A tip for finger placement and release
After last week’s email, one reader had a great question about finger placement. His question was specifically related to my book, Chromatic Exercises for Lead Guitar, but the answer applies to all lead and rhythm guitar playing (with the exception of chords):
when I’m playing a chromatic exercise with fingers 1-2-3-4, or after having played the 4 notes I have all 4 fingers in the fretboard, but when playing backwards fingers 4-3-2-1, I only hold one finger in the fretboard at a time and after having played the 4 notes I only have finger 1 in the fretboard. Is that ok like that or should try and use only one finger at a time when playing upwards as well?
When playing 1-2-3-4, once a note is fretted, the finger holding the previous note should be released. So when you are fretting 3, 2 should be released (or be in the process of being released) and 1 should have left the neck a long time ago! Here’s why:
- Hold down 1-2-3-4 on the 6th string at the same time. Take a minute to ‘feel’ how much tension you have in your arm/hand
- Hold down 3 on the 6th string with your third finger. Take a minute to ‘feel’ how much tension you have in your arm/hand.
You’ll find the latter situation has much less tension than the former.
In general we want to keep as little tension as possible in our hand. Excessive tension leads to:
- Getting fatigue quickly
- Restricted movements
And in worst case scenarios, or over a long period of time, can lead to injury.
To practice this, turn off the metronome and slowly play the 1-2-3-4exercise, ensuring that:
- Only one fret at a time is being held down (there will be a little overlap as the next note is fretted)
- Each note is ringing out for it’s full duration
Then have the metronome at a slow tempo and make sure you are repeating the above.
This also applies to all other combinations in the other exercises.