Right hand position confusion - Listen for the principle

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NB: Claus reads every comment and answers your questions in future videos
More insights on the right hand picking position

[@edmorris6588]

83 hours in to my million (around 200hrs) my picking has greatly improved. Thank you so much!!

[@diogoneves6981]

Yes! Thats it. Months ago I saw a video that you talked about right hand position. Then I agreed to believe in it and make it for some months. Now I can tell you its definetily right. I play guitar for years picking wrong. Now I feel that its right for me. The difficulty now is to change this movement and where I place my hand in my brain, thats the sad part of doing it wrong for years. I wanna thank you so much for the talking about this. Thank you again and some greetings from Brazil!!!

[@johnthecreative]

I too played guitar for years picking wrong! I probably still pick wrong but some great players have unorthodox playing styles that work for them so there's not technically a "right" way to play. What I definitely used to do the wrong way was having no anchor at all ever. That was ignorant but I was self taught and I didn't have free lessons via youtube back then.

[@RELAXcowboy]

I don't know why it bothers me your videos have low upvote numbers. Your videos ring better for me than any other KZbin guitar "Teacher" It's like you know how to explain things in a way that is easier to understand than most do.

[@ScoobyGSXR750]

Look up Synyster Gates - pinky anchored at the humbucker and index and thumb finger are extended farther than most guitarists I've seen.

[@blackwolves8607]

Have you even noticed he doesn't have a guitar strap but his guitar is in the air all the time? 😂

[@hadiyazaheer9773]

It is resting on a stand bruh

[@NunoMonteiroGuitar]

This is a very interesting subject, I've been trying to change and improve my alternate picking and is not easy once you played guitar for 30 years in a different way, please let me know if at some point we can do a small video session, I really would like to understand this hand position better. Thank you and congrats on your work.

[@guitardadsinc]

Im so confused everyone says so many contradicting things about this subject. I am self taught and always pinky anchored for really fast licks and never even thought about it until I really started studying some guitarists I love and I noticed they used a floating hand curled into a sort of flat fist method and I tried it and was like wtf this is really hard. But, I have heard everything from "always anchor" to "never anchor" and everything in between I guess its completely up to personal opinion.

[@censored7881]

Same here; I've always anchored with my pinky and ring finger. The bottom line is if it works, it works. Plenty of world-class guitarists do the same.

[@sean3649]

Great video and helpful, and reassuring, comments!! Thanks, Claus!

[@almir...santos]

Didn't know Elon Musk could play guitar

[@Bozok53]

Musk-Brad Pitt hybrid i think 😂

[@adriankovacs4133]

@@Bozok53also Arnold

[@KJT3000]

Hey, it's my TEACHER, Claus!!

[@jungleplanet1716]

After many years your tips worked...thanks alot

[@hectorleiva3594]

So this was the missing link for me. Thanks brother.

[@KrilleCaveman]

This guy thas so much control over his guitar that it floats in the air

[@afonsodeportugal]

True mastery!

[@highndry18]

It's definitely a lot easier on a guitar with a tune-o-matic bridge like the Les Pauls. When I got myself a guitar with a floyd rose bridge it was trickier to get used to.

[@michaelangelo6661]

You solved my muting problem. Thank you very much.

[@guitarmastery]

You are welcome Michael! Glad you got something out of it.

[@Vancat2]

Exactly, thank you for addressing this!

[@michaelguio7524]

Thanks, exactly what I was looking for!

[@NaziHampster]

Hmm, it has helped somewhat with my picking. But most of all, my cake baking is coming on marvellously. Bon Appetit.

[@rotceh_zoilreb]

Can you still strum chords with your hand anchored there?

[@rocksteady5200]

Thank you Claus!

[@cmsima]

So ... by anchoring the corner of you right hand, the angle you attack/pick the lower strings will be different that the angle/pick you attack the higher strings. Right? I've always tried to attack the strings at the same angle - but that requires the right hand position to move.

[@SasquatchLovesMe]

which I think is the correct way to to it. you keep the same pick angle and move your arm up just slightly to reach the top strings (low E, A, D), also keeping the same angle with your forearm.

[@johnthecreative]

I like your technique and I'm practicing it now. What's interesting is that if we can keep our position of the hand very carefully placed, which is not easy at first, we find that we can technically be careful enough to avoid muting the string even if we are touching the very part where it comes out of the saddle, and even if we do sometimes mute the bottom strings slightly it usually doesn't matter that much for fast playing - I mean where we are darting around quickly and back up to other notes no one will hear it. There are certain times you need the notes to ring out and on those occasions you can lift your palm up and hover over the pivot point, then come back down again later - that's the technique I'm practicing right now. I'm really practicing this a lot because I hate anchoring my pinky (makes my hand feel stiff, unnatural, awkward) and this is the only other way of I know to anchor the hand. I like this way of anchoring the hand because it allows you to really keep the hand relaxed as you play. At first I didn't like making the "fist" and then stretching the hand out again and then back to fist again but I'm getting used to it with practice. It seems to be better than any other alternatives I've found.

