Right hand position - fingerpicking

Fingerpickers, as opposed to classical players, have evolved a myriad of different styles and techniques based, usually, on what is most comfortable for the individual player.

If you're hand is relaxed and you can play with a relatively neutral wrist (some ulnar deviation is inevitable for most of us) and a strong neutral thumb then your wrist position is OK. Most of us will play with some flexion of the wrist which is not generally a problem.

Fingerpicking - Lateral ViewWith the thumb parallel to the strings the wrist can be relatively neutral.Previous Image 1/6 Next

If you are going to be a competent fingerpicker you'll need a relaxed technique, at the same time the best way to achieve this is to get good at what you're doing. The technique exercises and plenty of practice will be your best friends here.

Fingerpicking requires independent movement of the thumb and usually two or three fingers. This independence of movement is not required in most other activities so we are neither constructed well anatomically or well practiced at achieving it. For this reason the focused awareness approach that we take to most other disciplines has to be modified here.

Rather than focusing on specific areas of the body the best way to free up the right hand is to focus on something else. The right hand needs to fly, with little or no conscious effort. Focusing on the sound you're making, keeping your breathe easy and slow, your shoulders soft allows the hand to switch to auto-pilot, relying on the hours of practice you've already put it in.

While you're putting in these hours and training your muscle memory so that it can take over for you like this keep these points in mind:

• Repetition will build muscle memory but it is also the primary cause of overuse. Ensure that you're practicing with your shoulders and hands soft. You don't necessarily need to play slowly, if you can play short passages up to speed then go ahead but if you try to play too fast your hand will tense up.
• When learning a new piece repeat short passages to build new movements into your muscle memory
• Get enough rest breaks, intersperse the repetitive movements with other activities, either a warm up exercise, any of the stretches or mobilisations for the forearm or the baoding exercise.

Right hand position - flatpicking

We already know that the most efficient position for the wrist is a neutral one. Variations from this neutral position will depend on the angle that you attack the string, whether or not you anchor your wrist, and the size and position of the guitar.

The analysis on the biomechanics pages will help you determine how much you're prepared to vary from this neutral position. The following strategies will be helpful in any case.

Flatpickpicking - Anterior ViewThis neutral wrist position allows easy access to the stringsPrevious Image 1/5 Next

Wrist motion

We’ve all taken one end of a piece of rope and flicked it to create a wave. If your wrist is stiff you might get a staccato type ripple, but if it's both loose and firm and you initiate a strong movement from your shoulder, or better still your legs, you’ll have a stronger, more consistent movement along the rope.

The same goes for picking, you need to pick a string with this sort of intent and fluidity. Again we have an application for our focused awareness skills.

• Without attacking the string, take your plectrum and make a flicking motion, as you would if you were flicking a rope.
• The impetus for this motion will start at the elbow even though the elbow doesn’t actually move. Instead imagine a wave, slowly gaining momentum and breaking at the wrist as it would as it reaches the shore.
• With this same intent play a few notes on your guitar.
• The energy released at the wrist needs to continue up the string to the left hand which then “catches” and absorbs it. The idea is that nowhere along this continuum is the wave blocked.

This technique is more thoroughly thrashed out in the Practice pages.

To anchor or not to anchor?

There are definite disadvantages, biomechanically, in anchoring. It tends to lock the hand in one position and wrist anchoring can induce an unhealthy hyperextension.

That said some people will find it helps them, their playing style may be more suited to it and it may help the hand to relax, simply because it's easier to play that way. If you do rely on this technique and have ever tried to play without it you’ll have found your hand tense up and your playing slow down.

An anchored wrist is more of a problem than the common practice of resting your little finger on the scratch plate because it reduces the mobility of your hand more and importantly it creates hyperflexion in the wrist. When you're deciding whether it's worth this significant change to your technique look first at how much of a problem it is.

The main question is how much hyperextension does it create. If you’re playing an electric guitar on a long strap it’ll be easier to maintain the straight wrist, keep an anchor point either at the bridge of the scratch plate, and play with a soft relaxed forearm and hand. If you then lift the hand away from the guitar be prepared for what is likely to happen.

This will take lot of practice to get right, the unfamiliar position, the difficulty finding the strings and the energy required to lift your hand away from the guitar will build a lot of extra tension in your arm. It may be worth it but you’ll need to have your shoulders soft and be very confident that you can keep the entire arm and hand relaxed as you practice.

If on the other hand you’re playing an acoustic guitar, or a 335 on a shorter strap, it’s an entirely different ball game. Now having the wrist on the bridge will cause it to lift slightly into an extended position, just enough to lock up your wrist and finger extensors, before you even hit a note. The advantage now of getting your wrist away from the bridge will definitely be worth the effort, and it won’t be as difficult as it would be playing a Les Paul down around your knees.

Getting the wrist off the bridge

Make sure that you’ve first looked at the previous section on shoulder positioning. Getting your wrist away from the bridge is not a complicated matter but it does take some practice and will feel awkward at first. If your shoulders are soft and that you are confident that you can keep your hand and arm relaxed as you practice you’ve done the hard yards.

Position your guitar high enough that you can keep your wrist in a neutral position (if it’s too low you’ll be force into radial deviation)
Ensure that you’re holding your plectrum correctly and your hands are soft. I’d suggest that you start with the flatpicking technique exercises. Start with the simpler ones, play very slowly and stop once you’re aware of any tension in your shoulder or arm.

These exercises rely heavily on your focused awareness skills, having these honed will be a real advantage in making this significant adjustment to your technique.

Right elbow

The right elbow will flex as much as it needs to get the hand in the right position, it is well adapted to do this and as long as any scapula tipping hasn’t rotated the humerus it shouldn’t be under any strain at all. Right elbow dysfunction is related to the muscles that control the hand and wrist that originate either at or near the elbow.