Student Questions - Episode Two "Fingers and Hands"

Student Questions - Episode Two "Fingers and Hands" Video Transcript

Hey there, on today's question post, hands and finger questions. Check it out. 

All right, and welcome to the new post on the student questions topic. So if you're unfamiliar with this, if you haven't watched the first one, the idea behind these are to collect any of the questions that we find as we go out and try to get the best beginner content out online, as well as aggregate any questions that are left in the comments on YouTube, or emailed to us through the website, and just create a space to answer your questions as you begin the journey of learning guitar. 

So, by all means, reach out and let us know what questions you might have. I have five questions here to run through and let's get to it. 

Question #1: “Will finger flexibility improve over time on guitar?” 

Yes. There was a flexibility question on the first episode, so go check out that video. But a similar response to that one, if you are looking to get wider stretches, on your chords or soloing, to be able to get that multi-fret stretch there, make sure you're warmed up first. 

Don't just try to do these super-wide stretches when you're cold and haven't warmed up. You know, you're more likely to hurt yourself if you do that. And, you know, we don't want any barriers to keep learning guitar. Over time your fingers are just going to get used to playing. You'll get more used to the guitar that you're using, your go-to guitar, and you'll develop preferences as to what type of guitar you like. 

Is it acoustic? Is it electric? Is it a fat neck, a wide neck, a thin neck? String spacing: Do you like it wider, or thinner, or closer? You know, all of these things add up into whether or not you're having fun, or is it a pleasurable experience to actually play the instrument that you have? 

So over time, these things will develop. You'll learn what you like, what you don't, what to try, areas to experiment with, and that's the fun of playing. So, just keep it up, and as your technique will get better, you'll be able to try new things. So maybe that stretch that was really hard when you were first starting out becomes really easy just because the small muscles in your hands are more developed and your hands are more used to actually stretching in that way, right? 

Guitar, like anything, is a craft and you need to develop that muscle memory. Over time, things do get better, but again, it's better to be disciplined in your approach so you don't develop bad habits in the beginning. 

Question #2: “How do you tremolo pick faster? 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with tremolo picking, it's where you're going really, really fast and you're…almost re-creating a mandolin-type picking sound.

The mechanics of it is that you're picking really, really fast to get that type of sound. If you're trying to do it or you're just struggling to capture that technique, you might have a tendency to tense up and really dig in. 

That's not what you want to do. Counterintuitively, you need to be more relaxed, and being more relaxed allows you to pick not only faster but more cleanly because you're not overemphasizing or you're not attacking too hard with your pick. Also being more relaxed and playing faster just allows you to not be as fatigued as quickly, so you'll be able to play longer and better. 

As you try to attack this technique or tremolo picking do a sort of a body scan or body check. 

• What’s my posture? 

• Am I tensing up? 

If you're tensing up in your arm, forearm, or elbow, then make sure that you consciously relax that and practice picking as fast as you can. 

Question #3: “How long does it take for your fingers to get used to playing guitar?”

Here is a question from a lot of beginning students that you get. “How long does it take for your fingers to get used to playing guitar?” 

When you start guitar, your fingers don't naturally press on metal strings, right? So you're going to have to develop those calluses. And yes, it does hurt in the beginning, but it gets better because your fingers develop those calluses and it just takes some time. 

Now, for those of you who found your dad's, or your uncle's, or big sister's guitar in the closet and you dusted that thing off, it might be really old strings that are hurting your fingers. So try restringing the guitar with some fresh strings and that can help. I know if I've been playing a guitar for too long and haven't changed the strings, the strings can start to feel sharp. 

At that point, they're well beyond the time of needing a restringing. So, that might be one place to start, restring your guitar, do some maintenance on it. But if you're both brand-new to the guitar and you have the old guitar, then you're just going to have to start practicing and getting those reps in. 

Your fingers will develop calluses over time. And, you know, it just takes time. Like anything worth doing, right, it just takes time. So, stick with it. Don't force yourself if it really hurts. Practice for a little bit, take some time off, let your hand calm itself down, relax a little bit, develop some calluses, heal itself, and then go back to play some more.

As those calluses develop, they will cease to be a thing that you worry about. Yeah, so that's the answer for that. There's not a definitive answer. 

I wish I could say it's three months, but I can't. It totally depends on how often you play, how long your practice sessions are, and a whole bunch of other factors that some guitarist will go into crazy land with, like refusing to do the dishes, which I couldn't get away with that in my life. I don't know how they handle it. But yeah, just put in the reps and practice. 

Question #4: “How do you prevent hand cramps during barre chords?”

This is similar to hand cramping when you're playing or when you're playing lead lines. 

And similar to the tremolo picking actually too, because if you are tightening up, if you're pressing down too hard with your fingers, if you can see the blood rushing out of your fingertips or your entire finger when you're doing the barre chord, your hand pressure is probably too much and you'll need to back that off. 

Actually, practice how much pressure you can apply without hurting yourself. So, you know, what's the least amount of pressure that you can play with? So there's a deliberate practice there. Yeah, and just as you play, if your body is reacting in a way that it starts to hurt, or, again, you get that kind of negative feedback, then, you know, just stop, do that sort of body scan, like, what's my posture? 

Are my feet on the ground? Am I hunched over? Is my strap pulling down on me? You know, all those things. Do that body scan. Is my hand position off? Is my elbow tucked in like this or is it out more? 

You know, go ahead and do that, figure out what's going on, and slowly address the issue. Part of it too, especially in the beginning is pressing down with a barre chord, that is a new task and your hands are just going to have to get used to it. You're going to have to develop those small muscles to be able to do that. 

So start small. Don't try to tackle a six-string barre chord right away. If you're struggling, break it down into smaller things. Do the top three strings, do the top two strings, whatever is more comfortable, and then slowly march it across so that you then have that six-string barre chord. And go from there. 

Again, slow, deliberate practice with that one. 

Question #5: “How do you stretch your fingers for guitar?” 

I'm going to go ahead and choose to think of this one as some warm-up. Again, with the finger flexibility question at the beginning of this video, don't start doing huge stretches along the neck when you're not warmed up. 

You're just going to ask for trouble if you do that. So, go ahead and do some warm-ups, do some picking. You know, start at the higher frets to get your fingers moving, and then slowly back it down the neck so that your fingers are more naturally stretched out. 

And build-up to it. Now, if you want actual, warm-up stretches, I would say target...again, I'm not a doc, I don't do physical therapy, I'm not into any of that. So this is just what I use for my warm-ups. Anything that targets the shoulder or, you know, these arm muscles are worthwhile. Pulling the arm across here, you know, pulling your hand out like this or down like that can be good. Yeah, anything like this I find really helps, especially getting the muscle here. That's what works for me. 

We'll do some digging, see if we can find some more research on that or what works there. But, you know, just start out slow, warm up a little bit, and that should get your fingers going. Otherwise, you know, do some simple stretches that you learned in PE (physical education) class and get that going. 

So, as always, a transcript of this along with links to additional resources or other lessons that apply to the topics that we talked about here will be on the website, beginningguitaronline.com. Feel free to drop whatever questions you might have, any comments you might have down in the comments below if you're on YouTube. 

Or if you're watching on the website ask your question via the contact form. So, have fun practicing. Hope to see you in the next episode and take care.