Introductory Lesson 3

Using Your Hands Correctly

Playing the guitar is all about using your hands correctly. In this lesson we talk mostly about fingering the strings with our left hand (for right handers), and picking the strings with our right hand (also for right handers.)

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Picking with your picking hand

At the introductory level there are really only three things we want to emphasize and begin working on. As you get better a playing the guitar you'll learn different ways to pick, strum and mute the strings with your right hand*, but for now we just want to get you going in the right direction.

Holding the Pick

The pick is held between your thumb and forefinger and rests on your (slightly tucked) middle finger as pictured here. The pick is usually aligned, more or less, with the forefinger, and the tip of the pick protrudes roughly 1/4" beyond the fingers. This allows you to keep your hand fairly close to the strings, and makes it easy to control the movement of the pick. If too much of the pick protrudes from the fingers it becomes difficult to be precise with your picking action.

[Photos/Video required - 1. Pick between finger/thumb. 2. Pick resting on 3rd finger. 3. Amount of protrusion.]

Anchoring youir picking hand

You want your picking hand to be as steady as possible because picking patterns can be quite precise. Many guitar players anchor their picking hand by extending their pinky finger below the strings and lightly holding it against the body of the guitar. There may be times when you use two fingers (pinky plus third) for even more stability. How you do this will be a matter of preference. The"correct" technique is the one that works for you.

Alternate Picking

This is something you may not appreciate as a new guitar player, but it is something you should learn right fromn the beginning. The mnost "natural" picking motion tends to be all down strokes. But alternating between down and up strokes will let you develop much more picking speed as you get better at playing. This requires finding the correct angle of "attack" that works for both directions.

The only way to develop a smooth, fluid alternate picking technique is to practice as in the accompanying video.

Fingering Hand Technique

Again, there is no "correct" techmnique, but if you watch accomplished guitar players you will notice two or three different fingering styles. The important thing is to put your hand in a position so your fingers can press down on individual strings cleanly - without touching adjacent strings. This usually means bending your fingers around so they are somewhat vertical to the string when pressing down. You have to avoid laying them flat across the strings.

First, you obviously have to trim you finger nails or they won't allow you to hold your finger in the correct vertical position against the string.

The biggest area of difference among guitar players has to do with what you do with the thumb of your fingering hand. Classical guitar players are taught to keep the thumb under the neck and more or less straightened so your fingering hand does not rest directly against the bottom of the neck. This keeps the fingering hand rotated around to the top of the guitar, and your fingers vertical.

This works for them because of the way the guitar is held. Classical guitarists usually play in a seated position with the gutar resting on their left knee*, and the guitar itself held in a more vertical position. The left arm is bent up towards the neck of the instrument and the fingering hand does not have to support the instrument. It is free to move up and down the neck while the guitar is supported by pressing it down against the left knee.

Guitar players who do not belong to the classical tradition (rock/folk/country -referred to here as the "popular" tradition) do it somewhat differently. They often play standing up with a strap holding the guitar in position. And when they are seated they almost always rest the guitar on their right knee. This means the guitar is held in a more horizontal position with the left (fingering) arm extended out. The hand tends to grasp the neck of the instrument because it helps to keep the neck in a correct playing position.

As a result the hand can not comfortably be rotated under the neck of the guitar (because the arm is extended) and the thumb tends to be held at the side of the neck, usually somewhat bent around the neck. Some "popular" tradition guitar players (usually people with long fingers) even use their thumb to finger the low E string.

The critical thing is to get the finger tips as vertical as possible while keeping your hand in a comfortable position.

In other words it is tuned to take advantage of the four finger classic setup.

Five Frets Apart!

As a result, the guitar strings are five frets apart. If you play up the A string, for example, you get to the fourth finger, and then can move to the open G string for the next semi-tone without having to move your entire hand up the neck.

The convenience of this is reflected when you play many of the most often used major scales. Take the C Scale for example. Starting at A3 with finger 3 you can go up an octave to B1, and beyond to G without moving your hand.

Or the G Scale is an even better example - two full octaves

So How Are The Strings Tuned

The bottom line is that each higher string is tuned 5 semi-tones - or 5 frets - higher than the previous one. For example, if you play Fret 5 of the A string (string 5) it is the same note as the 0pen value of the D string (string 4).

This makes Fret 5 one of the most important frets on the guitar - a "Super Fret". Most beginning guitar players soon learn that you can use Fret 5 to help you tune your guitar properly. If you have your low E string tuned properly, the next string (A) will be the same as fret 5 of the E string. And the third string (D) will be the same as fret 5 of the A string, and so on.

That is, until you get to the B string (string 2). That one is only 4 frets higher than the previous (G) string. Why the B string is different is due to a decision made by someone many years ago, and no doubt there are good reason why we do it that way - even if it is annoying for most new guitar players.

Now I've been assuming you know what note each individual string is tuned to. In case you don't, the sequence, starting at string 6, the fattest string is E-A-D-G-B-E. Memorize that sequence! You will refer to it a million times in your guitar playing career. A useful way to help you remember this is to memorize the phrase:

Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie

So there you have it. Now you know how and why the guitar is tuned the way it is. All that's left is to learn how to play it!

What's next?

In the next lesson we'll look at hand technique - both your picking/strumming hand, and your fingering hand - and make some observations about the "proper" technique to use.