It is important to develop strong control over left hand finger independence on classical guitar. This exercise from CGC Faculty Member Nicoletta Todesco will help in no time! This workout helps develop strong control over the left-hand fingers when facing repertoire that uses different voices and requires complicated left-hand finger preparation. This exercise can be difficult to control at first, but don’t give up—it will soon give a lot of satisfaction!
By the way, this exercise comes from Italian guitarist and teacher Bruno Giuffredi. Go here to hear some of his wonderful playing.
The Exercise
First of all, we will be playing this exercise all in the 7th position. The stretch between the fingers is much more manageable here and you don’t have to be familiar with playing in 7th position to learn this exercise. To find 7th position, move your first finger in the left hand up to the seventh fret. Now line up your 2, 3, and 4 fingers one each successive fret.
This exercise focuses on independence in the left hand fingers so how you use the right hand is not as important. However, to be consistent, you might focus on i-m alternation for the trebles and thumb for the basses.
The Process
To start, hover your left-hand fingers above the third string on the seventh fret. Just touch the string and make sure not to put any pressure on the string. We want the fingers to be nice and curled toward the strings and as relaxed as possible.
Next we will keep two fingers touching the string (but not pressing!) while your other two fingers are moving and playing on different frets and different strings. Go slowly to keep the fingers not moving as relaxed as possible.
To begin let 3 and 4 touch the string and then we will play the following in the 1 and 2 fingers: Open, 1, 2, 1. Next, move to the second string: Open, 1, 2, 1. Keep doing this all the way to the sixth string and back. Follow along with the provided worksheet.
Next, you will let 1 and 2 touch the string while 3 and 4 move. Do the exact same procedure you did above. You can then cycle through all the different finger combinations while two fingers are resting and the other two are moving.
Thanks, Niki! Left hand finger independence is always a challenge. Its such a moving target. Just when you think you’ve got it you discover that you need even more. This one provides a nice twist by just touching, not pressing, the unused fingers. (So they really aren’t unused at all!)
Very interesting! I have never seen this exercise before and am anxious to give a try. Maybe you also can suggest a good exercise for left & right and synchronization in your next offering!? Thank you.
Excellent exercise that I dearly need. A little kinesthesis is great for us who are always beginners.
Thank you Niki. I look forward to practicing this exercise.
Niki,
This is a great exercise! Thanks. You showed it to me live at the last summer school, and I watched you do it again in this video. I’m still not sure it’s possible for mortals. I feel like my brain wires don’t connect the right way. Will keep at it though.
-Scott
My fingers are saying, “You what!!??”
I thought the exercises in Pumping Nylon were hard but this is orders of magnitude more challenging. But, as you say Niki, we start incredibly slowly and build up. A month is totally out of the question for me – a year or so, I think…
Les
Wow, this is a good exercise but boy, it’s a tough one. Tried it for the first time today just doing variation 1 & 2; up and down through strings 1,2,4,5,6. Having a tough time getting any sound from string 1 when fretting with second (middle) finger. But as often with your exercises, it shows another deficiency. I need to keep my left palm parallel to the neck and not let my hand tend towards “violin” position. So this my help with two areas. Thanks much.
Bob W.
Thanks for sharing this Niki! This is the perfect timing for me, I just got my feedback on my grade 1 submission and realised that I need to work on my left hand position and independence.
Everyday for the last 5 days I spent 15 minutes on this exercise. It’s amazing how fast our fingers start to get their own lives back :-)
I commit to do this exercise for one month and look forward to see the impact it has on my playing.
Warmly, Peter
This is great thanks for sharing!!
I have played similar exercises, but always pressing the stationary fingers into the fretboard. Having these fingers lightly resting on the string and staying motionless is a brilliant and challenging innovation.