[@amitsapir2]

can you do something about holding a pick?

[@HornedBee]

Anchoring with your pinky takes away all the impact from your picking hand movement, tried both ways and sound is way heavier withkut anchoring

[@kitschgod]

Brad pitt does play guitar

[@ferialsouhail]

The whole time while he is talking, I’m saying; he looks like an actor I know suddenly when I read your comment and I was like yeah that’s right😅

[@shanherath1314]

Its helpful me. Thanks

[@jungleplanet1716]

Awesome 👌🏻

[@guitarmastery]

Thank you Zenny!

[@alferdjuhimovich9037]

Maan. That's huge..

[@prakashmunger]

But in accoustic guitar if I apply this position i have to shift my hand when i switch from lead to strumming,because for lead it's ok but for strumming this place is away from sound hole....and when I put my pinky then during switching from lead to chord I dont require any shifting....plz clarify..

[@mohamadabdulmalik1136]

I see that Hank Marvin of the Shadows has his hands on the whammy bar all the time when he played. So did he used the whammy bar as his reference point. The Shadows instrumentals are my favourite and their instrumentals is just not playable if the whammy bar is not used extensively. Or it will not just not playable if the pinky or the hand is used as a reference point, as this will mean that you have to let go of the whammy bar.

[@errriss]

The problem is that it’s hard to find fix reference point because there are strings and not just one point. I have been practicing for months and it’s still not natural reference point, so I can’t be accurate, I wish there was a gadget for that that give you a known spot to place your wrist on to. Also when I try to pick the strings from a reference point, the lower strings are harder because my wrist gets painful, it feels unnatural no matter how many hours I practice, and I have been practicing 1-2 hours a day on that for months now. Very sad I really want to succeed.

[@pica6sedg]

Thank you!

[@janstadnik9607]

So if I do fast picking with pinky anchoring, is that the right way ?

[@CurtisGabrielMusic]

It worked for Michael Angelo Batio to use finger anchor and he picks insanely fast. What Claus is saying is right, you just need to be doing it the same way each time to burn it into your muscle memory. Whatever way you do it.

[@blackmetal779]

Hello friend, i have issue with my picking hand shoulder. I have everything ok, righthand postiion, have my hand without any tense. But whoudler still hurt when i am playing and sitting. Even on acoustic guitar. I had problem with shoulder for longer time than guitar. But this slowing me down. I m playing daily about 3-4 hours without any pause. Might some pause help?

[@namansingla2975]

dude you gotta pause! 3-4 hrs at a stretch? Damn

[@albertb6843]

I have tried to play with my hand on the bridge many times but my shoulder hurts me all the time. I play in sitting position, with my guitar on my right leg, I don't know what I'm doing wrong

[@guitarmastery]

Place the guitar on your left leg. Notice how this position feels like standing up. The right leg position is fine if you feel it is, but it can be very limiting for your right hand.

[@albertb6843]

@@guitarmastery Thank you very much for respond. If I put my guitar on my left leg, my right shoulder od fine, but I feel some pain in my back. And it feels strange to play chords and rythm parts in this position. My left is very far away from my body when I Play on first few frets. It's also harder to see the frets in that position because my head has to move more. I think that I just need to to play in this position for longer time but Its better than previous one

[@harshitmohan7554]

thanks claus!

[@guitarmastery]

You are more than welcome!

[@soomalxxx]

it's kind of nice tutorial, I hope it will be better

[@Tvaroh]

Hey Claus, notice that if you play downstroke / AP stuff with palm muting on thick strings having placed your right hand like that, you'll sound sloppy because you will pick too far away from the bridge. You won't get tight and resilient attack, and your videos (and the riff course) when you play rhythm using such position demonstrate it quite well. No offense, I understand you're not a metal player or something.

