, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5-B, 6, 6-B, 7, 8, 8-B, 9, 9-B,
This lesson describes exactly how you and your guitar work together to allow you to make music. It covers the "what, how, and why" of the basic playing position and of the use and movement of the two hands. Lesson 4 will talk about the care and shaping of the fingernails and Lesson 5 will discuss the art of tuning the instrument so we can actually begin playing.
The Basic Sitting Position
Before picking up the guitar, we need to discover how to relax in the proper sitting position. To begin with, go into a quiet room and sit on a hard flat chair that is high enough so that your legs will be bent at 90 degree angles at the knees with your feet flat on the floor. Your legs should be kept at about the width of your shoulders. Your back should be straight and your shoulders should be relaxed and level with each other. Your arms should be resting comfortably at your sides. Close your eyes and breath deeply in and out slowly two or three times. Concentrate on letting all the tension out of your body and forgetting about all the activities of the day. This time is for you. Continue breathing in and out slowly in this position until you can feel all the tension fade in your head, neck, shoulders, arms, back, and legs. By beginning your practice sessions in this manner you will learn to become immediately relaxed as soon as you assume this position. That type of deep relaxation is absolutely necessary for performance and it's best to begin now to learn how to reach that relaxed state quickly.
Holding the Classic Guitar
Many method books on Classical Guitar describe how to hold the instrument in almost pedantic terms. "You must hold the instrument EXACTLY as shown or you will never progress as a player." Fortunately, that is not true. When you have a few extra moments, peruse your local music store and flip through as many books on Classical Guitar as you can find. Pay attention to the pictures of famous players. You'll notice that each player has a different playing position - a modification of the "nominal" position that I will describe - which player has evolved in deference to his/her own body. Your body will ultimately find its own best position; to force any other situation will most likely result in discomfort while playing, or, even permanent damage to your tendons and ligaments. I'll explain how to modify the nominal position and how to recognize when you're moving toward your best playing position.
Ok, let's learn the basic playing position.
You should be in the basic relaxed position (see above). For simplicity, I'll assume everyone in the world is right handed; if you're not, just flip to the other hand or leg and you'll be fine. I'm going to describe how to hold the guitar in several steps. The first step involves the position of your legs and the rotation of the instrument on your left leg. The second step lifts your left leg by using a footstool, causing the top of the instrument to move closer to your body and the height of the instrument to be more suitable to proper motion of your arms. The final step is to correctly position the guitar so that it is supported by your body at exactly four points: the upper left thigh, the inner right thigh, the center of your chest, and the inner portion of your right arm. The left arm is not used to support the instrument, the guitar is positioned to optimize the motion required by the left arm while playing.
Step 1.
Pick up the instrument and place it on your left leg so that the bottom side of the guitar, the indentation between the upper and lower bouts of the instrument, is resting flat on your thigh, about midway between your knee and your hip. You'll notice that the bottom of the guitar is also touching your right leg. You can adjust the angle in which the guitar rests by executing two separate motions: 1) moving your right leg to the left or right while keeping your right foot flat on the floor, changing only the angle your leg makes with your hip joint, and 2) rotating the instrument on your left leg while still keeping it resting flat on your thigh to raise or lower the neck of the guitar. Always keep the instrument flat on your left thigh and touching your right inner thigh. As you move your right leg to the right, you can raise the neck of the guitar - still making sure the guitar keeps contact with your right inner thigh and stays flat on your left upper thigh. Do not move your left leg! That leg should still be in the original relaxed position, left foot pointing straight ahead, foot flat on the floor. You can find a good starting angle for the guitar by adjusting the angle as described above until the center line of the instrument (an imaginary line that bisects the guitar and extends from the head of the instrument to the bottom of the instrument) is positioned at about the halfway point between the front and back of your right thigh, touching your inner thigh. This will cause the neck of the instrument to be at about the "10:00 O'clock" position (where the hour hand of a watch would be at 10:00 O'clock.)
Step 2.
Adjust your footstool so that it is about 6 inches high and place it under your left foot. Keep the bottom side of the guitar touching flat on the top of your left thigh. Do not let the instrument rest only on an edge, it must remain flat on your left thigh. Lifting the left leg will raise the guitar but it will also cause the angle of the top (face) of the instrument to point slightly upward instead of straight ahead. You'll notice that as you lifted your left leg, you had to move your right leg to the left in order to maintain the same contact with your right inner thigh. That's fine - you're on the right track. That lifting motion, provided that you have correctly kept the guitar resting flat on your left thigh, caused the back edge of the upper side of the instrument to move closer to your chest. Adjust your footstool to raise or lower your left leg so that the guitar moves toward, and gently touches your chest. You should also lean forward SLIGHTLY toward the guitar. Do not exaggerate the forward leaning motion, you don't want to lean over the guitar. Notice that if you keep the angle of the neck the same as it was in Step 1., the center line of the guitar is now touching your right inner thigh at a point almost at the top of the right thigh, having moved upward from the point where it touched in Step 1. Once again, this is good. The head of the guitar should now be approximately at eye level.
Step 3.
You are now supporting the instrument at three points: your two legs and your chest. The final support point will be the inner surface of your right forearm. In order to correctly position your right arm, first hold your right arm at about a 90 degree angle at the elbow, with the palm of your hand facing your body. Your hand should be held so that a flat object (a ruler) which is laid on the arm is touching at all points along your upper forearm and your hand. To do this, your right wrist should not be bent. It should also not be rotated left or right, there should be an imaginary straight line (I love imaginary lines) extending from the large knuckle of your right index (pointer) finger along the left inner edge of your right forearm. While maintaining this orientation of your right arm and hand, rotate the entire right arm at the shoulder while NOT LIFITING THE SHOULDER, until the inner portion of your right forearm contacts the outer edge of the lower bout of the guitar. The contact point on your forearm should be about 1/3 of the way between your elbow and your wrist, the contact point at the guitar should be almost directly in line with the saddle (the place where the strings attach) of the guitar. A natural downward and inward pressure by the right arm will hold the instrument firmly against the other three contact points. Lower your right hand toward the strings and suspend your relaxed right hand about an inch above the strings and close to the sound hole of the guitar. You are now holding the guitar correctly in playing position.
Practice picking up the guitar and getting into playing position several times. It should become a habit that feels natural and easy. Whenever you decide to practice the guitar, start with the relaxation procedure, and then pick up and hold the guitar in the correct playing position. Stay in that position without playing a note until you feel comfortable and relaxed. Once again, you learn what you practice. If you allow tension to exist, you will learn to play with tension and you will get very good at it over time. If you learn to play relaxed, your music will expose that inner state to your audience and it will be enjoyable to listen to you play.