How long did it take you to achieve left hand finger independence? (Full Version)

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Goldwinghai -> How long did it take you to achieve left hand finger independence? (May 9 2015 11:36:18)

... and what your finger exercises you do. I am having difficulty with my ring and little fingers. They are sluggish and slow. I am doing 4 different finger exercises for about 30 minutes each day and making slow but steady progress. So I am curious how long it took you. Thanks.



Dudnote -> RE: How long did it take you to achieve left hand finger independence? (May 9 2015 11:45:57)

It's taken me over 30 years [:D][:D][:D]

What exercises are you doing? the Spider Exercise is good if you can't do it.



Goldwinghai -> RE: How long did it take you to achieve left hand finger independence? (May 9 2015 13:05:02)

Yep! spider exercise is one I am doing.



Dudnote -> RE: How long did it take you to achieve left hand finger independence? (May 9 2015 13:51:09)

Left hand technique involves
1 scales
2 chords
3 vibratos, bends and slides
4 ligado
5 combinations eg ligado whilst holding a chord

you could try targetting each areas,
1 play scales up and down neck, in all positions, vary the sequences, don't move fingers until you have to
2 find some challenging chord changes and repeat them until they feel more familiar
4 revisit you scales but empasise legado
3 vibratos can help you relax your muscles if any of the above starts creating tension

but...

The best exercise of all is learning and playing (with critical attention to detail) the music of masters. Take a piece you love, play it slowly until you can memorise it, if there are any technical aspects that stop you every time devise little exercises to address that specfic section of the music. So why not download the tab for the John Walsh Solea Falsetta challange? It took me over 1 week of practicing every day to get to play this without looking at the tab. Take it slow, meteronome at 50 or 55 is fine when starting on this. Using some software to slow John's recording down to play along to will help enormously. Most importantly, relax and enjoy the journey.



Dudnote -> RE: How long did it take you to achieve left hand finger independence? (May 9 2015 14:18:57)

Here is a chord inversion exercise that I use quite often as a warm up

Play an Fmaj7 in all 4 drop-2 inversions using the E A D an G strings only (a slow bossa nova type rhythm works fine)
I V M7 III
III M7 I V
V I III M7
M7 III V I

now shift up a string and find how all those shapes change a little bit on the B string

now shift the shapes up 1 more string, again the shape changes a little on the B string

You now have 12 inversions for FMaj7. But it's not over there, we have 8 drop-3 inversions to go through, so...

Revisit each inversion that used the top E string. Move the top note on to the bass string. Now shift the whole shape so it uses the A G B and E strings. Now you have 20 inversions.

Repeat all of that for F7, Fmin7, Fmin7flat5

When I first discovered this stuff I played nothing but Cmaj7 for 2 months!!

[:D]



Goldwinghai -> RE: How long did it take you to achieve left hand finger independence? (May 9 2015 20:11:46)

Thank you David for your suggestions. I will add scales and chords to my finger exercise routines for now.



Dudnote -> RE: How long did it take you to achieve left hand finger independence? (May 9 2015 20:17:19)

No problem Goldwinghai.

My biggest left hand problem is thumb pain - hope it never happens to you. I just found these videos on relaxing LH technique - there's some good stuff in there.






Miguel de Maria -> RE: How long did it take you to achieve left hand finger independence? (May 12 2015 13:54:13)

I think I had three major periods of left hand growth. The first was when I started gigging out, and I had to quickly put together a repertoire. What I did was arrange a bunch of pop tunes. These were very simple, chord-melody type things, not virtuosic in the least. However, arranging them and then using them at gigs somehow really helped my LH overall. Second, I took a year and tackled the 20 Sor/Segovia studies (classical guitar). These are complicated and difficult for the LH, but they also helped (and there was an interval of about 10 years). The third was recent, and I got a 4-hour solo steady gig every Monday. That, added to my normal gigs, seems to have really helped my technique! Beyond that, the best thing is to practice slowly and as relaxed as possible and--most importantly--know exactly the notes you are going to play and the exact fingers you will be using to play them at all times.

To address thumb pain, practice without it touching the back of the neck. Also, pay attention to your bars and make sure you have a joint jutting higher than the fingerboard so you can sort of push down on the strings instead of gripping it.



Cervantes -> RE: How long did it take you to achieve left hand finger independence? (May 14 2015 22:27:03)

My teacher gave me some exercises from the book Pumping Nylon.
I think they help. But also you need to pay attention to your hand / wrist position not just the fingers. Always keep a space between your hand and the neck. Keep the fingers spaced evenly and perpendicular to the finger board. It all takes a lot of practice, attention and time.



Goldwinghai -> RE: How long did it take you to achieve left hand finger independence? (Jun. 4 2015 12:05:34)

My biggest problem is keeping my left wrist and hand relaxed. They tend to tighten up after playing a while, especially when the ring and little fingers become tired. I am working on this. Will look into the John Walsh Solea Falsetta challenge. Thanks.



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