[@HeavyInstinct]

Alexander Semenov It's interesting that you mention that. You're referring to something I noticed quite a while ago that I've never really talked about with anybody. I noticed that as I moved the position of my pick closer to the bridge, not only did I get a tighter brighter sound but I also had an easier time with alternate picking because the tension on the string was higher and the strings don't move around as much. For example I used to play my acoustic guitar so that my pick was striking the strings at pretty much the middle of the sound hole. However I found that I got the best (to my ear) overall tonal quality when I moved the pick a bit closer to the bridge, so that the string is being picked pretty much along the bottom edge of the sound hole. The thing is, when I rest the palm of my hand on the bridge the way Claus recommends (a position that I also arrived at on my own), it places my pick at precisely this point on the string. What's interesting to me, is that while I've observed the phenomenon that you're referring to here, I arrived at a different conclusion than you did about it. To me if I move the pick closer to the bridge than this, the sound starts to become a bit TOO bright and "plinky" sounding. I also find that placing the heel of the hand where the low E string meets the bridge puts my hand in the perfect position for palm muting. Since you mentioned Metal, I'm sure you know how critically important palm muting is for that style. If I were to move my pick much closer to the bridge than this at all, I'm not sure how I would even be able to accomplish palm muting as the heel of my hand (which is really what I'm muting the strings with, not the actual palm) would no longer even be touching the strings. It would be sitting on the body of the guitar below the bridge. If this is what works for you then more power to you. However I definitely have to disagree with you about it sounding sloppy. I agree that this can happen at a certain point, but to my ear the pick has to be considerably farther away from the bridge than what we're talking about here. As a side note in case you couldn't tell by my screen name, I am most definitely a "metal guy" \M/.

[@johnthecreative]

If you're careful I think there's away to avoid the muting. I'm trying to get this down right now and it's not easy but I believe it's possible with practice so I'm giving it a try. Also I'm of the opinion that if the muting is slight enough it's almost like it's not there. We can mute something 1-3 percent but is that really audible? What about 5 percent? 10? There's a way to control it a little bit and limit that muting.

[@egenc4544]

I never rly thought about having my picking hand always on the same spot. Since I do for couple of days it feels rly odd. And I can't plant it where Claus is suggesting because I have rly rly small fingers. Now I'm facing 2 problems that bother me hardcore right now, namely if I plant my right hand onto the bridge/low e, i feel like moving it a bit, either back to play unmuted low e which is needed I'm certain but high e is too far away from that point so I need to bring my hand towards it which is good to mute the strings I guess ,also the picking angle would be around 45degree to the high e which is huge, right.but then I feel like moving the hand too much to have a fixed anchor. The way I used to play felt right which is not thinking too much over a fixed anchor. In addition playing on that anchor I'm touching the volume nob with my pinky which freaks me out.need to ajuste that too now... Any advice ??

[@johnthecreative]

I like this guy's technique and I'm practicing it now. What's interesting is that if we can keep our position of the hand very carefully placed, which is not easy at first, you'll find that we can technically be careful enough to avoid muting the string even if we are touching the very part where it comes out of the saddle, and even if we do sometimes mute the bottom strings slightly it usually doesn't matter that much for fast playing - I mean where we are darting around quickly and back up to other notes no one will hear it. There are certain times you need the notes to ring out and on those occasions you can lift your palm up and hover over the pivot point, then come back down again later - that's the technique I'm practicing right now. I'm really practicing this a lot because I hate anchoring my pinky (makes my hand feel stiff, unnatural, awkward) and this is the only other way of I know to anchor the hand. I like this way of anchoring the hand better because it allows you to really keep the hand relaxed as you play. At first I didn't like making the fist but I'm getting used to it with practice. It seems to be better than any other alternatives I've found.

[@soomalxxx]

you go!

[@michaelcraig9449]

I signed up, but when I log in it will not let me do it, it just stops. Can you help me out Claus? I cant get to any of the free ones at all.

[@sr567]

Thank you, I am trying to switch to this method. Is it normal to feeling uncomfortable and feeling pain near elbow because of pressure and it is hanging in the air(unlike pinky anchoring)?

[@TheXenoxen]

I've been working on this method and I've improved by focusing on relaxing and not tensing up. Whenever you over stress your muscle, stop, start the exercise again but stay relaxed. Also start slow, i took a massive loss in speed learning this but its worth the effort to build it back up but with proper hand motion. As for your pinky, its due to tensing up.

[@nicholas19644]

Who won the guitar?

[@kurtrasmussen4719]

Kenneth Bottoms from Kentucky USA

[@kurtrasmussen4719]

It's not against Danish law.

[@cellardwellerproductions5125]

No it's not. It's against the to law have to purchase something in order to vote. This lands squarely in the category of 'Lottery'. I'm sure Claus was careful enough to have looked into this before launching into the promotion. I'd bet better than 3:1 odds on it, but hey, I'm a gambler. Stay focused guys...Dave

[@cellardwellerproductions5125]

Waters Yes, a purchase is required. Your name gets put into a hat. That is your chance. The guitar is the prize. Name gets pulled. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. Lottery He never said 'free giveaway'. Different kind of contest. Everyone understood that going in. There is always the chance UNICEF will get into the free guitar giveaway business, but I'm not holding my breathe.

