How to fix your left hand position on the classical guitar

A great exercise for the beginner classical guitarist or a guitarist who is coming from another style of guitar playing.
This exercise and many more can be found in the book : 20 Practice Routines for Classical Guitar cgcpublishing.com/collections...
If you would like to find out about becoming a member of Classical Guitar Corner you can find out more here: www.classicalguitarcorner.com...

[@solideogloria3057]

Super helpful Simon. This will be part of my practice routine.

[@rhettcollier2558]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE!

[@ClassicalGuitarCorner]

You're most welcome!

[@cathykessler6587]

This was helpful for the hand position on the 5th fret but how about the hand position on frets 1-4? I find it harder to keep that same position on those frets. Can you do a video on that?

[@mystik_wyzard]

Awesome! Could tweak this/add variations by leading index then pinky every string, or a bit more of a stretch to jump 2 strings each time. Thanks for sharing!

[@ClassicalGuitarCorner]

Thank you for watching Daniel! I am glad this video was helpful and yes, that would be a nice variation.

[@adamrafferty]

Would also be good to add - left hand wrist should not HULK forwards. That can happen if the guitar is not high enough.

[@mee3sy]

This is fantastic for me Simon. I have a recalcitrant left hand and this will help! Thank you.

[@ClassicalGuitarCorner]

Thanks Steve, and good luck with that uncooperative left hand!

[@lawcch]

Try to play positions up to 19th fret or 20th fret for all the 6 strings. No demo for LH position beyond 12th to 19th fret.

[@normantong3475]

Hi Simon, Thank you for sharing , is your guitar by Paul Sheridan? Very nice instrument

[@ClassicalGuitarCorner]

Hi Norman, yes, the guitar is made by Paul Sheridan.

[@patworley9331]

On your website I did not see how to access free lessons. I wanted a test run before I signed up for the pair membership.

[@ClassicalGuitarCorner]

Hi Pat, no problem. Have a look here: www.classicalguitarcorner.com/mailing-list/

[@elisabethkarl3204]

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

[@ClassicalGuitarCorner]

We hope it was helpful, Elisabeth!

[@rhettcollier2558]

I HAVE YOUR BOOK. - On what page - is what you present in the video? Thanks

[@ClassicalGuitarCorner]

Hi Rhett, thanks for picking up our book! This exercise is in 20 Practice Routines, routine 3.2 on page 15. A variation of the same exercise where you only move one finger at a time when moving from one string to the next is routine 6.3, page 30.

[@keeshux8049]

Thanks Simon. A question by someone who's constantly trying to fix his bad left hand habits, due to years of bad playing, plus my hands not being particularly big nor flexible. I always see this exercise played in 5th position, which I'm acceptably comfortable with. The real struggle for me, however, is taking it closer to the neck. There's absolutely no way I can retain a balanced left hand when doing this in 1st or even 2nd position. I just can't reach bigger frets, my fingers go diagonal even in basic 1-2-3-4 layouts, my wrist cries in pain. Therefore my current approach is using a capo at 2nd fret, i.e. as in playing a 7/8 guitar. Would I be able to slowly progress to playing a standard fretboard or is this a waste of time? What approach would you suggest otherwise?

[@lancejurd7865]

Exactly my question. I often run into trouble when playing the first three frets, which obviously is a real issue. My thumb in particular gets a lot of discomfort and strain. Drives me up the wall that I can't find the way to play freely with my left hand.

[@maxmood]

you need to change the size of the guitar to a smaller one (maybe 3/4) which has shorter distance between frets. i don't believe there is a way around it.. ppl that has everything right takes long time to get their hands and fingers accustomed to these movements. so if you suffer from this, then you know it won't get any better. i do have a big hand and long fingers and i'm still struggling to get things right (even though i practice the same routine almost every day) and i'm using a full size guitar. i'm actually thinking to go for 7/8 size when getting a new one.

[@starflake47]

@@maxmood My hand is too small for a standard 650 scale. I have a 630 scale Cordoba and it is easier on my left hand. But even the 630 is a bit of a stretch in first position. I can put a capo on the first fret of my 650 scale guitar and it becomes 613 mm. That helps quite a bit. My hand span is only about 7.25 inches.