Here’s something that many guitarists get wrong.
If your fingers are struggling to play something…
…Don’t make the common mistake of ONLY moving your fingers to try to solve the issue.
For example, if a chord buzzes, notes are dead, or there are scale notes you just can’t reach…
It’s tempting to only focus on moving the finger(s) that is causing the problem.
…BUT a lot of the time, there are other hidden underlying issues.
It might be your hand is aligned incorrectly.
It might be that your wrist is bent awkwardly and adding tension to the hand.
It might be that your fretting hand’s elbow is “locked” in a bad position.
There are a lot of things that could be causing the issue.
And often they have a big knock-on effect on the fingers.
The thing to remember is that your whole body affects the way you play guitar.
The seat you sit on, the posture you use, your shoulders, elbow, forearm, and wrist position…
These all affect your playing in a variety of ways.
Many guitarists overlook this, and to be honest, it’s easy to do. When I was playing, I don’t think I ever thought about these things until I started teaching. Even then, it took me some time to see the importance of all these details.
Sadly, I think there is a huge lack of understanding of this sort of stuff in the guitar tuition world, but the good thing is if you start looking at your body as a whole when you play, and you think about how every part of your body has some influence on your fingers to varying degrees…
You’ll start to find ways to improve all the details
And as we know, on this instrument, it’s the details that matter.
Anyway, for more help on this…
You might like to check out the eBooks in my bundle.
Essential Guitar Technique in particular is a powerful guide on technique that covers the key areas that most people struggle with.
Guitar Domination Super eBook Bundle
Dan Thorpe
Guitar Domination
P.P.S. Speaking of technique, I’ve just released a brand-new episode of the Acoustic Asylum podcast. In this episode, I’m talking about this sort of thing, and there’s even an unusual reference to a modern-day classic Christopher Nolan movie and how that can help us think about these issues better. You can listen to the episode on Apple devices here – Listen to the Acoustic Asylum
…Or you can listen in a variety of other ways HERE
P.S. This post was originally taken from Dan Thorpe’s private email list. To get blog posts like this sent to you which are full of great tips to make fingerpicking, strumming, and learning guitar more enjoyable (especially if you are over 40) join Dan’s list. It’s 100% free, HERE.
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