One Trick for Perfect Hand Positioning

In this lesson, I will show you an easy exercise to practice that will make sure your frethand is in the proper position for playing scales and bar chords.

As I mention in the video lesson, there are many playing instances when this "perfect" hand position is not suitable. For things like open chords, bends and vibrato, I more angled hand position is preferable and more natural to your hands.

But, for a majority of chord and scale playing, having the your palm parallel to the bottom of the fretboard with the proper amount of spacing, along with arched fingers that come down straight onto the string will be the most economical way to play. Economical meaning that it requires the least amount of finger pressure as possible along with being the most mobile.

One of the greatest classical guitar players of all-time, the great David Russell, uses this practice technique to maintain optimal hand positioning in his playing. If fact, I learned this from attending one of his masterclasses. :)

There are many different hand types, so it is difficult to nail down an exact way to tell someone to position their fingers. The great thing about the exercises I demonstrate in this video lesson is that it is impossible to do unless you place your hand in the best position for YOUR HANDS.

Leave a comment and let me know how this worked for you!

Carl...

[BoltRM]

Keep in mind when doing any kind of muscle exercise, it takes a week or 2 before you notice an effect & it starts to become easier..

[khuprock]

as a self taught player... these little things gets unnoticed when you start out and becomes a habit... thanks for the tips.

[chesterxman]

I suspect your fretting hand is actually a well trained tarantula.

[SinkMan]

Guitarists hate him

Learn how one man used this simple trick to fix his fingering positions

[michaelshand]

As a keyboardist of some 25+ years, I am working hard to declare the guitar as my official second instrument. I'm obviously accustomed to moving one figure each and every time I play a note, so exercises like this are particularly helpful in visualizing the fretboard and executing scales more like a true guitarist. Much appreciated.

[Steve-nqjc]

Great advice, I've been playing for 17 years and this advice is solid. Even someone with my experience needs a technique refresh. Clean and precise playing is what matters to me.

[aretejamodi]

You just taught me something I've been struggling with for 3 years. THANK YOU!

[bjm]

Great tip. Just tried it and although not immediate it has already helped my positioning, speed as well as increasing my bar chord strength. Keep up the good work.

[ProAdi]

Tried it and I've immediately noticed that the bar strength is through the roof with this technique, while before I could barely hit the bar properly, I really had to flex to hit it ok. Also this way it feels more natural, kind of that this is a way it's meant to be.

[sportscardchannel]

I've been playing Guitar since I was 13 years old. Now I'm 42. It's always good to learn something new on the guitar.

[wcnmvp]

This was awesome! Since I'm left-handed and playing a right-handed guitar, leads aren't easy to play and my positioning was always off. This trick worked wonders and made a world of difference!

[leonardocastilhone]

I know I'm probably a little delayed but just come across your channel and this video, and I gotta say: I've been playing guitar for almost 30 years, learned a lot of techniques, with a bunch of different teachers and teaching methods, but I've never seen a so perfect practicing technique to master hand positioning as I saw in this video... I started to play at a very young age, so, for me, it's kind of a second nature what I do with my hands/fingers; and because of that, I've never been able to convey to my son how exactly I play, so It's been very frustrating while trying to teach him. Now I saw a light at the end of the tunnel hehehe. Thank you so much for doing this! I'm sharing your video with him right now!

[oldguitarguy]

I havent taken a lesson in THIRTY FIVE years, this exercise made my hand sore. Ive been playing for 40 years

[a_handshake_of_carbon_monoxide]

small points like these eventually play a prime role in building the perfect technique. huge thanks for this video.

[cIappo]

I just had an ad for a guitar tutorial saying YouTube guitar tutorials are crap and then it wanted me to follow another YouTube tutorial for playing. I love it

[ShuriBear]

This is one of the most helpful tips I have encountered when it comes to fret hand thumb positioning. Thank you!

[emaitchess]

that was kinda the fastest fix to some of the major problems with my scale positioning, thank you

[dalebrandenburger]

I just started trying to correct this problem in my playing after years of doing it wrong. I will try this approach right away! Thanks

[ale]

What a brilliant lesson. Also, playing with slanted fingers prompts sloppier playing and slipping off strings. Landing straight on the string with the finger tip creates much better tone. Thank you!

[BEXIVLOGS]

Any time I’m looking for good information & search for answers; your videos pop up. I really appreciate you putting these tips on here for free. Thanks a bunch