Position of the hands - Free guitar lessons

• Right hand
  

For the right hand there are two important aspects that you must take care to get a good clear sound and deep, and a certain agility of the fingers:
1. The wrist of his right hand should be high and well away from the strings.
2. Thumb after played should not move towards the inside of the hand but must remain always in a position outside compared to the other fingers.
The pictures below show you and clarify these issues.

Wrong position

Wrong position

Right position

• The thumbpick
  

The third level you will find extensive explanations on the  thumbpick. Its use requires a special position of the right hand that it is better to deal with when you are already ahead in fingerpicking technique. That is why the beginners to progress in the study complete the course without using it, when finally arriving at pages dedicated to thumbpick follow directions and exercises that can be found for its use.
Those who already knows can use the thumbpick use since the early exercises.

• Left hand
  

For the left hand, the general recommendation is to keep well away the palm of the hand from the neck of the guitar is too lean if the hand is not able to handle more to expand and move your fingers with ease.


On the bottom is seen as the palm is well separated from the neck and the thumb is hidden behind of it. This is the basic ideal for agility in the movement and cleanliness of sound.

In this picture below the hand is too much against the handle and in this position the movement of the fingers are more difficult.

We will see later as the position with your thumb above the neck is not totally wrong as it is sometimes used to play fingerpicking in some particular positions of chord.


In conclusion we can say that at least in the initial phase of the study the position of hands  necessary for the fingerpicking is quite similar to that required for the study of classical guitar. The two approaches also differ significantly when using the thumbpick or you decide to use the thumb of your left hand to press the strings from above.
Other differences in approach can then be inevitably linked to the different dimensions and characteristics of the instrument you use, in fact, between an electric solid body, a dreadnought and a classical guitar, there are significant differences in terms of shapes, sizes and playability, and this certainly affects on how the instrument is held and also on a general reflection on positions of the hands.