Hints On Right Hand Development by Bill Tyers   Position of Right Hand Fingers and Thumb Shape of the Fingers Right hand fingers should be curved from the second joint rather than in a straight position. This curvature of the right hand fingers facilitates the execution of the major right hand techniques, scale passages, chords, and arpeggios, without a pronounced change in hand position. Right Hand Position Playing Right Hand Chords Three note chords should be played with the right hand i,m,a fingers held closely together and should work as one large finger. The fingers should be curved from the second joint and move briskly through the strings toward the palm of the right hand without coming to rest on the strings. Chords that involve more than three strings will require the right hand thumb to take care of the lower strings. An explanation on the fingering conventions used in classical guitar music can be found here: Fingering Conventions Playing Right Hand Arpeggios The playing of the notes of a chord consecutively is called an arpeggio and is an important guitar technique. In order to become proficient at executing arpeggio patterns it is important that the fingers each acquire the same facility. Therefore it is necessary to practice patterns involving all fingers in all combinations so as to achieve this goal. If it is left too late in the students development, the a finger, which is often neglected in the execution of scale passages, will be difficult to train because of the hand position often adopted with continual i,m alternation on scale work. To emphasise this point go to the hand position described earlier and place your thumb on the bass string and your i,m,a,fingers on the first string. Now take off the a finger and notice that you can move you right hand considerably more to the left if you wish. This position of course would make it very difficult to utilise the a finger. Here is some arpeggio studies that will help to train all fingers and thumb of the right hand. One simple rule that will help you with correct fingering is this. 1st string is played by the a finger 2nd string is played by the m finger 3rd string is played with the i finger The bass note is played with the thumb. Notice that the following patterns are based on the open 1st 2nd and 3rd strings played by the fingers of the right hand and the open 6th string which is played by the right hand thumb. This gives us an open string chord of E minor. Practice the above patterns at a steady tempo keeping all notes even. Pay particular attention to the a finger in Pattern 3. Once this pattern is mastered you might like to try the Aguado piece "The Butterfly" which uses this pattern almost exclusively throughout. Playing Scale Passages Scale passages will require the playing of consecutive notes on the same string and requires the alternation of the right hand fingers in a number of different combination depending on the shape of the passage. Usually scale type passages contain the melodic line of the composition and in this case the performance will benefit if the notes stand out from any accompanying notes. This is normally achieved by employing the technique called rest stroke. You are no doubt aware that the technique already discussed have involved the fingers of the right hand striking a string and continuing through the stroke just missing the adjacent string in the follow through. This is the stroke called free stroke.In executing the rest stroke the right hand finger plays through the note and comes to rest on the next adjacent string in three basic movements. An ideal course in scales, modes, and improvisation that encompasses the entire fretboard may be found here! Rest Stroke Preparation: Place your finger on the string. The right hand should be relaxed in particular the tip joint. Execution: The movement of your finger should begin from the knuckle joint it then moves through the string and comes to rest on the next adjacent string. Remember to keep the tip joint relaxed. Release: After coming to rest on the adjacent string the fingers go back into the original position above the string just played. The angle that the fingers attach the strings is somewhat different when compared to free stroke and this brings about a much fuller sound with more volume that allows chosen voices to stand out. The judicious use of both rest and free stroke is often the difference between an amateur performer and a seasoned professional. Muted Notes with Right Hand The technique of muting notes with the right hand fingers and thumb should be mastered as early as possible in the learning process. The technique is best explained by the playing of a note on the open sixth string with your thumb and then replacing the thumb back on the string to stop the string from vibrating. The length of time between the actual striking of the string and the subsequent muting with the thumb will depend on the musical situation. If for instance the passage played requires a staccato (short-detached) execution then the muting action would be quite immediate. Similarly, if a musical passage required an open bass note to be stopped from intruding on a change in harmony, then the muting action may be quite a number of beats from the initial note sounding. Muting should not be confused with the pizzicato technique produced by damping the strings near the bridge with the palm of the right hand. When used with taste this technique can help eliminated unwanted dissonance in the harmonic structure and other extraneous noises and impart a sparkle and clarity to the performance. Position of the Left Hand Fingers and Thumb The left hand fingers should be curved from the second joint. The angle of the knuckles should be parallel to the underside of the guitar neck. To find the ideal left hand position simply play a series of chromatic notes starting with the first finger followed by the second, third and little fingers. Do not lift the fingers from the string once the note has been played but leave each finger down until at the end of the series all fingers are still fretting the string. (See Photograph 1.) To enable the fingers to complete this exercise you will notice that your left hand thumb must be in the position as illustrated in Photograph 2. From this hand position it is possible to play notes on all six strings without changing the left hand position. Left Hand Position Photograph 1 Left Hand Position Photograph 2 An excellent drill which should be included in your daily practice is as follows: Start on string one third fret and play a succession of chromatic notes with first second third and fourth fingers. Move to the second string and repeat as for string one. Continue across all six strings and back to string one. Move up one fret and repeat the exercise. Continue up the neck as far as you can go without your hand becoming over tired or cramping. Set yourself goals as to how far you can progress with this exercise till you get to the stage that you can play up and down the neck with increasing speed and accuracy. Remember the number one rule: Always hold your fingers down on the fret board until you are ready to change string. Try the following excercise which includes the use of open strings. Remember to hold fingers down on the frets till you are ready to change string. To obtain the required finger span you will have to pay particular attention to the left hand position. Points to watch: Curved left hand fingers. Thumb behind the neck (see photograph 2 above) Knuckles parralel to the underside of the guitar neck. Use a combination of right hand fingerings as well. ie. i m- m i- i a- m a.

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