How to hold your fingers when playing guitar?

The quality of guitar playing depends on the correct position of both hands and good training of the fingers.... The beginner needs to understand that at first he should pay attention to simple exercises, when working on which it is possible to control the fit with the instrument, the position of the hands and fingers on the strings and neck, the technique of sound production and the reproduced sound. Beautiful sound is the main task of a musician... And it is the hands that are responsible for it - both the right and the left.

First of all, you should learn how to properly sit with the guitar., it is convenient to hold it using either the classic fit on the left thigh, or holding the instrument on the right thigh.

This is due to several reasons, which will be discussed below.

1. Without the participation of the right hand, holding the guitar is impossible.... The left hand in the first lessons of the classical guitar is static, and its role in supporting the instrument is small. Other playing styles involve the left hand being more important in stabilizing the instrument. From this it turns out that the right hand and fingers need to be put in place already in the first lesson at the same time as the landing training.
2. Nothing prevents the right hand from mastering the first exercises for sound production on open strings: busting, playing with alternating fingers on the strings with various techniques and striking the strings with a simple strike. You should switch to pressing the strings with the fingers of the left hand after the fingers of the right hand feel confident when extracting sounds.
3. The left hand still helps beginners to hold the guitar in a comfortable position., additionally fixing the body in an accessible place (for example, by placing the palm of your hand on the shell under the neck).

The location of the fingers on the strings for practicing the correct setting of both themselves and the hand as a whole, as well as for playing the first strokes, should be as follows:

• the thumb is placed on any bass string: sixth, fifth or fourth;
• the index, middle and ring fingers are superimposed from below on thin strings: the third, second and first, respectively;
• the little finger of the left hand is rarely used in the game, so it is located next to the ring finger so as not to interfere with the sound of the strings and not to hinder the movements of the other fingers.

Besides, forearm and hand should be in one straight line - no fractures up or down... All this is demonstrated in the images above.

When it comes time to use your left hand, the rules for placing it on the neck of the guitar are as follows::

• the elbow should be spaced from the guitarist's body in such a way as to maximize the wrist and finger lines parallel to the fretboard sills;
• the thumb is installed strictly across the neck from the back (its task is to compensate for the pressure of the playing fingers on the strings from the front side, thereby balancing the opposite forces acting on the neck);
• the place where the thumb is placed depends on the playing fingers: it is located between the index and middle fingers;
• almost the entire hand is behind the neck on the front side and has a rounded shape - this is the only way to correctly position your fingers on the strings;
• the clamping of the strings is carried out between the frets of the frets with the pads of the fingers, while the last phalanges should be perpendicular to the plane of the fretboard.

What should not be allowed when playing with the left hand categorically:

• displacement of the thumb from the “across” position to the “along the neck” position;
• setting the thumb to the "one-point stop" (pad) position, in which the hand cannot be brought to the front side of the neck: only the last two phalanges of the playing fingers reach there (this violates all the rules for setting the left hand);
• Excessive force when pressing the strings is fraught with health of the muscles of the hand.

The traditional designations of the fingers of the left and right hands of guitarists have long been established.

On the right hand, the fingers are designated by Latin letters, which are the first in their traditional names in Spanish:

P - large (pulgar);

i - index (indice);

m - medium (medio);

a - nameless (anular).

The left hand has digital numbers for its playing fingers. Here are their numbers:

• the index is numbered 1;
• the middle is indicated by the number 2;
• nameless - 3;
• Little finger assigned number 4.

In some guitar styles, the thumb is used to clamp the fifth and sixth strings. Then it is designated by the Latin letter "T". In the flamenco guitar, the little finger of the right hand is widely used when performing the rasgeado technique - it is denoted by the letter "e".

Guitar chords need to learn to clamp in one move... Beginners will not be able to do this right away, it takes time and constant training. It is especially difficult to play those chords that are taken with the barre technique, when the index finger presses all or part of the strings on some fret, and the rest simultaneously - several strings side by side.

To quickly rearrange chords, you must first learn some of them in an open position. (without barre).This is the chord: Am, A, A7, Dm, D, D7, Em, E, E7, C, C7, G, G7... It is on these chords in different harmonic sequences that you should train your fingers quickly.

All named harmonies can be found here:

There are several recommendations:

• you need to start placing your fingers in a chord with the bass strings;
• you should use the general sounds of the just played chord and the next one (if any, the fingerings of the general sounds are saved);
• you can increase the preparation time for the next chord by removing the previous structure on the last beat before the transition (hitting open strings).

There are other ways, but for beginners, they are quite difficult to understand. You can refer to them later when simple chords are played fluently and in a timely manner.

Better to train to start with a combination Em-Am-C-D: