Left Hand Technique for Classical Guitar

Introducing left hand technique for guitar.  For most of us, the left hand is our non-dominant hand (most of us are right-handed).  So training our left hand to what it’s told can be challenging.

Here you’ll find links to resources on training and developing your left hand for classical guitar.

• The Basics – Start here for general rules of form, positioning and movement.
• How to Sit and Hold a Guitar – For the left hand to work at its best, we need to get the guitar neck at the proper angle.  This article will help. (If short on time, scroll down the page and look at the pictures.)
• Left-Hand Exercise (Slurs) – Slurs are perhaps the best all-around exercise for the left hand. They have it all – strength, control, dexterity, independence…. If you do just one left-hand exercise, slurs should be it.
• Scales – Scales synchronize the hands, and train accuracy and precision.
• Chords – In classical guitar music, the left hand spends most of the time playing chords (or fragments of chords).  Chords are the patterns that occur in classical guitar music, and are therefore well worth the practice.

Left Hand Technique for Positioning, Form, and Function

• Free the Left Wrist – This tutorial will show you how to keep more freedom in your left wrist, so your notes are easier to get to.  This is great for troubleshooting difficult left-hand passages in music.
• How to Play Guitar With Less Left-Hand Tension.  –
• A Guide to Guitar Thumbs – Includes tips on the left thumb.
• Finger Independence and Stretch – Find methods to develop more independence between your left fingers.
• The Buzzed Notes Exercise – An exercise to train appropriate tension and pressure.
• More Comfortable Bar Chords – Bar chords are strenuous.  This lesson will help you play them more comfortably.

All Articles on Left-Hand Technique