer submitted topics directly.
Great video! This is something I’ve been thinking about and practicing recently. There are not enough videos talking about this technique. I should be taught from day one when learning guitar.
This is useful to me. I'm a pianist and harpist who literally just got a guitar last night because I wanted to learn something I can pick up with one hand that isn't furniture, and it seems that the basics of technique are the same for every instrument: keep your wrist straight and use forearm rotation as much as possible.
its funny that i got familiar with playing at a more sideways angle on bass pretty quickly, but for some reason with guitar i latched onto the claw thing just because it was the only way i could produce sound when i first started haha. i don’t know why i never thought to explore this option
This highlights the problem of teachers trying to insist ALL guitarists use classical hand position. It only works if you play neck high in the air - _which nobody but classical guitar players do._ Drop the neck to typical electric position and classical hand positioning goes out the window for most of us. There's a reason that virtually nobody (famous or otherwise) ever plays electric guitar with 'perfect' classical form - it ain't natural down south, it hurts and most of all, _it ain't necessary_ to be damn good and fast as you want. And you CAN make the guitar conform - low action, lowered tunings, lowered gauges etc. I make my guitars as easy to play as possible.
The problem with this is that if you have a lick that requires more stretch you need to switch to the classic hand position so the pinky can reach the furthest fret. Just try it. A minor is easy. Now do a major. 3 more per string each one fret in between each finger. My pinky won’t stretch your way. But the classic way strains my wrist which caused tendinitis. Also on the wound strings your technique falls apart unless you have long hands like yourself.
learning cello taught me that tension is bad. you can get pretty far in piano without learning to play without tension, but not cello. i learned eventually that the "right" technique is "whatever allows for best control/least tension." unsurprised this is any different!
I struggle big time at trying to learn guitar. When I close my fingers like you did at the beginning of the video they crowd in on each other kind of like someone doing. Sock puppet.. Currently have to use my pinky to comfortably play the third fret from my index finger.
Would this apply to playing scales? I am new at playing scales and am learning the G major scale. My teacher says I use the claw and I am trying to fix it.
Classical guys have left hand technique working for them just fine for over 200 years. The "one finger rule" for classical guys you mention is horse crap. The real rule of thumb is to make the fingerings easiest and as natural as possible without stupid ridiculous stretches.
1st off you should be on an acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitar is where you need to start as it’s orders of magnitude more difficult to fret an acoustic.
I can't believe I've been struggling for over two years with this. I tried to do things the "right way" and assumed I wasn't built for guitar. Seriously, I've given up numerous times because of this. Thank you.
I always thought rotating your hand was a technique error. This is a total gamechanger for me. It makes so much sense.
Yes! All you need to do is watch a bunch of great players play. They don't follow "the rules" and you shouldn't either.
Steve Vai does it.
@@mixed34 Yep
I have been destroying my hands also by sticking to this 'rule' of parallel fingers. Game-changing advice - thank you.
Yeah that's the devil in TH-cam: All these experts contradicting each other.
I like the name of the channel, it's just about me. Thank you for this video.
As soon as i saw the guitar i knew this guy knows what hes talking about
I’m a beginner and learning on my own, this kind of content is exactly what I need! Easy subscribe
I bought my first guitar two days and I was already getting super frustrated with how difficult it was to fret with my hands. I just could not figure out how to place my hand on the neck to be able to fret and play cords, and every video I've watched has told me the only way to hold my hand so is to spread my fingers apart and have my knuckles parallel, rather than rotate my forearm. This makes things so much easier for me and its so nice to hear that I don't actually have to do that if it makes it a lot harder, especially as someone who is trying to teach themself and stick with this without getting so frustrated I give up.
Thank you so much for this video!!❤
I always felt this way as a beginner. But due to me having small fingers, playing with this angled approach was not possible for many practical application as I couldn't reach the lower strings. So, I had to go with the classical way of fretting the notes.
I so appreciate this lesson! I've been determined to improve at guitar and have developed the habit of practicing for at least 10 minutes/day over the past two months, but I have struggled with the fretting mechanics, and I know I've been forming bad habits along the way that I'm going to regret unless I fix things sooner than later. Just subscribed. THANK YOU!
This and the one about balance finally did it for me. Massive improvement in just 2 days. Thank you so much for putting this out.
Had been stuck in this rut for ages!
this is exactly what i needed. my fretting hand has been sore and I was feeling quite lost....than i found your vid here :) big thanks!!!
Great news! Glad you found it helpful!
from my observation this what Marshall Harrison and Straten Marshall is doing when fretting their hand and the fingers have more freedom to move and play fast passage! Thank you so much for explaining everything.
You're welcome! Glad you found it helpful.
