Part 2: The Right Hand for the Classical Guitar

[@jaro_makosz]

Thank you - short, clear, very professionally made !

[@RandallAvers]

Thanks so much :-)

[@raphaelgodeau8743]

Great videos Randall, a precious part of the Randall Avers Experience ! Thanks !

[@RandallAvers]

Thanks Raphaël! Glad you liked it :-) Greetings from Norway.

[@johnlay3040]

This is the right position for the RH. Many guitarists these days don't follow this standard classic position anymore. 😮😮

[@guitarraclasica]

Love it. Excellent, concise content and fantastic video quality. Keep them coming!

[@RandallAvers]

Thanks Maestro

[@consueloruiz1860]

Dommage que vos vidéos ne sont pas traduites en français, Merci pour la précision des gestes

[@jsguitargeek1432]

Unbelievably good teaching technique Randall. Incredibly effective. Thank you for posting. I immediately SUBSCRIBED.

[@RandallAvers]

Thank you! I also made a left hand film. Check it out 😀

[@jsguitargeek1432]

@@RandallAvers Did already - (remember - I subscribed). BTW - I saw that you run a guitar ensemble? I have plenty of (free) scores for Renaissance music Have a listen: www.jsayles.com/earlymusic.htm - and let me know if you'd like any of the PDFs

[@RandallAvers]

@@jsguitargeek1432 I've seen your site before. It's quite a resource - thanks for calling my attention to it again.

[@reinaldopuig557]

Your advice has helped me a lot, not many guitar teachers explain these techniques, thank you, in fact I subscribe to your channel.

[@RandallAvers]

Thank you for the comment! I'm happy the films have helped your playing.

[@johnlay3040]

Many younger teachers didn't learn this technique, therefore they pass on wrong techniques to the next generation. Now it becomes a contentious point. When I started learning, this RH position is the first lesson on day-01. My teacher learned from a student of Regino Sainz de la Maza. However, Ida Presti, used 2 different positions as she used both sides of her nails. When she used the RH side of her nail, the hand is rotated slightly to the left, which gives an impression that she adopted the non-standard position when you see her in the photos during performances. Liona Boyd does the same thing too, i.e. uses both sides of the nail.

[@tabajarabelooficial]

Great way of explaining it!

[@RandallAvers]

Thank you Taba!

[@safaalmehdar2251]

Thank you so much this is the teaching video I needed for a long time as I have found difficulty in the right hand so I skip learning guitar online but now I will complete learning guitar.

[@RandallAvers]

I'm happy to hear this video helped you!

[@Lutemann]

I'm so glad you mentioned flex/release in you description of the free stroke!!! Also, you activation of the P-tip ( a motion that harpists do0 is critical for a powerful P stroke.

[@RandallAvers]

Thank you! I appreciate your comments here. It is important to mention something about the tip, mid and knuckle joints - as a default, we all want to have a powerful full sound, and I hope I was able to describe how to achieve that. (You are right - We have a lot to learn from harpists)

[@StarOasis26]

wow this is what I need thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate your time and effort and helping other people 👏👏

[@RandallAvers]

Thanks! Glad you liked the video and happy to help 😊

[@donnaz6069]

Thank you for this excellent video!

[@RandallAvers]

Thank you Donna!

[@saidcosmicman]

I appreciate it, go on and thank you very much

[@Lutemann]

Pretty good video. You almost teach P the way I (and David Russell) do it. You actually use P tip in your stroke which is the way a lot of harpist play the thumb. You can get the fingers in an ideal position by holding your hand out in front of you with a straight wrist and relaxing the fingers. They will naturally fall in what's known as mid range position which is where you want them.

[@RandallAvers]

Yes. Good comments here. The idea of how the hand should look by holding the hand out as you mention here is very good. Still be aware that the forearm should not be resting heavily on the edge of the guitar.

[@Lutemann]

No ball needed.

