Eighty-five percent of your problems later on--in fact, whether or not you succeed--depend on what you learn in the first lesson--namely how to sit and hold the guitar and how to release tension in order to play effortlessly.  By rushing ahead, you hold yourself back.

1. Sitting--the Foundation

Sit on the front of the chair.  Sit on your sit bones.  The sit bones are rockers that you balance on.  To find the balance point, lean back into a "C.î  Then lean forward into another "C.î  Roll back until you find the middle point where you are balanced.  Then raise yourself up as tall as possible.  Pretend that a string in the top of your head is lifting you up.  Breathe and feel the air moving in and out.  Keep doing this until you feel centered and relaxed.  Being ìcenteredî means feeling your breathing in every part of your body, right down to the big toe.  Start every practice this way, taking time for yourself, practicing relaxation and centering.

When you sit like this, tall and balanced, you may confront a basic human instinct, the fear of falling backward.  Humans have a natural fear of falling over backward and this makes us tend to hunch over all the time.  One goal of learning guitar is to inhibit this fear of falling backwards by practicing sitting up and gaining confidence.  Often our instinctual fears cause us to fail by eroding our confidence.  You can replace your fear reaction with a new, learned reaction gently.

2.  Holding the Guitar

Now that you're sitting up and breathing, weíll do something strange and wonderful, hold the guitar.  At first this will seem strange but after a couple weeks, you'll feel like you've always done this.  Give it a chance.

The purpose of the classical position is to give us as much freedom of movement as possible by using the geometry of the body so we can move freely.  Put the guitar down for a minute and hold your arms out in front of you in a big circle.  Open up as much as possible.  Take a breath and remember how this feels because you want to feel open when you're playing the guitar.

 LEARN THESE FIVE STEPS:

1. Sit on the corner of the chair so that the right foot can slide under the chair without hitting the leg.  Place the left foot on a footstool (or your guitar case or a stack of books).  Move the right foot over about twelve inches to the right.

2. Place the guitar between your legs so that it rests on the left leg.  The butt of the guitar slides down and rests inside the right leg so the strings point at your leg.  The head of the guitar is level with your eye.

3. Turn the guitar to the right so it points away from you; the curve of the guitar body rests against the right rib cage.  Donít let the guitar slide down.  Make sure it points out to the right.

4. Place the right arm on top of the guitar so that the elbow hits the box when you lift the arm.

5. Drape the right wrist.  Lift the fingers to the palm.  The wrist will lift slightly.  Hold the wrist in this relaxed position and let the fingers fall open.

 Swing the arm until the i finger touches the strings.  Don't twist the wrist, keep the angle.  Touch i and roll the arm until the m finger touches the string.

 Lift the thumb and place it on the fourth or fifth string.  The index and middle fingers should fall on the strings at an angle equal to the line along the first two fingers.  The fingers fall at an angle to the strings.  Don't twist the wrist, fingers donít play straight into the guitar, they fall at angle so there's a vee between the fingers and thumb.

THE WRIST

Study the wrist.  There are two joints in the wrist.  One is stationary and the other moves.  The tendons and nerves that work the hand run through a tunnel in the wrist called the carpal tunnel ("carpal" is Latin for wrist).  In order to avoid damaging the nerves, we avoid twisting or ìflatteningî the wrist.  If you hang the wrist and pull the fingers up to the palm gently, the wrist will rise with the tension.  This is your playing position, with the wrist up.  This is what I call a relaxed wrist because this is the point where the tendons move freely.

Place the arm on the guitar so the elbow hits the box. Drape the wrist, lift the fingers, hold the hand up and drape the fingers.  Swing the arm down until the hand hangs in front of the strings.  There is a tendency for the arm to slide back on the guitar and you may have to constantly remind yourself to ìkeep the arm out on the guitar.î

How the arm works.  Next, drape the wrist.  Swing the arm to the guitar to touch the INDEX finger to the second string.  Don't flatten the wrist.  Look at the axis between the point where the arm rests on the guitar and the point where the index finger touches the string.  This is the hinge the arm swings on.  Roll the arm until the middle finger comes to the string.  Don't reach the finger or twist the wrist.  Remember that natural, relaxed curved shape of the finger?  You want to keep that shape at all times.  Don't hook the finger.

