Classical Guitar Technique - Left Hand Technique

Left Hand Technique

While the right hand is responsible for the sound of the guitar, the left hand performs two functions: pressing on the strings (to shorten their effective length and change the pitch) and articulation, i.e. slurring (commonly known as 'hammer-ons' and 'pull-offs') and vibrato. In musical notation, the left hand fingers are referred to as 1, 2, 3, and 4 (starting with index).

The basic position for the left hand is much the same as that of the right, except upside down. Unlike many players of steel-string and electric guitars, which have a narrower neck and fingerboard, classical guitarists do not place their left hand thumbs over the top of the neck. Instead, they place them behind the neck, usually behind the second finger.

The thumb then rolls back so that the thumb plays 'off the bone'. The bone of the thumb 'hangs' off a shoulder that is carved into the back of the neck of the guitar and, eventually, a hard, dry callus forms on the thumb, allowing the left hand to shift without sticking to the guitar.

By keeping the thumb behind the second finger and playing off the front of the third finger, the classical guitarist sets the left hand shape.

Playing with the left hand more or less parallel to the neck requires a certain amount of stretching between the fingers. There is a tendency, especially when one first begins guitar, to collapse the first and second fingers together to press on the string. For example, in playing the F on the first string, first fret (often the second note ever fingered after open E, first-string) there is a tendency to put the second finger on top of the first to hold the note. Holding a note with two fingers, 1 & 2, however, puts the reach between the fingers between the second and third, the hardest reach. The easiest reach is actually between the third and fourth (pinky) fingers. The next easiest between the first and second and the hardest between the middle fingers, between 2 & 3. Therefore, in order to put all the fingers on the strings (one finger per fret), the reach would best go between 1 & 2 and 3 & 4. Care should be taken to unlock 1 & 2. One way train the hand to unlock 1 & 2 is to place a pencil between 1 & 2 with the other end behind the thumb while playing.

Classical guitarists have a different set of left hand calluses on their fingertips than the steel-string players. In the steel-string, played with the guitar under the arm and on the right hip (called 'playing off the hip'), the left hand fingers of the steel string guitarist play on the diagonal, or 'for the reach', and the fingertip lands on the pad of the finger, forming a callus on the pad. The classical guitarist has a different set of left hand calluses as the hand of the classical player falls more parallel to the neck and plays on the "front" (nail side) of the fingertip. As a general rule, in classical, if the player concentrates on playing on the front of the third (or ring) finger, the other fingers will follow.

To play a note clearly, the fingertips of the left hand should be pressed against the string just behind the appropriate fret. Allowing the left shoulder to relax lets the highest finger in the chord or scale slide against and rest on the fret, giving the best sound—and the easiest reach with other fingers. The fingers are, thereby, placed closest to the frets.

Often the index finger is required to play more than one string, called the "barre" technique. The guitarist places the index finger across some or all of the strings at a particular fret and uses the remaining three fingers to play other notes. Rather putting down the barre first, it is often easier to place the fingers and add the barre last, according to which notes are needed first.

When playing notes above the twelfth fret, called "on the body", the left shoulder is dropped and the thumb stays behind, on the neck (as opposed to cello technique where the thumb jumps on top of the fingerboard).

It is possible to play the same note on different strings, called "registration" or "registering". For example, the note "e", first string open, may be played, or "registered" on any string.

The guitarist often has choices of where to 'register' notes on the guitar based on:

• Ease of fingering. Beginners learn the open, first position before anything else and might be more comfortable registering notes on open strings in the first position. Advanced players might find solutions in higher positions based on musical expression or using a shift on a string as a guide.
• Playing "on the string" -- Keeping a melody or musical line on one string for continuity of tone or expression.
• The advent of nylon strings. Historically, the early guitar (pre-WW II) was strung with cat-gut rather than the nylon to which we have become accustomed. Earlier editions often kept the melody on the second string because 1) the second string had a beautiful, romantic sound in the higher positions that was appropriate to the style of the times and 2) the first string had a 'thin' sound and unreliable intonation. With the advent of nylon strings, position-playing (playing in a block-style) became more in-vogue. Further. refinements in the manufacture of strings and innovations in modern guitar design continue to bring this issue into focus.
• For reasons of counterpoint: allowing a voice on one string to vibrate for its duration while playing a moving voice on another string.