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 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!
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
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.
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.
It not small hands its proper technique and fundamentals. If you notice he starts you out in the FOLK GUITAR POSITION INSTEAD OF THE CLASSICAL GUITAR POSITION (guitar on left knee with left on foot stool, left pointing out at approximately 20 degrees). The head stock of the guitar should be level with your eyes to prevent neck strain. Go to TH-cam at look up Jamie Guitar Principles. She teaches the proper way to learn guitar.👈🏿👀
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
I’ve watched 10 videos with guitarists claiming to show you “correct” left hand technique. This whole video gets the “bs buzzer” Do yourselves a favor and get the guitar centered and not sitting in your right leg. Use a strap so when you sit so that the guitar is a few inches off your lap. Lastly, get your left elbow away from the left side of your body. Your upper arm should raise and lower to move your forearm up and down the neck.
i have a super hard time when moving up the fretboard, to the higher notes. because if i adjust my guitar to reach that area better, i'm then unable to comfortably play the lower notes on the opposite side of the fretboard
Nothing wrong with rotating the left hand but that is for the rock and blues style of playing guitar.👈🏿👀 YOU MUST START WITH THE FUNDAMENTALS FIRST. Fingerpicking; Picking with a guitar pick; Proper sitting position; Left hand technique in highest register first before you go down the neck to😅 the 1st fret; Right hand/left hand synchronization; No tempo practice (to learn the techniques free of body tension); Tempo practice with a metronome; Chords; Scales; and rhythm. THIS ALL BEFORE YOU GET INTO PLAYING WITH A SLANTED HAND FOR ROCK AND BLUES SCALES AND GENRES.
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 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.
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!
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.
Major error in this video: Look at where he puts his guitar - IN THE FOLK POSITION. This not where a beginner starts. YOU START IN THE CLASSICAL POSITION TO LEARN PROPER TECHNIQUES AND FUNDAMENTALS OF PLAYING GUITAR. THE CLASSICAL POSITION IS: Put the guitar on your left knee. Put your foot on a foot stool or a set of books. Your left should slant out 20 degrees on the foot stool. Your right foot should be flat on the floor. The neck of head stock of your guitar (where the nut and running pegs are) should be eye level with your eyes. YOU SHOULD BE SETTING WITH YOUR BACK STRAIGHT AND YOUR BUTT NEAR THE EDGE OF YOUR CHAIR. DO NOT DO THIS ON A COUCH OR ON A BED!👈🏿 The guitar should be balanced to where guitar should not fall or lean. You should then able to bring your left hand to the guitar neck with ease free from twisting your able or hand. YOU SHOULD START AT THE HIGHEST REGISTER (10th through the 21st frets) BECAUSE AS A BEGINNER YOU HAVE NOT DEVELOPED THE FINGER DEXTERITY TO FRET AT THE LOWEST REGISTER (1st through the 5th frets) YET!👈🏿👀 YOUR FINGERS SHOULD BE CURLED AT THE SMALLEST KNUCKLES ALLOWING YOUR FINGERTIPS TO EASILY LAND ON THE STRINGS AND FRETS. YOUR THUMB SHOULD BE DIRECTLY BEHIND THE MIDDLE FINGER OR LEAST BETWEEN THE FIRST AND MIDDLE FINGER. YOUR WRIST SHOULD BE FLAT AND STRAIGHT WITH MAYBE A TINY BEND BUT NOT MUCH! SIT AND POSE IN THIS POSITION AND RELAX PLUS NOTICE ANY TENSION IN YOUR BODY (A big hinderance to playing guitar).👈🏿
EITHER WAY YOU STILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE GUITAR CRUCIBLE OF PROPER FUNDAMENTALS AND TECHNIQUES TO BE A SUCCESS AT GUITAR. JUST LIKE A MILITARY BOOT CAMP. YOU GOT TO BE DEPROGRAMMED AND REPROGRAMMED WITH THE PROPER FUNDAMENTALS AND TECHNIQUES TO SURVIVE AND BE A SUCCESS AT GUITAR PLAYING. NO WAY AROUND IT BECAUSE YOU JUST CHEATING YOURSELF NOT DOING IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME👈🏿😬
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 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 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.
As soon as i saw the guitar i knew this guy knows what hes talking about
Took me 30 years to realize that I don't even have to press hard at all on my strings to get things done. great lesson man thank you so much
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!
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!!❤
Are you still playing?
Great video, thank you for sharing!
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!
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.
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.
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.
It not small hands its proper technique and fundamentals.
If you notice he starts you out in the FOLK GUITAR POSITION INSTEAD OF THE CLASSICAL GUITAR POSITION (guitar on left knee with left on foot stool, left pointing out at approximately 20 degrees). The head stock of the guitar should be level with your eyes to prevent neck strain.
