I decided to work on Ben's Land of Legato and also Dejan's Little Finger Workout
I'll admit I have the slowest left hand in the world, I thought these two lessons would help change that.
They're really helping to show WHY I have crappy left hand speed (my picking hand isn't blazing either mind you!)
I always put it down to having small hands and short fingers, but those asian kids on youtube took that excuse away from me, DAMN YOU LITTLE ASIAN CHILD GUITAR VIRTUOSOS!!!!!
Anyway
1) My thumb is lazy and doesn't move with the rest of my hand when moving postitions,
2) It also bend back, causing unwanted tension in my hand, I think this 2nd thing is linked to playing acoustic guitar for many years and needing to use more pressure to play barre chords etc
I'm sure I'll find more things wrong as I continue, but at least now I can practice slowly and try and get rid of the bad habits and create new good habits!
Full Version: Things I've Learnt This Week
Hey there, I'm glad that you're working on your left hand technique. Many players neglect this aspect until years into their playing and then have to work harder to correct bad habits so it's better that you do it now. 
Always keep in mind that there are different ways of fretting the hand.. at an angled position.. or classical position, where the fingers and hand are straight on to the neck. Classical is useful for larger stretches and maintaining cleanliness during legato phrases.. but angled is usefl for effective string bending and vibrato. Eventually where you want to be is to be comfortable in either position but to start with, training yourself to learn good legato habits with the classical position will also help your accuracy in an angled position too. It all contributes to overall technique
I hope that makes sense !
Always keep in mind that there are different ways of fretting the hand.. at an angled position.. or classical position, where the fingers and hand are straight on to the neck. Classical is useful for larger stretches and maintaining cleanliness during legato phrases.. but angled is usefl for effective string bending and vibrato. Eventually where you want to be is to be comfortable in either position but to start with, training yourself to learn good legato habits with the classical position will also help your accuracy in an angled position too. It all contributes to overall technique
I hope that makes sense !
Yeah, I find things about myself when practicing lessons. For instance, fast metal riffing I need to work on my muting and clarity - oh, and tightness: BIGTIME.
Small hands, big hands, it really doesn't matter all you need to learn is how to use them in order to get the most out of your body. Depending on the way we are built, we must explore our possibilities and see how we can improve our best traits on the instrument.
all you need to learn is how to use them in order to get the most out of your body. Depending on the way we are built, we must explore our possibilities and see how we can improve our best traits on the instrument.
Couple that with Zsolt's Modal Madness series and you'll be blazing in no time.
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