Correct Right Hand Placement:
As we discussed in the article on the Correct Left Hand Placement, it is very important, if not critical to place BOTH of your hands properly and have impeccable technique to be able to play a Classical Guitar at your best. I would like to say that you can apply many of these principles to the acoustic guitar as well. Proper technique can seem like a pain at first because it forces us to follow rules, an many of us resist following rules, including myself.
If you did not read the article on the left hand, you can see it at this link: The Left Hand.
Proper Right Hand Position:
Start With Right Arm Placement:
Proper Right Hand Placement begins with holding the guitar properly. We will address that in future article and that is very important as well. But for now, let’s continue concentrating on the Right Hand.
With the guitar held in the proper position, place the right forearm on the edge of of the guitar – look at the photo here. This position will vary depending on the length of your arm, but you should be very comfortable and let your arm rest on this edge in a very natural manner.
Next Comes Proper Hand Placement:
With your right arm resting comfortably on the guitar edge, let your right hand hang down in a very natural and relaxed manner. Now if you would draw an imaginary line through the axis of all your finger knuckles where they meet the palm of your hand, this axis line should closely correlate or be very close to parallel with the line of the strings. Again look at the photo and see what I mean by this.
By aligning your knuckles parallel to the strings, you get a bit of a kink or a slight angle at your wrist. This should be very subtle and not strained in any manner. Also note how your index, middle, ring and pinky fingers attack the strings at a perpendicular or at right angles to the strings. This will allow you to get the best sound production out of your strings and also allow you to have the optimal nail shape and length for these fingers.
In our Score or Notation and TABs you will find on this site, we will have each and every note documented as to what is the most appropriate Right Hand finger you should use to strike which string to produce the note.
Right Hand Thumb Position:
If you strictly follow the arm and hand positions described above you will find that by merely extending your thumb out to the bass strings, it will be in perfect position to play. If you play with a thumbnail, you may need to sculpt your nail creatively to match you exact hand position. In other words, your nail may need to be shorter or longer or slightly oblong to work for you.
The Right Hand Arch:
What this refers to is keeping your hand some distance away from the strings and let your fingers gently arch to reach the strings. Put the palm of your hand too close to the strings and you greatly restrict your finger movements and this diminishes performance. Too far away and…..Well, you will find out that you can’t reach the strings. Experiment a bit and find out what works best for you. Look in the mirror. You hand should look just like the one in the photo above.
By strictly adhering to these right hand positioning principals, you will find that you get better performance, better tone production and less playing fatigue. After all I’m not just discovering this technique. This has been developed over centuries by Classical Guitar players that are much better than I will ever be.
