How to Play Guitar: Finger Agility

Over the last few years, I’ve been teaching myself to sing; this requires learning to project your voice, and hit the correct pitches. Now, this may sound easy- surely using your voice comes naturally? Well, the truth is being able to sing is far from being a natural ability.

With some people, yes, it is natural to sing from a young age, with others it’s not so innate- either way, proper singing technique is not something that we’re born with. We have to learn how to use our voices properly- even though almost everyone is born with a voice! The same is true (for your hands) in guitar playing.

The Re-Learning Curve

It’s very difficult to suddenly have to re-learn how to use something that has almost become instinctual- like learning a new language- but this is exactly what I’ve had to do to learn to sing. In order to teach myself singing technique I’ve had to re-learn how to use my voice, and -trust me- I’ve been able to use my voice since I can remember!

So, in order to learn proper guitar technique it’s not totally crazy to expect to have to re-learn how to use your hands (at least while there’s a guitar in them…). This is where many beginner guitarists go wrong. I have to admit, it’s sometimes difficult to accept that a technique that feels “natural”, or “comfortable” may, in fact, be wrong and hindering your ability!

Try to see it from this point of view: playing guitar is not a natural action- not even as natural as singing! We didn’t evolve to play the guitar, we invented the guitar to be used by our (already evolved) hands. Yes, there is a correct technique for playing the guitar with economy of motion and speed, but it’s not always the one that “comes naturally” to us.

Hand Mechanics

If you’ve not already read my page on hand mechanics, then I suggest you do so; if you have, then you’ll know that I think of the hand as a mechanical device. Inside your hand are many muscles and tendons, but (for simplicity) I like to think of these as divided into certain groups depending on what they do.

Essentially, there are several different ways that your fingers can move (each associated with a muscle group). They can bend (go from curled up to straight), move apart from one another (as in the star trek “Mr. Spock” sign), or move backwards and forwards (bending at the knuckle). How many of those ways do you think are needed to play guitar?

Mechanical Motions

With the correct posture and hand position (and forgetting when you need to bend a note) you only need to use two of these types of movement to play the guitar. Can you guess which ones?

I’ll give you a clue, when you need to reach for wide stretches, you are moving your fingers apart- so you definitely need that motion. What about the other two? Well, what is left? Pushing the strings down to fret notes. Which motion do you use to fret notes?

I realise I’m oversimplifying a bit here, but the muscles required to curl your fingers, to form a fist, or to grip are directly linked to the muslces in your arm. Your arm muscles are designed for power, and heavy lifting- actions which need you to lock your wrist straight (you would never pick up a heavy object with bent wrists!). So what does that leave?

That’s right! The main muscles you should use to fret notes are the ones which move your fingers forwards and backwards (bending at the knuckle)- NOT the muscles you would use to grip or lift with!

Now, the whole hand and arm is connected, so it’s actually more complicated than that (like I said, I’ve oversimplified it to make it easier), but this is the idea behind economy of motion in guitar technique. Use only the muscles you really need- the rest are just creating extra tension and pulling your hand in different directions (actually making it harder to play).

The hand is like a machine, and it’s able to perform many functions. Are you using yours most effectively way for playing guitar? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Rob.

March 22, 2010 at 11:00 pm | Guitar Technique and Exercises, How to | 1 comment

One Response to “How to Play Guitar: Finger Agility”

1. Nailing It with the Hammer-on! | Chainsaw Guitar Tuition says:

   29/06/2010 at 11:04 pm

   [...] of motion comes playing speed (without any extra tension), and with good strong fingers comes finger independence and agility, but by practicing hammer-ons and pull offs you’re strengthening your fingers at the same [...]