Finger Watching

How important is it to NOT watch your fretting hand? Should I be working on this skill along with the other skills, or will it come naturally over time? I would like to hear some opinions on this.

Thanks!

In my opinion you should watch the fretting hand.

Carmine

I have to watch the fretting hand,especially on new stuff,or I get all befuzzled. :cool:

Originally Posted by: Eur0fastHow important is it to NOT watch your fretting hand? Should I be working on this skill along with the other skills, or will it come naturally over time? I would like to hear some opinions on this.

Thanks!

Don't think about it. It just happens and even then, you will always need to take a look for one reason or another. You just get comfortable with where everything is on the fretboard and then you find you just don't look as much. Just happens. Worry about all the other stuff to learn.

More along the lines of what Jeff said. It's not really a yes or no answer. Over time you will notice that you don't always have to look. Other times, especially for a lot of chord or position changes, you pretty much have to look. It's not something major that you should focus on though. It'll "balance" itself out for you over time.

Think of it as learning to ride a bike. In the beginning you're looking at the handle bars, the front tire, your feet on the pedals... just to make sure you're doing everything right. Eventually you just get up and go. Looking down the road.

You'll get to that point as well. When you can go from a G to a C without thinking about it at all. You'll still look when you make position shifts, when you're playing in the open position and then you need to move to the 7th fret, you'll look, its okay.