Hand/Finger positioning on the neck

Hi All,

I would appreciate some feedback on an issue I feel that I have and trying to resolve - hand/finger positioning on the strings/frets. I'm new with the Guitar.

I do perform warmup exercise which I found on this site, specifically 3, 4 finger warmup, finger warmup and physical exercise for my wrist, fingers. I perform the noted warm up for about 10 min before I attempt to take any lesson. My time with the Guitar is 30 minutes a few 60 minute days during the week. I have problems with my wrist position, fingers angle, fingers lay on other strings. I do place them where they should be with my picking hand, hold around 30 sec, release for about 30 sec then place fingers where they should be.

Below is a picture at the end of a 4 finger warmup. If you can advise your option, correction, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Bob

Hey Bob,

I think that Christopher Schlegel's lesson on left hand technique would help you greatly with this particular matter.

https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson/10654

However, it would probably serve you well to do the entire 5 lesson tutorial, starting with how to hold a pick. You don't want to pick up any bad habits at this early stage.

I think that you would get more bang for your buck if instead of holding a chord for 30 seconds, you instead just try to "grab" the chord (at a comfortable speed), then plucking the strings one at a time to isolate any fingers that are out of position. Then immediately release and grab again - over and over. You'll acquire muscle memory much quicker that way.

And always be mindful that your fingers are contacting the fretboard at a right angle (perpendicular). You may need to rotate your wrist under the neck a bit more to do this. In your picture, some of your fingers are less than perpendicular.

Sascha

BP9,

Thanks for including the photo - that is helpful. Your hand postion looks to be in good shape from that picture. Your 30-second-hold plan is excellent for stretching and strengthening your fingers, developing their aim and their sense of 'feel' for the fretboard.

Keep in mind that the ultimate goal in learning to make music on the guitar is the FLOW of the music. Getting from chord-to-chord, or from note-to-note ON TIME, and with good confident clarity. You will need finger strength and flexibility for that, but you will also need to build in confident certainty in your chord-placement, and the ability to get the timing spot on. 

aliasmaximus gives excellent advice in the above reply to your question when they say:  "I think that you would get more bang for your buck if instead of holding a chord for 30 seconds, you instead just try to "grab" the chord (at a comfortable speed), then plucking the strings one at a time to isolate any fingers that are out of position. Then immediately release and grab again - over and over. You'll acquire muscle memory much quicker that way."

Great work so far - keep it up, and have fun!

-Lisa

Thank you for the replies, suggestions.

Bob

@aliasmaximus that advice about repeatedly “grabbing” the chord instead of holding it for 30 seconds really makes sense. I’m still pretty new too, and I noticed my hand relaxes and remembers the shape better when I practice transitions that way instead of just static holding. sports games

The point about keeping the fingers more perpendicular also helped me realize I was collapsing my knuckles too much near the higher strings.