Go to TH-cam at look up Jamie Guitar Principles. She teaches the proper way to learn guitar.👈🏿👀
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.
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!
great teacher, thank you very much
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
I like the name of the channel, it's just about me. Thank you for this video.
great video
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.
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.
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.
That was very helpful, thank you!
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
Thank you
Great information
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.
Genius channel name. 👌
welcome back sir
Thanks!
Great video!
I’ve watched 10 videos with guitarists claiming to show you “correct” left hand technique. This whole video gets the “bs buzzer” Do yourselves a favor and get the guitar centered and not sitting in your right leg. Use a strap so when you sit so that the guitar is a few inches off your lap. Lastly, get your left elbow away from the left side of your body. Your upper arm should raise and lower to move your forearm up and down the neck.
i have a super hard time when moving up the fretboard, to the higher notes. because if i adjust my guitar to reach that area better, i'm then unable to comfortably play the lower notes on the opposite side of the fretboard
Nothing wrong with rotating the left hand but that is for the rock and blues style of playing guitar.👈🏿👀
YOU MUST START WITH THE FUNDAMENTALS FIRST.
Fingerpicking;
Picking with a guitar pick;
Proper sitting position;
Left hand technique in highest register first before you go down the neck to😅 the 1st fret;
Right hand/left hand synchronization;
No tempo practice (to learn the techniques free of body tension);
Tempo practice with a metronome;
Chords;
Scales;
and rhythm.
THIS ALL BEFORE YOU GET INTO PLAYING WITH A SLANTED HAND FOR ROCK AND BLUES SCALES AND GENRES.
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.
Nice!!
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.
Ya gotta put your best finger forward.
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?
If I rotate my hand like this my fingers are starting to mute other strings
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".
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.
Major error in this video:
Look at where he puts his guitar - IN THE FOLK POSITION. This not where a beginner starts.
YOU START IN THE CLASSICAL POSITION TO LEARN PROPER TECHNIQUES AND FUNDAMENTALS OF PLAYING GUITAR.
THE CLASSICAL POSITION IS:
Put the guitar on your left knee. Put your foot on a foot stool or a set of books. Your left should slant out 20 degrees on the foot stool. Your right foot should be flat on the floor. The neck of head stock of your guitar (where the nut and running pegs are) should be eye level with your eyes. YOU SHOULD BE SETTING WITH YOUR BACK STRAIGHT AND YOUR BUTT NEAR THE EDGE OF YOUR CHAIR.
DO NOT DO THIS ON A COUCH OR ON A BED!👈🏿
The guitar should be balanced to where guitar should not fall or lean. You should then able to bring your left hand to the guitar neck with ease free from twisting your able or hand.
YOU SHOULD START AT THE HIGHEST REGISTER (10th through the 21st frets) BECAUSE AS A BEGINNER YOU HAVE NOT DEVELOPED THE FINGER DEXTERITY TO FRET AT THE LOWEST REGISTER (1st through the 5th frets) YET!👈🏿👀
YOUR FINGERS SHOULD BE CURLED AT THE SMALLEST KNUCKLES ALLOWING YOUR FINGERTIPS TO EASILY LAND ON THE STRINGS AND FRETS.
YOUR THUMB SHOULD BE DIRECTLY BEHIND THE MIDDLE FINGER OR LEAST BETWEEN THE FIRST AND MIDDLE FINGER.
YOUR WRIST SHOULD BE FLAT AND STRAIGHT WITH MAYBE A TINY BEND BUT NOT MUCH!
SIT AND POSE IN THIS POSITION AND RELAX PLUS NOTICE ANY TENSION IN YOUR BODY (A big hinderance to playing guitar).👈🏿
Well if you switch to the classical guitar position, putting the guitar on your left knee, you will not have any of your problems. 🤷🏾♂️
EITHER WAY YOU STILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE GUITAR CRUCIBLE OF PROPER FUNDAMENTALS AND TECHNIQUES TO BE A SUCCESS AT GUITAR.
JUST LIKE A MILITARY BOOT CAMP. YOU GOT TO BE DEPROGRAMMED AND REPROGRAMMED WITH THE PROPER FUNDAMENTALS AND TECHNIQUES TO SURVIVE AND BE A SUCCESS AT GUITAR PLAYING.
NO WAY AROUND IT BECAUSE YOU JUST CHEATING YOURSELF NOT DOING IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME👈🏿😬
Why are you yelling in multiple comments lol
@ shidddd I don’t know I was.😆😆😂😂🤣. I didn’t know letters had voices! My damn, my ole buddy.😆😆😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
@ I am sorry sir. It is a habit I have because I feel like people don’t notice or understand my comments.
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
@@holderrrrnamehe is wrong, you should play whatever you want to play