[@ZülküfErgenç]

Thank very very much ❤

[@Hamza.Aldaaja]

Thank you,am 44 and just start lurning

[@RandallAvers]

Great! Hope this video helps :-)

[@ZülküfErgenç]

42😊

[@musicalshadan4670]

❤️❤️❤️ thank you sir

[@DavidDorenfeld]

Thank you!!

[@RandallAvers]

Welcome!

[@cabppbac]

Hello, how do you deactivate the pinching muscle?

[@RandallAvers]

Make a thumb stroke while actually grabbing the pinching muscle (between the thumb and forefinger) with the left hand. Try to avoid any involvement with this muscle. The thumb stroke should originate from the muscle under the hand between the thumb knuckle and the wrist. I believe this muscle is referred to as the oblique muscle - which is correct - not the transverse muscle which is incorrect.

[@fengye814]

How do you move across strings, do you move the whole arm back and forth (e.g. the place where arm on the guitar moves), or you raise the wrist?

[@RandallAvers]

Brilliant question, and here you will find teachers that will recommend you do both things that you mentioned here, so good to point out the advantages and disadvantages of each: The advantage with moving the whole arm is that the angle at which the finger approaches the string is the same, and there the sound would be more consistent. This may be advantageous if you are playing a scale over several strings and you want the notes to sound as similar as possible. Raising the wrist - you can do that, but I recommend more creating plenty of space between the knuckles and the strings so that you can keep the wrist in on place. I find (personally) that little wrist fluctuations cause accuracy problems and at worst can create some pain in the tendons due to overstretching. I keep the hand/wrist in one place and work on locating the 6 different strings with just the fingers. MOST, but not all of my playing is done with this in mind. You will approach each of the strings at different angles which may feel weird, but for me, it creates a hand position that can access all six strings easily and accurately. Hope this helps.

[@SuperAykt]

can we play the same string with two different finger ?

[@RandallAvers]

absolutely. the Tremulo technique is a great example of this

[@amg4616]

Do we pluck the string using the edge of the long nails or the finger flesh. Does it have any difference in sound for people with short finger nails.

[@RandallAvers]

Two part question. First question, point of contact with the string: you want to place the finger at the point where the flesh and nail meet. The point of flesh is at the side of the nail, or the lateral fold. It is important to have this small contact with the flesh so that you can get a good contact with the string before plucking it. Second question: yes - nails make a difference. the principle is that the longer your nail rides on the string unhindered, the better the sound. There are many factors to this. I covered nail care in my Part 1 of the series, so please watch that video. For me personally, there are guitarists who have longer and shorter nails than me. I keep them short enough so that I don't get caught on the string or that I am worried about them breaking all the time. I keep them long enough so that I can benefit from the improved tone and power. Hope this answers your questions.

[@amg4616]

@@RandallAvers Yes, absolutely. I am a beginner. I am fascinated by classical guitar pieces for so long and wish I could play them. But I dont know where to start with. The classical pieces seem so difficult to learn. Can you share some experiences.

[@RandallAvers]

​@@amg4616 I learned classical guitar as a child - I used a method that was based off of Suzuki, and my teacher was phenomenal and patient. Learning classical guitar is a gradual process, and it helps having a supportive teacher who has gotten results using a method. If you are going it alone and are just beginning, I can recommend the Frederick Noad Solo Guitar Playing book1.

[@amg4616]

@@RandallAvers Great, I was looking for few books before this but couldnt decide which one suits me. Thank you so much for recommending me this book. I’ll keep going along with your videos on your channel as well. I’ll practice hard this time and I give myself two years from now on for at least by the time, hopefully I can play some simple pieces. Again, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

[@Ángel-b1v5z]

Hola Randall. Solamente una pregunta: ?has leído el libro Escuela razonad de la guitarra de Emilio Pujol o el Método de guitarra de Pascual Roch? Por favor, dime que no los has leído. Saludos desde Madrid.