For many yesrs I thought all those things you mention in the beginning, I found out 10 yrs later I had axonal polyneuropathy and it felt like I had to fight for every note, self diagnosis would be, if your doing say, your scale exercises and suddenly your arms feel stiff like they turned into wood, when I told that to my Neurologist he immediately knew I had a demyelinating autoimmune disease. It's just a public service announcement. I hope it helps anyone out there with similar issues
woah. glad you got diagnosed by a professional and best wishes in your guitar learning! 🙏
Thank you so much. My instructor gave me an exercise to learn how to arch my fingers. I wasn't able to do it until I saw your video. I finally got it.
Great video, thank you for sharing!
great teacher, thank you very much
Great to see you doing more vids! I Loved your why i suck at guitar series 8 years ago!
Thanks, Spencer! Originally the videos were supporting material for website I had. The website and the videos became too much to manage, and I shut the website down in 2015. Recently on a whim I checked the TH-cam channel and saw almost 4k subscribers! I was shocked to say the least, but figured if I only had to create the videos (and not also write blog entries and manage a WordPress site) it would be fun to see how subscribers / viewership would grow if I actively started creating content again.
These first few new videos will likely be a refactoring / updating of what was already there. The video resolution of the old videos, for example, is awful, and even though there's still good information in there the videos can be a chore to consume, I think.
After that I will start moving into new territory.
I'm also interested to know what you all want to learn. What specific challenges are you facing that you'd like me to cover? Eventually my core evergreen content will be in place and I think it will be cool to cover viewer submitted topics directly.
Great video! This is something I’ve been thinking about and practicing recently. There are not enough videos talking about this technique. I should be taught from day one when learning guitar.
This is useful to me. I'm a pianist and harpist who literally just got a guitar last night because I wanted to learn something I can pick up with one hand that isn't furniture, and it seems that the basics of technique are the same for every instrument: keep your wrist straight and use forearm rotation as much as possible.
its funny that i got familiar with playing at a more sideways angle on bass pretty quickly, but for some reason with guitar i latched onto the claw thing just because it was the only way i could produce sound when i first started haha. i don’t know why i never thought to explore this option
This highlights the problem of teachers trying to insist ALL guitarists use classical hand position. It only works if you play neck high in the air - _which nobody but classical guitar players do._
Drop the neck to typical electric position and classical hand positioning goes out the window for most of us.
There's a reason that virtually nobody (famous or otherwise) ever plays electric guitar with 'perfect' classical form - it ain't natural down south, it hurts and most of all, _it ain't necessary_ to be damn good and fast as you want.
And you CAN make the guitar conform - low action, lowered tunings, lowered gauges etc. I make my guitars as easy to play as possible.
That was very helpful, thank you!
The problem with this is that if you have a lick that requires more stretch you need to switch to the classic hand position so the pinky can reach the furthest fret. Just try it. A minor is easy. Now do a major. 3 more per string each one fret in between each finger. My pinky won’t stretch your way. But the classic way strains my wrist which caused tendinitis. Also on the wound strings your technique falls apart unless you have long hands like yourself.
I'm going to give this a try. My grip is so tight, it comes from my work and lifting weights. 🤘🎸✌👍
Let me know how it goes. And stay tuned for upcoming fretting hand lessons that will add on top of this concept.
Shame he stopped posting, he would have been a great addition to the youtube guitar community
Maybe he died (knocks 3x on wood).. no one really thinks about that 😅
Maybe he just needed a break for a while
Thank you
Great information
Genius channel name. 👌
learning cello taught me that tension is bad. you can get pretty far in piano without learning to play without tension, but not cello. i learned eventually that the "right" technique is "whatever allows for best control/least tension." unsurprised this is any different!
Do you do online teaching?
welcome back sir
Thanks!
Great video!
Ya gotta put your best finger forward.
I struggle big time at trying to learn guitar. When I close my fingers like you did at the beginning of the video they crowd in on each other kind of like someone doing. Sock puppet.. Currently have to use my pinky to comfortably play the third fret from my index finger.
Nice!!
Would this apply to playing scales? I am new at playing scales and am learning the G major scale. My teacher says I use the claw and I am trying to fix it.
Yes this applies to everything you play. Slow down, find balance, lock in good muscle memory to replace "the claw".
If I rotate my hand like this my fingers are starting to mute other strings
Classical guys have left hand technique working for them just fine for over 200 years. The "one finger rule" for classical guys you mention is horse crap. The real rule of thumb is to make the fingerings easiest and as natural as possible without stupid ridiculous stretches.
Well if you switch to the classical guitar position, putting the guitar on your left knee, you will not have any of your problems. 🤷🏾♂️
1st off you should be on an acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitar is where you need to start as it’s orders of magnitude more difficult to fret an acoustic.
🤦🏻
@adidaskid6023 I mean he’s not wrong, it makes you appreciate it more