Your Classical Guitar Input Here

Left-Hand

by Abdul Mohsen
(K.S.A , Jeddah)

Hi,

I just want to ask you about the left hand. I'm a beginner and l'm having a problem with my left hand.

Are there any exercises I can do to make my left hand be fast and accurate on the strings?

Thank you.

Hi Abdul,

My first suggestion would be to learn and play scales. This is not only good for your left hand development but your right hand at the same time because you need to co-ordinate both hands if you want to play well.

Scott Tennant, wring in his excellent book Pumping Nylon mentions there are many misconceptions about speed when playing the guitar.

He goes on to say there are four main elements to be mastered for the development of speed namely: Righ hand velocity; Synchronisation of the right and left hands; String crossing; Piecing together.

He then goes on to give explanations and musical practice examples which are all highly useful.

But to retun to your main concern, when thinking about speed, you must practice the above-mentioned scales at a slow speed and increase the speed only gradually as you improve.

If you try to play too fast too soon you're only practicing mistakes which will form into a bad habit that you'll then need to break.

Studies (etudes), arpeggios and other repertoire will round out your skill over time.

In fact, the studies that have been written in the past by people like Fernando Sor, Carcassi, Carulli, Aguado and Giuliani will really improve your playing of both hands if you learn them in an ordered or graded fashion.