Anchoring Fingers

I have a question about this technique...

I've seen some teaching methods that say you should anchor the fingers of the left hand on the fret board until it's necessary to move to the next string. Like if you were playing a chromatic sequence (1, 2, 3, 4) you would keep the first three fingers pressed on the frets behind the fourth finger then move to the next string and start over again.

But other methods say you should lift each finger as the next one comes down to develop a more flowing hand as well as greater finger independence/strength.

I suppose it's a matter of opinion but I'd like to see what others have to say about their experiences with either approach, the pros and cons of both so to speak.

Thanks for any insight.

It depends on what sound you are going for. The difference is the flow it will give to what your playing.

The first technique is good for the chromatic scale because it will give a sense of flowing into each note, rather than the choppiness of the second technique. This technique is best used when playing hammer-ons and pull-offs.

The second technique will give you more of a acuity to each note you play. The downfall is that, it can sound rather sloppy if not precisely played. Because if your pulling your finger off after the note your playing, your changing its sound by either semi-muting it or sounding the string your playing by pulling off. This makes it more difficult to control, but then again it might be the sound your looking for.

In the end, I guess it’s your call to which you use. The way you want to play something will answer it. My opinion is to go with the first technique with your normal playing style, and use the second for whenever you want that particular sound when playing.

I don't realy mind about such things nowadays, but when I began learning guitar , I was told to anchor my fingers specialy for pull-offs , and it helped.

The most important thing about pull-offs is to make sure that finger you're pulling into is in place just before you pull.

Also for picking , you should have your fretting finger in place just before you pick.

So when you're playing a chromatic chop like the example you mentioned (wether you're picking or making a legato) , you don't have to anchor the three fingers at once, just make sure that each finger is in position before it's played.

If you are playing fast, anchoring your fingers just won't cut it. After you have held a certain note for it's duration, start moving that finger to it's next note in whatever pattern you're playing. This way, the finger will already be directly above it's next fret when it's time to play the note. It keeps the tempo fluid.

For example, if you are playing a simple A Minor scale...

|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-------------5-7-|
|-------5-7-8-----|
|-5-7-8-----------|

Once your ring finger has hit the B note on the E string, your index finger should be up and on it's way to the 5th string to catch the D after your pinky gets the C. If you hold your index finger on the A until it's time to go to the D, there will be a gap between the C on the E string and the D on the A string.

On the note that it hurts your tone, it can if you let your technique be sloppy. You must wait until your ring finger is solidly in place on the string before moving your index finger or you will get unwanted noise... if you practice correct technique, however, this shouldn't be a problem. Hope this helps...

That's what I was thinking.

Either way sounds pretty much the same because I've spent so long developing both techniques but some of the methods that say you should anchor the fingers say that it's very important that you do so but they don't ever explain why it's so important. I thought maybe it was a health issue or something.

Personally I would think that anchoring the fingers would be a waste of energy and promote unnecessary tension but I wasn't sure if there was something I just wasn't seeing.

Thanks guys for the advice, it's appreciated.