• Q & A - Tension,
• Finger Angle
• Order Of Principles Material

Hi Jamie

I found your site through a series of clicks from "tips and tricks by Carvel Avis". Tension? woo wee, you know it! I am pondering the right hand here. My wrist keeps wanting to rest on the guitar body as an anchor. Is this wrong ?

Thanks
Wally

That is an interesting phrase, "my wrist keeps wanting to rest on the guitar body as an anchor". And I'm sure you are quite right, I'm sure your wrist is acting as an independent agent, with a mind of it's own. And at various times during playing, your "wrist will insist" on anchoring
itself. I am also sure that this happens when the technical demands of speed arise in the music.

This is why I say that in the beginning of developing skill as a player, you should expect your body to always tend to do the WRONG thing. You see, the various body parts involved in playing the guitar, the wrist, fingers, etc., are quite STUPID in the beginning. They WILL try to run the show, if you let them. They will try to solve your technical problems (how do I get to be
able to do THIS) with their tiny little pea brains, but, before being made intelligent through proper instruction and correct practice, they will almost always come up with the wrong answer!

It is your job to train them to be INTELLIGENT, so that they will either already KNOW the right answer, or have a better intuition about how to find that answer.

The various parts of the body will always try to do what seems best at the moment, and this usually means they will try to do what is best for them. To your wrist, it seems like a perfectly good idea to anchor itself on the guitar. Your wrist doesn't know that by doing this it will be severely limiting the mobility of your pick, or fingers, especially as they try to span the range of all six strings, as in playing a scale from the 6th string to the 1st.

Of course, your wrist is doing this because it is reacting to all the TENSION that is building up throughout all the many muscles located in your forearm, upper arm, and even the muscles of your chest and back, all of which are connected to your upper arm bone (humerus).

So you see, given the fact that the whole limb is tied up with tension, your wrist could make a pretty good case for the wisdom of anchoring, or "locking" itself down onto the face of the guitar. At least that way, you will probably still be able to squeeze a little mobility out of your hand, and force a couple of notes out of the guitar. If you were only going to play the guitar at a relatively primitive level, this whole setup might work for you!

However, if you made an attempt to create Vertical Growth in your playing ability, you would find that this whole setup, this whole foundation of your technique, simply would not support a more sophisticated technical demand.

Of course, I would recommend not being satisfied with your present technique. I would recommend learning how to practice in a way where the will of your wrist, or any other body part, is not running the show. Rather, the "little brain" of your wrist is put under the command of the "big brain" in your head.

Of course, the "big brain" in your head has to fulfill the two conditions of practice: it must KNOW the right thing to do (in whatever playing circumstance you are in), and it must make sure that the correct thing is actually BEING DONE as you practice.

Once this becomes your experience, you will find that you no longer say things like "my wrist keeps wanting to do" this or that. You will instead say, "my wrist wants to rest on the guitar, but I am in the process of training it to stay relaxed, even when I play fast". You see, the "keeps" part of your statement will disappear.

This is what knowing how to practice is all about. It is all about having the POWER to create a change in your playing. Power means "the ability to create change". When you have this power, it won't matter so much what your wrist, or fingers, or big toe, tend to do, because you will be able to CHANGE that tendency to what you WANT to happen.

Good luck, I have to go now, my right hand wants to grab my guitar!

Hi Jamie,

My guitar teacher has the ability of holding his fingers almost perpendicular to the strings on his guitar's fret board. Whereas, I can only hold my fingers (with great strain) at an estimated 25-degree angle to the strings.

It is evident that it's much easier for him to play chords with his perpendicular finger ability, and it sounds a lot better, too. How can I overcome my excessive finger(s) angle? Does this angle pose a real problem for me as time goes on?

Thank you, Phil G

Hi Phil,

Fingers that are approaching the neck from the angle you describe will cause less problems with playing that is strictly blues based, (pentatonic based). This is because most of that playing is done without the 4th finger, and also because you NEED that angle for bending and vibrato. However, any kind of playing where you need that 4th finger will cause a problem. How big a
problem depends on the details of your technique and development as a player.

This is why my approach with students is to give them the hand development that can easily use either approach. It is more difficult to attain the "perpendicular" approach you say your teacher has, but it is possible for everyone, and is the hand position that my Foundation Exercises will give you.

If you haven't done so already, make sure you check out the video of me doing the Finger Walking exercises.

This video demonstrates the results achieved by proper practice of the Foundation Exercises. As you will see, the finger position is "perpendicular" to the strings.

I have just purchased and received "The Principles......" ; and I am a beginner (learning to play for about 8 months).

On page 9 under the "How to use this book" section, you have provided the "Order of Materials". Now under Phase One, it appears that you have identified material on pages 18 & 19, but then you skipped to page 24. I am a bit confused about how I should be proceeding.

In the absence of any instructions, I would have started at page 1 and work methodically thru the book.

Please advise.

Thanks, Bill

Hi Bill,

The best approach is to start at the beginning and read straight through, doing the exercises as you come to them. In this way, you will be equipped with the proper Understandings that make Correct Practice possible. In any case, even if you skip around as I have outlined, you should still come back and read straight through.

I put that outline of material under "How to use this Book" the way I did because I realize that many people beginning to use the book are going to want to get "up and running" right away doing something, and they could use this as a guide. This is especially true with beginning players who lack "hands on experience" with the guitar. People who already play are more likely to want to read straight through and compare the new knowledge with what they are presently doing.

Also, since the right and left hands are discussed in separate chapters, it helps get the two hands working together without having to go entirely through all the right hands techniques first. One of the most important underlying concepts in my approach to teaching is the recognition of the fact that a student is not going to do the right thing because someone tells him or her to, but rather, because they understand WHY they must do it. This is simply a fact of human nature, and this understanding is what is missing from most method books.

So, in this order of material I have suggested, the proper Understandings are grouped with the appropriate Tools and Exercises in a way that provides the Understanding necessary to actually practice the exodermises and see RESULTS.

I have also provided this outline for the benefit of teachers, showing them how to integrate The Principles into the teaching approach they are currently using.

Depending on your particular situation, either follow the Order of Material and then go back and read straight through, or begin at the beginning, and keep going. In any case, all people using The Principles should be regularly re-reading it for the things they missed, the things that need
re-enforcement, and the things that will make more sense as more experience is gained.

All material copyright © 2003 by Jamie Andreas, GuitarPrinciples.com