2 NAMES OF THE RIGHT FINGERS ‘The customary designations found in guitar music for the thumb and fingers of the right hand are: () (m) @ @) Figure 5 Figure 6 From the Latin designations: pollex, index, medius, and annularis ‘The little finger of the right hand is not used in plucking the strings. If properly relaxed it will naturally follow the movements of (a). PLACING THE RIGHT HAND 1. Place right forearm on the top front edge of guitar, forearm horizontal to floor, 80 that hand falls just back of soundhole. 2. Wristis relaxed inas comfortable a side- wise curve as the conformation of wrist will permit. 3. Wrist is quite flat or never more than slightly arched in accordance with indi- vidual tendencies or characteristics; see Fig. 9. 4, Tip of thumb is relaxed and either rest ing on a string for hand support or hang- ing downward in a normal position not touching the strings, whichever seems more comfortable. 5. Keep shoulders relaxed, and generally on a horizontal plane, Guard against the tendency of right shoulder to drop, caus- ing arm to cross the edge of guitar too far back of the bridge. In actual perfor- mance, left shoulder is usually slightly lower than the right, to facilitate reach- ing high positions. 6. It is recommended that a mirror be used to aid the student in placing right hand,Figure 7 1B . Hand tilted to left so that from a back or front (mirror) view, (a) is perpendicular to the top of the guitar, String is struck with left tips of (1) and (m). In the position shown, (p) easily extends to the side, never conflicting with the movement of (i), even whtén used simul- taneously with that finger... (p) executes a completely natural free- stroke without lifting or plunging inward, HAND MUST REMABN..TILTED IN THIS MANNER AT ALL TIMES. The thumb (p) and fingers (i,m,a) of the right hand are trained to execute two different types of "stroke" for sounding the strings of the guitar; they are called: 1. The REST=STROKE, often referred to by its Spanish name, Apoyando, and 2, the FREE-STROKE. Correct finger action is achieved most easily by first developing: THE REST-STROKE Think of the tip-segment of the finger as if it were the bristles of a paint brush and that you are going to paint a beautiful tone from the string, Naturally, the bristles will "give" as the brush makes its stroke across the string, coming to vest against the next lower string; this is the basic principle of the REST-STROKE, ‘The amount of "give" in the tip-segments of the fin- gers will vary with the individual and is of little importance; they need only to be relaxed and permitted to act in accordance with the individual's degree of natural flexibility. Figure 8 Thumb (p) need not be placed on the 6th string; it may be placed on the Sth or 4th string, according to the size of the hand, Anyone acquainted with the feel of the guitar need not base (p) on any string.16 THE FREE-STROKE WITH THE THUMB Figure 9 1, Hand and thumb (p) is in same position as for playing the rest-stroke with fingers. 2, To begin practice of this movement, fingers (i), (m), and (a) should rest upon the Ist or 2nd string for hand support. They should be removed when the hand can be held steady during the stroke. 3, Stroke is made entirely from movement of thumb (mostly from joint at wrist, the first joint, with tip-segment turned comfortably back), HAND MUST BE HELD STEADY. 4. Thumb executes FREE-STROKE, gliding freely over the adjacent string, not coming to rest against it, THE 4th, 5th, AND 6th OPEN STRINGS Eoréth AorSth Dor 4th es al Exercise 5 is played entirely with (p) executing the free-stroke. 1, First name each note as it is played until all are thoroughly learned. 2. Then count each beat in accordance with the time signature, (See p. 9) SLOWLY, HAND HELD STEADY! Ex, 518 THE LEFT HAND Figure 10 Figure 11 1, Strings must alwaye be held firmly against the frets to produce a good, clear tone, 2. Each finger should curve so that only the tip rests precisely upon the string just back of the fret. Note how Ist finger is “cocked” back and fingers press strings somewhat on left portion of tips. 3. Having placed a finger, never lift it until necessary to play a lower note or a note on another string. 4, Fingers must never lift far out from fingerboard. Keep them hovering closely over strings. 5. The dumb should always remain on neck as shown, maintaining a position approxi- mately opposite the fret upon which the first finger falls, Never should the thumb pro- trude over edge of fingerboard on the bass side, 6. The left arm must hang naturally with wrist and hand in line with arm as shown in Figure 2. At no time is the elbow to be forced away from or pulled in close to the body. NOTES ON THE E OR Ist STRING Open F, Ist Fret Ist Finger 3rd Fret 3rd Finger Again the student is urged to follow carefully the three steps of PROCEDURE FOR PRAC- TICE given on pg. 14. SLOWLY! First with (1) and (m); then with (m) and (a). Do not lift left finger until necessary! X = hold. Ex.g° v om x xFREE-STROKE WITH THE FINGERS ‘The term FREE-STROKE means that the finger, in making its stroke, does not come to rest against the next lower string but glides freely above it. Free-stroke with the fingers must generally be employed in playing arpeggios to permit tones of adjacent strings to be sustained. Figure 12 Rest-stroke position is indicated by the broken line, the new free-stroke position by heavy continuous lines. Figure 13 Figure 7 (Same as under Rest-stroke) PLACING THE HAND FOR FREE-STROKE 1, Begin with the hand in position for rest-stroke, (i) resting on Ist string. 2, With elbow as pivot, lower hand in direction of floor (Fig. 12) until (i) assumes a con- siderably sharper angle at first joint, X, (Fig. 13) and (p) is comfortably extended to the side (Fig. 7) and placed on 2nd string. 3. DO NOT CHANGE TILT OF HAND (Fig. 7) OR CURVE OF WRIST! General position of hand to arm must remain the same for both rest-stroke and free-stroke. 4, TIP-SEGMENTS MUST REMAIN RELAXED! The "brush action" explained under rest- stroke, page 13 is to be carefully initiated and maintained in free-stroke.