I saw other people posting "criticise my hand positions" things, and I thought I should do the same. A friend tried to teach me some power chords the other day (specific ones for a specific song), and while they sound allright my fretting hand get very tired. I took some photos to see if I could spot the mistake.
What I could see was that
a) my hand looks crippled, but when I tried to hold my index finger and my pinky that far away from eachother in midair, my hands rest the same way as they do at the guitar, with both fingers pointing inwards and the unised ones haging at an awkward position
b) I think some of the tension comes from the two unused fingers which are just hanging there
c) I'm angling my wrist alot more than usuall when I'm doing this. Perhaps it's because of the pinky? I usually don't do this (at least not this bad)
I tried to use the index finger and the ringfinger, but that way, my thumb hurt.
I've never really used my pinky before, so there are chances that it's just new muscles protesting.
The photos are rather dark, but they should give some indication of whatever is the problem.
1. Where I'm holding my guitar
2. Fretting hand seen from above
3. Seen from the back
4. Where you can see the actual crippledness
Any advice? Is it normal, or can I do anything to improve this?
One thing the jumps out (at least to me) from the pictures, is that your left elbow is too close to your hip. The elbow should be further away from your hip. See how your wrist is bent in the pictures? Well, your elbow should be straight behind your wrist, if possible. If you move your elbow further away from your hip, it will help.
Also, in order to make that more comfortable to do, angle the headstock higher toward the ceiling. That way you don't have to stick your elbow out so far.
Thank you. That sounds probable. I'll try and work on that tonight,
your wrist is bent way too much.
do this:
pretend you are hitch hiking.
stick your hand out in a fist, palm up, wrist stright.
stick out you thumb.
then stand your fingers straight upwards.
then put the guitar neck in the hand.
that is how you hold a guitar for fretting.
Excellent! It looks like I've started a new trend - visual aid. 8^)
I can't critique, but I have a question for those who can. In the second picture the index finger and pinky finger are angled significantly toward each other. I notice I do the same thing, and my index finger callous is actually off center - it starts at the middle of my finger tip and extends toward my thumb - it is not centered in the middel of my finger tip. Is this of any concern.
Oh, yeah - sweet guitar!
my pinkie angles a bit. not that pitched. my index never does that. it looks uncomfortable.
in fact, all those hand positions look uncomfortable.
our hands bend differently. they are unique. to a degree there will be differences.
If the player's elbow moves away from their hip, the pointer finger will "straighten." As for the pinkie, lots of people have slightly bent pinkies - I know I do. When I play and use my pinkie, I use the outside edge of my pinky tip, rather than the tip, because my finger is bent! :shock:
Ditto for the Dogbite advise.
Also.....relax!
Don't fight it, work it.
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Thanks for all the advice. I now angle the guitar more, and I focus on a) that wrist b) freeing the elbow from the waist. c) keeping my index finger straight to prevent it from hurting.
.... and i guess the pinky will behave a bit better when it works up some muscles. It hasn't been doing anything useful for most of it's life, but it's bound to get use to it sooner or later.
And yep KirkD. I saw your post and thought that "hey. That's an idea." It's a bit embarassing , but definitely a good idea"
Yep, your wrist is a little too bent, especially the last photo. Angling the neck up a bit will help. Also as NoteBoat pointed out in the last thread, do not tilt the guitar toward you so that you can see the fingerboard. When you angle the neck up like that you will also notice that it causes your wrist to bend to an extreme. So keep the body of the guitar level, or perpendicular to the floor (like the letter "I", not angled like "" or "/"). That will straighten out your wrist big time. If you have to look to play, look at the dots on the side of the neck.
Your index should not be perfectly straight like when you point. The index should be arched slightly. When holding a barre, slightly roll the index finger toward the thumb. You do not use the side of your index, but roll it about halfway. Hope you know what I am saying. But it is perfectly alright for the finger to remain arched slightly like this "(".
It looks to me like you are really putting a lot of force and pressure on your thumb. I used to do this until I developed a very painful condition. So pay attention to stress and try to relax at all times. You do not play guitar with a death-grip, just the opposite, use the minimum amount of force necessary to fret notes or chords.
Sounds like a lot of criticism, wasn't meant to be. Your pics were not bad really. Get the headstock up a bit, use the edge of your index with a little arch, keep the elbow out a little (not a lot). You are doing fine. Pay attention to stress and try to play with a light touch. :D
Keep rockin'
Wes
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
And yep KirkD. I saw your post and thought that "hey. That's an idea." It's a bit embarassing , but definitely a good idea"
Thanks to both you guys for posting these. I don't have these particular problems but I learned a ton from the advice offered. :D
Don
If you are indeed playing a power chord in those pictures I highly suggest using the rule of thumb: one finger per fret. Your hands look plenty big so you can use your index and middle finger. Using that pinky for that will be a bad habit to get over later. Just a suggestion.
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
Is that so? The person who taught me told me to use my pinky, as she was doing that, though I guess I get how using your pinky for this would make it more difficult to reach the fret further up the neck. So then I'll try and use my ring finger tonight.
Thanks for the tip
Oh, and wes: It didn't look like loads of criticism at all (or well, it did, but that's what I was looking for when posting, so it's all good.) I could see that I seemed to generate bad habits the moment i started to try and learn power chords, but now I can see more specifically which habits are bad, thus what I can work on, so thanks a bunch!
There's a really good piece on tension by Jamie Andreas in the "Lessons" section, "Discover Your Discomfort! - Why Are So Many Guitarists Masochists". I found it really helpful. Also, look for other tension related articles. Good info.
I was having a huge problem with my fretting hand cramping and getting tired. I've been powerlifting for years, and as a result I have pretty strong grip strength. Regardless of this, I was fretting chords as if I was trying to crush the neck, especially any type of barre. I started observing other players, and the good ones made fretting look effortless. I realized that I must be doing something wrong, so I started trying to fret notes using the least amount of pressure I could while still getting a clear tone. I've been making a point of using my fingertips each time I fret a note (except for a barre), and it has helped leaps. I've noticed that now, fretting requires very little thumb pressure.
Also, the hitch hiking analogy is a good one. I've noticed that most pros (acoustic flatpicking, anyway) keeps a straight wrist. It seems to be a much more efficient technique. It feels more comfortable, too. [/url]
