Prepare To Play Guitar
Begin with Proper Mechanics
Don't learn bad habits. Prepare to play guitar the right way by understanding how to hold your guitar; standing and sitting with a guitar; holding a pick; smooth chord changes; palm muting; and more.
Bad habits might help you play notes, chords, or riffs in the beginning. But eventually they will slow you down, make chord changes more difficult, impair your rhythm while strumming, or otherwise frustrate you in unpredictable ways. If you prepare to play guitar using established successfully habits, you'll avoid the pain of having to change later on.
This lesson gives you some of the boring, but important, basics.
- How to sit or stand with your guitar
- How to adjust your guitar strap
- Proper hand positions
- Terminology for your fingers
- How to hold the pick
Know Your Fingers
Chord charts, instruction books, and music notation sometimes refer to specific fingers. This often makes it how to play a chord or a passage.
The only way to understand these notations when you prepare to play, is to know how authors refer to your hands.
The notation for the hand used on the fretboard (the left hand for most of us) is:
- 'T' for the thumb
- '1' for the index finger
- '2' for the middle finger
- '3' for the ring finger
- '4' for the little finger
The other hand, used to strum or pluck the strings (the right hand for most of us) is:
- 'P' for the thumb
- 'I' for the index finger
- 'M' for the middle finger
- 'A' for the ring finger
The letters are taken from classical or flamenco guitar, and reflect their Spanish roots. The letters stand for Pulgar (thumb), Indice (index), Medio (middle), and Anular (ring).
How To Hold The Pick
It's very easy to properly hold a pick, once you know how. As you prepare to play, learn the proper way.
The proper grip will prevent the pick from coming loose and falling to the floor as you strum your favorite song.
The key is to place the pick on top of the knuckle of your index finger, then press down on the pick with your thumb. The result is a clamp that holds the pick firmly in place. You can adjust the amount of pick that is exposed, or the direction of the end of the pick, to your satisfaction.
If you spend a few minutes ensuring you have a proper pick grip as you prepare to play or practice, it quickly becomes second nature. See the short video demonstration:
Click the PLAY button to see the proper way to hold a pick
If you try to hold the pick with the pad of your finger and thumb, which initially feels very comfortable and flexible, it will come loose as you begin to strum with energy.
Click the PLAY button to understand how NOT to hold a pick
Hand and Wrist Position (Chord Hand)
The fretboard hand, used to form chords and press on the correct sting and fret for solos and melodic lines, should form a mostly straight line with the upper arm, with a cupped hand. As you prepare to play, think about how you're holding this hand and arm.
The thumb should apply pressure to the back of the neck nearly opposite from your middle finger. Moving the thumb slightly toward the ring finger helps to widen your grip so you can apply pressure with all fingers. This helps with scales, riffs, and some chords.
Unless required for a particular chord or riff, do not lay the thumb over the top of the neck. It will be in the way and prevent you from making proper chord forms.
The wrist, which must be bent for some chord forms, should not routinely bend or bend harshly. Doing so can lead to pain and problems.
Sitting To Play
I'm not aware of any ergonomic study on seating positions for proper mechanics. So this is purely what I've gathered from personal experience as I think about how I prepare to play.
Comfort is important, but consistency is the key when sitting down to play... especially for new players. If you're moving the guitar around as you change from standing to sitting, it will take much longer to develop a comfort level with the instrument. Worse, you'll needlessly frustrate yourself.
You're trying to learn chord forms... fret positions... and finger positions... all while NOT looking at your hands. Try to keep the guitar in the same position, relative to where your hands naturally rest on the guitar, every single time you pick it up to play.
| SIDEBAR: You're not looking at your hands, are you? If you are, glance at your hands as you're learning chords, strings, notes... but then STOP. In the long run your ears will work smoothly with your fingers. Your hands will find the right positions and the right notes... playing will require less effort... and you won't lose your place when you read music. |
The most consistent position is typically achieved when you rest the waist of the guitar on your right thigh (for right handed players... left leg for you lefties). Slightly elevating your thigh also helps. You can do this by resting only the ball of your foot on the floor... using a guitar foot stool... or by using a chair with a support brace and placing your foot there.
As you prepare to play, take a minute to find the right seating position. Begin by standing with your guitar, then sit down. If your guitar moves substantially, stand back up. Adjust the strap. Adjust how you hold the guitar. Try again.
It may help to find a chair that is adjustable.
It may help to place a phone book under your foot.
Experiment a bit and find a seating position that keeps your guitar in a consistent place once you sit.
Proper mechanics when sitting leads to faster learning, less discomfort, less frustration.
Standing To Play
It may look cool to loosen your strap and allow the guitar to hang at knee level, but it's not proper mechanics. I'm not saying you can't do this... just wait until you master the basics, O.K.?
Basics first... cool later. Prepare to play and practice properly, then create your own style.
Comfort is the most important consideration when standing. By that, I mean hand and arm comfort. To achieve hand and arm comfort, you ned to adjust your guitar strap.
Adjust your strap until the guitar is high enough that your strumming arm can grip the guitar body near your elbow, and your fretboard hand can move between chords with your wrist mostly straight.
Gripping the guitar with your strumming arm helps to stabilize the instrument.
Keeping your wrist mostly straight avoids pain and problems.
Try sitting down (see Sitting To Play, above). If your guitar moves up too much as you sit, you may need to shorten the strap a bit. Conversely, if the strap is too short, it's hard to get the guitar over your head and the body will be too close to your chin.