How important is left hand "technique"?

[travis0127]

I am new to the guitar and I do not want to pick up any bad habits. I just started taking lessons, and my instructor says, "It doesn't matter what you do with your left hand as long as it sounds good". Is this consistent with really good players? He means that as long as I'm not muting strings I shouldn't be and can Make all the chords sing that my thumb is unimportant, and that there isn't a "Guitaristic standard fret hand approach", any input would really help, thanks.

[StoneDragon]

The fact that you are asking the question leads me to believe that you already know that left hand technique is important.

Technique comes down to a very simple equation:

sloppy technique = twice as much work for half the results.

Proper technique = half as much work for twice the results.

I've only been playing for 22 years and teaching for 13 of those years, but I have yet to meet one person who has said that learning good left-hand positioning has somehow hampered their playing. But you can bet that I have met quite a few who wish they would have learned good left-hand technique right from the start rather than have to start over because their haphazard technique has painted them into a corner.

While there may not be a "standardized" body of left-hand technique as far as "rock" music is concerned, you have to keep in mind that rock music has only been around for 50 years. If you look at classical guitar (which has been around for over 100 years) you will certainly find requisit technique. If you've ever seen somebody the caliber of Christopher Parkening perform, then I don't need to tell you that a well trained classical guitarist can effortlessly play things that the best rock guitarist can only day-dream about.

Classical technique is founded on principles of body mechanics rather than a "do whatever sorta works" attitude.

As far as I'm concerned, the proof is in the pudding.

**end of sermon**

[Sixstring]

Amen, SD!

Travis, you’re right on to avoid bad habits early. Bad habits are the hardest to break. I can remember a certain someone on these boards pointing some of mine out 13 or so years ago. “You need to use your pinky,” “You really need to learn to alternate pick…. Blah, blah, blah…” And you know what, he was absolutely right, working on those things advanced me a great deal. No, I’m not a super-shredder, but I am much happier with my playing since learning those techniques and breaking some bad, self-taught, show me the shortcuts, guitarist habits.

When I was teaching a few years ago, I used to have my students rest their hand flat on the fretboard and just let the thumb fall where it felt natural. Then I would have them move their left elbow around, all the way out, to right against their side. While they did this I had them pay attention to how it altered their hand position. It may seem elementary, but comfort is a must for maximum flexibility. After they had aligned their arm I would have them slide their thumb from extreme left to extreme right and notice how it altered the balance of their fingers as well as their respective distance from the frets.

Thumb position is key to balance and it will change depending on what type of lick you are playing and where on the neck. The key is to be able to alter thumb position on the fly, but please don’t ignore it. My thumb often starts in line with my middle finger at the top of a scale and will gradually slide to extend far left of my thumb at the bottom. This provides me with balance and keeps minimum distance between my fingers and the strings. Find what works for you in terms of posture and comfort and pay close attention to what your body tells you. The majority of the time when my students were having a hard time, the problem could be traced back to poor posture. IMHO, the position of your thumb when playing is as important as the position of your feet when standing.

You’re advice was, "It doesn't matter what you do with your left hand as long as it sounds good". The counterpoint to this would be that it won’t sound good until it matters.

Good luck! http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/smile.gif