Hand

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.

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.

By the time we get to analysing the position of the hands all of the hard work has been done. The shoulder and arm has to position the hands in space and where they sit is in turn determined by the spine so if we've got all that right we're left with little more than some fine tuning.

For most guitarists the main problem with the hand will be fatigue and the inevitable cramping that follows when we play through it. The left hand tends to suffer more because pressing onto the fretboard requires more work from the muscle.

The main causes are related to technique, excess tension in the hand and simply playing too much. The most immediate problem is that your playing is severely restricted, there is no way you can play your instrument fluently if there is excess myofascial tension in your hand, arm or shoulder.

The fingers comprise of three long bones called phalanges while the thumb has just two. Each of the four fingers and the thumb attach to a corresponding metacarpal, long bones that form the body of the hand.

The joints where these bones articulate are named according to these bones. So we have metacarpophalangeal joints between the metacarpals and phalanges and interphalangeal joints, distal and proximal, between the phalanges. The five metacarpals connect with the wrist at the carpometacarpal joints.

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.

The following descriptions are meant to explain the biomechanics of the hand, not to infer a preference for one style or technique over another. Any suggestions are purely in the context of reducing the tension in the hand, if you can live with a certain amount of tension, and we all can, then whatever works for you is great. If it's not working however......

The hand is a complicated piece of gear,