[@RandallAvers]

I'm familiar with Pujol which is one of the great methods for the guitar. The Roch is new to me, and I just found copy of it - at a first glance, it looks very right hand centric method - many many exercises - but seems to lack the compositional ingenuity and beauty that Pujol has in his method. Do you use these? What are your thoughts on these?

[@critical9999]

Thanks for the tutorial! But what if I want to play same string more than two times? Should I use same finger to the string over again?

[@RandallAvers]

That is a big question, and here you will find different schools of thought -- There could be a film or an entire book made based off that question alone. There are two extremes in right hand positioning: arpeggio position and tremolo position. Arpeggio position splays the fingers over several strings, and tremolo position puts all the fingers on one string. I will say generally: usually there is a fingering that makes the most sense, and there are a bunch that don't. You should gravitate towards the fingering that serves the music best, and HOPEFULLY that fingering is the one that is easiest one to perform. If the fingering is unorthodox, but gives a unique extra-musical result, that may be the best option. Personally speaking, I have changed my RH fingerings in pieces many times through the years.

[@zu0832]

Are you playing from the top knuckle or the middle joint?

[@RandallAvers]

That’s a good question. The stroke is initiated by the top knuckle, but the mid joint is also at play. Think of an analogy with kicking a soccer ball. You can generate a lot of power when you work from the hip, and not exclusively from the knee joint. In a sense, the movement of the hip motion goes front and back and represents the desired trajectory of the ball - more so than the knee joint. When playing the guitar, the top knuckle either pushes in or relaxes out. You should take advantage of its power and simplicity

[@tanjimmishkat2610]

Great video! You should consider becoming a professional guitar teacher.

[@RandallAvers]

Hey! Thats a good idea

[@crabbypaddy5549]

Completely the opposite to how I was ever taught. I could never get any accuracy playing like that. wrist is to high and that leaves no accuracy for your fingers. Each one to their own I suppose.

[@RandallAvers]

Thanks for your input here. The accuracy comes from referencing, which is when a non-playing finger is placed on a string serving as a reference point for another finger(s) to play. This can be applied to both hands.

[@crabbypaddy5549]

@@RandallAvers Thank for the reply. I have to read up about that technique and would be helpful to learn. Maybe you could do a video about that? :) happy to learn here.

[@ovidiucroitoru2290]

The induction that I missed

[@RandallAvers]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@evetdelarue8003]

This suks you know u can just use thumb and first finger mark knopler plays like this I think this is ridiculous- lol. Just play how it feels good for yourself ignore this bs

[@RandallAvers]

This is classical guitar technique, not electric. I love Marc Knofflers playing so yes, go ahead and play like him 👍

[@dyssaelsandoval8795]

plz cut the nails...

[@NanNan-br8bp]

I was going to be rude, but I had a change of heart lawl, many classical guitarists use their nails to pluck the string to get a better tone.

[@quarlmephystodot2201]

your hand position is awful and it will not allow to play for too many years. ruben diaz, paco de lucia, frederic hand search them

[@RandallAvers]

DeLucia is a master. Diaz and De Lucia are flamenco players, so the technique is different, how they hold the guitar is different - the priorities of what they do musically are different than classical players. Frederic Hand is a great classical guitarist and composer, and is very well renowned in the classical guitar world. Noticed his recent videos have him playing the guitar off the right leg, which seems to be the unifying thread between these players. This is a film about classical guitar technique for the right hand and it is used by many great players. If you like something better, go for it.

[@quarlmephystodot2201]

@@RandallAvers there is no such thing as different technique. there is only better or worse technique. the guitar should only be held on the right foot. no discussion, because of articulations and tension on the human body. the more tension you add on your hand when it is rested, the worse it is. your wrist extends forward too much and may cut blood flow and overstretch tendons. you nail shape also, does not describe a straight plane. it looks rather rounded, which helps with corners, but loses stability on the string and through speed.

[@quarlmephystodot2201]

@@RandallAvers i like that you already know of them. it shows youre smart. but keep in mind what i said