[@Rulzan]

my problem is that i push the bridge with my hand

[@marcusw174]

Hey Claus. I’ve been having some problems with my picking lately. I’ve been playing for 3-4 years at this point and I’ve never really thought about my picking before. It’s just been working but lately I keep missing strings and notes. It feels stiff and frustrating every time I pick up the guitar. How should I move my hand when picking through a scale? Should it “rotate” always being fixed on that anchor point? Or should I slide it up as I go up the strings? I feel like it always should be anchored but that makes my pick come in at a weird angle when I play the higher strings. I apologize for the long message. I’m just kinda lost at the moment. Thanks.

[@leizi33de]

same question

[@jasoncavitt2043]

I have some insights on your current practice mentality, if you don't mind. First, _be patient._ Missing strings, feeling stiff, paralysis by analysis-these things always kick in when one tries to develop new technique, but _this is the process._ There's no way around it, you got me? If you feel your picking is getting worse by making the modifications Claus is suggesting, that's okay for now. Just _listen to your body._ Let it tell you how to attack the higher strings with a low E anchor, and whether to "slide" the PC anchor along the bridge with certain string changes. Even try mixing in pinky anchoring, so that you have a better frame of reference for each approach. Your body wants you to find the most natural and ergonomic biomechanical solutions, and you will find them... with time. Lots and lots of time, jillions and jillions of reps. I went through this on drumset. There is a metric crap ton of conflicting advice out there about this "correct" technique and that "incorrect" technique, but ultimately, one must try all the systems and let the body sort out what works and what doesn't. Be in awe of what your brain can do. Seriously: be patient, and _keep going with your current agenda_ to adapt PC anchoring. You have the answers down somewhere inside, but you must let the ergonomics come to you. Yes, the low E anchor will create a specific pick angle for each string-and maybe this is a tradeoff-but all solutions come with tradeoffs, and this approach still affords a sufficient range of wrist rotation for each string. Realize, too, that your old picking technique seemed okay to you at the time because you hadn't thought about it as much back then; now that you're introducing left-brained biomechanical analysis to the situation, it seems like things are getting worse... but this is the short-term price to pay for long-term improvement. You think Tiger Woods didn't go through this every time he changed his swing? Soon, you'll look back on your old picking and realize how little you knew back then. Enjoy the process, and know that frustration is a symptom of desire. It's good that you want something this much.

[@HeavyInstinct]

Marcus W I agree with Jason Cavitt's well thought out answer. This is something that takes time and a lot of repetition to really get good at. Over the years I arrived at pretty much the same technique that Claus promotes, although I have always "tracked" the strings to a small degree. It's not much of a movement though. By the time I get to the high E string my PC bone is pretty much sitting above the A string instead of the E string. When I came across Claus' earlier videos on this subject where he was talking about having a fixed anchor, point I noticed in some videos where I could clearly see that he moved his hand to a small degree just like I do. So I was glad to see in his last video on this subject that he admitted he "floats" his anchor point to some degree, because I hadn't seen him mention it before. Like he's saying in this video, it's not a hard-and-fast rule it's just a reference point. You really just want to make sure that you're not all over the place and have some consistency.

[@neildrachlen9149]

What about EVHalens tremolo picking? Doesn't look like he is anchoring 🤔

[@sebastiancamillusnielsen228]

he makes a magical anchoring in the air

[@neildrachlen9149]

Sebastian Pølsen LMAO

[@sahivash_semo]

That is a technique flying picking technique

[@opticwater3414]

I got fucking tendinitis💀

[@ezcomusic7897]

Would y'all agree with me that he looks alot like brad pitt?

[@lostindimcarcosa]

one in the oven....

[@fernandoscolletion]

I agree.. but I'm afraid that in this way you can become a master by doing exercises, but creativity can lose because many things depend on changing steadily the position of the right hand... like all great guitarists do.

[@johnthecreative]

Yeah like if you are gonna start strumming then I think you should do something different. I've seen a lot of great players open their hand up into a strumming position that is very loose and use that to pick out notes if they are about to go into strumming because often there are picking parts wedged between strumming parts and if you're trying to do it all with one guitar it's difficult and you can't stay in the same position the whole song. Usually pivot points and vigorous strumming don't mix IMO. I don't mean power chords I mean full on big old chords.