The natural position for most modern electric guitars is hanging from a strap. It allows you to avoid the big problem with the guitarists posture - sitting. Classical guitar players long ago developed a way to sit and play that works well for the classical guitar but is simply too cumbersome for larger steel string and electric guitars. That's OK we'll take advantage of the strap and learn to stand properly and then we can start to look at the problems we encounter when we sit down.

This exercise resembles the motion of the hammers on a Tibetan hand drum. It's another one that adds movement to the basic horse stance albeit a little more vigorous than the previous. The emphasis here is on allowing the movement that originates from the pelvis to find its way to the hands without being impeded by any tension in the pelvis, the upper body or the arm and shoulder.

Muscles that articulate the hand

Two groups of muscles articulate the hand. Muscles that originate on the arm and cross the wrist are called extrinsic muscles while those that originate on the hand itself are called intrinsic muscles.

Extrinsic muscles of the hand.

It's not as complicated as it may look.

Apart from contributing to the position of the hand the primary function of the wrist that has relevance for us is its role in adjusting the tension in the extrinsic muscles of the hand. The wrist flexors and extensors described previously insert onto the carpal bones, parallel to these the extrinsic hand muscles cross the wrist and continue onto the fingers.