Folks A few tips on the left hand position: * Fingertips vertical to strings Stop the strings as close to the frets as you can w/o damping the sound, such that there is no buzz from the fret. Bring your fingers down as nearly as possible at right angles to the plane of the fingerboard. The pressure of their tips on the strings is balanced by the thumb, w/o any undue tension * Thumb straight, stationary and opposite fingers Keep the left hand thumb positioned opposite the fingers and in contact with the neck near a line down the middle of the neck. As you ascend from 6th string to 1st, the thumb moves very slightly around the neck from the middle to the side of the fingerboardaway from you. * Finger flexion on changing strings Since the thumb moves only slightly enought to maintain the tips of the fingers vertical to the fretboard, the fingers must bend more at the middle joints as you ascend from 6th string to 1st * Knuckles parallel to strings make sure that the ine of the knuckles stays parallel to the edge of the fingerboard. A good way is to imagine you are trying to keep the palm at the base of the little finger nearer to the edge of the fingerboard than the palm at the base of the 1st finger * Relaxed wrist In any fret position, you need to keep the basic posture of the hand in relation to the fingerboard constant. The wrist stays relaxed * One finger per fret If the knuckles are parallel to the edge of the fingerboard, each finger naturally overlies a different fret-space * Economy of movement It is important that there should be a minimum of unnecessary movement of the fingers. Otherwise ease and speed are compromised and the finger movements will waste effort and look untidy. The fingertips should stay close to the fingerboard, so that they move only a short distance to stop the strings * Checking the indentations Because each finger shol ddescend on the strings at a constant point on its tip, you will find the flesh of the tip becomes indented and forms a callus. As a general rule, indentations on the middle finger should lie parallel to the fingerboard. Next week I will shoue you the right hand technique for Flamenco guitar. Cheers
