{"id":61108,"date":"2019-10-11T06:00:56","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T13:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/?p=61108"},"modified":"2024-11-06T23:48:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T07:48:46","slug":"look-left-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/look-left-hand\/","title":{"rendered":"Pros and Cons of Looking at Your Left Hand on Guitar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It\u2019s a common question: Should I look at my left hand when I play guitar?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, looking at our <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/left-hand-guitar-position\/\">left-hand technique<\/a> can be useful. Other times, it works against us. So do we, or don\u2019t we? When and why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below, you\u2019ll find several pros and cons to watching your left hand (aka fretting hand) when playing guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"centerc\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"700\" height=\"393\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DgPz7v2PFhs?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;autohide=1\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-pros-benefits-of-looking-at-the-left-hand-when-playing-guitar\">Pros: Benefits of looking at the left hand when playing guitar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Without question, looking at our hand brings advantages when we play guitar. When we know these advantages, we can use looking as a strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-mental-emotional-comfort\">Mental\/emotional Comfort<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As a rule, we feel more in control when we look at what we\u2019re doing. This may be just an emotional comfort &#8211; a feeling. We may or may not actually be more in control. But most people feel more safe and secure when looking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-potentially-better-accuracy\">Potentially better accuracy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When we look at our fingers as we play guitar, we may, at times, have better accuracy. We can look at where we want a finger to land, and increase our chances of landing there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This can be helpful for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/guitar-shifting-positions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">large shifts<\/a>. And it can also help with awkward fingerings, such as chords we have not played before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-may-help-memory-for-visual-learners\">May help memory for visual learners<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a aria-label=\"Visual learners (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/musical-memory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Visual learners<\/a> are those who learn most easily when they see the material or action they want to learn. Visual learners benefit from seeing their fingers go through the movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For these people, seeing the action can help them with learning materials and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/memorize-music\/\">memorizing<\/a> the music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-looks-good-in-performance\">Looks good in performance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In a <a aria-label=\"classical guitar performance (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/8-tips-for-a-better-performance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">classical guitar performance<\/a>, the left hand moves more noticeably than the right hand. Indeed, the fretting hand is where the action is on stage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we look at our hand in performance, we show the audience where to look. We lead them to the point of the action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This makes us look focused and engaged, and can help draw the listeners in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Conversely, some players play with eyes closed or looking in different directions most of the time. This can make us look detached, disengaged, or \u201cspaced out\u201d. And staring at audience members can appear creepy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-cons-downsides-of-looking-at-the-left-hand-when-playing-guitar\">Cons: Downsides of looking at the left hand when playing guitar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking at our hand also has its drawbacks. It comes at a price. Depending on the situation and moment, it may be worth it, or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-can-adversely-affect-balance-and-tension-in-the-body\">Can adversely affect balance and tension in the body<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To look at our hand, we may have to crane our neck. This puts us out of balance and introduces unnecessary <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/left-hand-tension\/\">tension<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is especially true when we try to look at the front of the guitar neck. When we look at the side of the guitar neck, we can stay upright, in a better <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/how-to-hold-a-guitar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"sitting position (opens in a new tab)\">sitting position<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But to see the front of the guitar we have to either crane our neck forward, or rotate the guitar up. Both have negative effects on our speed, safety and comfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/mirror-classical-guitar-evaluation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"mirrors (opens in a new tab)\">mirrors<\/a> in practice can help mitigate these risks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-makes-sight-reading-difficult\">Makes sight-reading difficult<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When we look at the fretting hand, we\u2019re no longer looking at the music. Sight-reading is playing notes from musical notation that we don\u2019t already know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A main goal of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/sight-reading-guitar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"sight-reading (opens in a new tab)\">sight-reading<\/a> music on guitar is to keep going. When we look away from the music, it\u2019s very likely we will not be able to get back to our place in the music in time. We get \u201clost\u201d, lose our place, and have to slow down or stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-can-lead-to-over-emphasis-on-left-hand-ignoring-right-hand-technique-and-quality\">Can lead to over-emphasis on left-hand, ignoring right-hand technique and quality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The right hand (aka picking hand) makes the sound. The right hand creates the tone quality, plays the rhythm, and sounds the notes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we spend too much time focused on the left hand, the right hand usually suffers. This is especially true when we first start to learn guitar. The fretting hand tends to be the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/guitar-squeak\/\">squeaky wheel<\/a>\u201d, demanding the \u201cgrease\u201d of our attention. But <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/how-to-learn-classical-guitar-arpeggios-right-hand-technique\/\">right hand technique<\/a> is just as important for making music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-can-slow-down-learning-by-suppressing-other-senses\">Can slow down learning by suppressing other senses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Blind people play guitar. We don\u2019t need to look. In fact, other senses are more useful for guitar playing than vision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we remove sight, a large amount of mental bandwidth gets transferred to our other senses. We can speed up our learning by not looking at our hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can listen more acutely. And we can feel the strings under our fingers. And we increase our proprioception (the sense of knowing where we are in space without looking). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-so-should-you-look\">So Should You Look?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In a perfect world, you look only when there is a clear benefit. You look when it makes guitar playing or learning smoother and easier. Or in a memorized performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the time, we\u2019ll benefit more from not looking, or looking only occasionally. The more time we spend not looking, the faster we\u2019ll improve at classical guitar. We\u2019ll grow more comfortable not looking. We\u2019ll have better use of our bodies. And we\u2019ll expand our sensory experience of music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s a common question: Should I look at my left hand when I play guitar? Sometimes, looking at our left-hand technique can be useful. Other times, it works against us. So do we, or don\u2019t we? When and why? Below, you\u2019ll find several pros and cons to watching your left hand (aka fretting hand) when playing guitar. Pros: Benefits of &#8230; <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/look-left-hand\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,434,20],"tags":[58,362,34,352],"class_list":["post-61108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-main-content-parent","category-practicing","tag-bodily-use","tag-left-hand-technique","tag-performance","tag-performance-practice"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Should You Look at Your Left Hand on Guitar? or Not?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Should you look at your left hand playing classical guitar? Why or why not? 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