As a gauge, the wrist should be about one hand's width from the top of the guitar.  Take time to get used to keeping the arm out on the guitar so the elbow hits the box so you don't slide it back and hurt your self by flattening the wrist.

As you roll the arm, the middle finger comes to the string and the finger tips fall on the line across the fingertips (that we discovered above).  The fingers play on the sides of the fingertips, not straight on.  The fingers play at an angle to the strings.  Donít flatten the wrist.

It will take time to feel balanced enough to even start moving the fingers, really, so take time.

DON'T FLATTEN THE WRIST. There is a tunnel through the wrist that contains all the tendons and nerves that work the fingers.  To avoid injuring yourself, care must be taken to avoid straining the wrist.  Some very great musicians have injured themselves badly by improper use of the body and it is up to you to sit properly and to avoid distorting the wrist by flattening it.  There are two joints in the wrist:  one is fixed and the other turns.  In the draped position, the outside joint is visible.

When we begin the guitar,  we use general motions, brushing the strings and not really trying to play any single notes.  As you become comfortable and balance, the notes will come into focus.

Ergonomics is the study of the body at work and careful attention to how you practice repetitive action will save you frustration,  pain and suffering later.

DON'T POSE.  The hand isn't supposed to look like anything.  Use a mirror to practice so you can look at the right hand the way your teacher does.  Everything I say is from the teacherís viewpoint.  Segovia was self taught and each of us is, basically, self taught.  Your teacher's job is to constantly remind you and when you practice, give yourself a lesson by constantly reminding yourself.

Lift the thumb.

With the index and middle fingers touching the strings at an angle, lift the thumb and place it on the fifth string.  Looking down, you will see a "V" between the thumb and fingers.  The fingers point back, at an angle to the strings, and the thumb stays away from the fingers.  In the classical style, the thumb and fingers have an equal role and the hand position balances so they both can play.

 l like to tell people that it's like riding a bike.  You don't control the bike by twisting your body and hunching your shoulders. To succeed on the bicycle, you have to relax into it or you fall off.  Itís that simple.  With the guitar, you can play with the body all twisted up but it takes a lot longer to learn and it isn't as much fun.

When your hand claws up, it's a sign of stress.  Use stress as a tool to tell you when to practice the release of tension.  The pinky, while it doesnít actually play the strings, can be where you store tension.  To avoid storing tension, program the release of pinky every time the hand opens.
 
 

6. REVIEW OF HOLDING THE GUITAR.

a. Sit on the front of the chair.  Lean back, lean forward, find the middle and sit up.  Practice breathing until you are centered.

b. Sit on the corner of the chair.  Place the left foot on a footstool and swing the right foot out twelve inches.  Tuck the right foot under the chair.

c. Place the guitar between you legs so that is rests on the leg.  Slide the butt down inside the right leg until the nut comes up to eye level.

d. Turn the guitar so it points away from you and the curve of the guitar presses against the right rib cage.

e. Place the right arm on the guitar so the elbow hits the box.

f. Drape the wrist and lift the fingers to the palm.  Let the fingers fall open and touch the index finger to the top string.  Don't flatten the wrist.

g. Roll the arm down until the middle finger comes to the string.  The wrist remains in the same relaxed position as before.  Don't twist the wrist to bring the fingers to the string.

h. Lift the thumb and place it on the fifth string.  The fingers and thumb form a "V.î

i. Release tension in pinky.  Concentrate on the feeling in the pinky finger.  The muscle in the side of your hand is a reservoir of tension and our goal is to practice the release of tension after every effort.

 
  Remember:  for every effort there is an equal and opposite relaxation.  Without programmed relaxation, there is a build up of tension in the side of the right hand.  Therefore, the pinky is the leader in closing the hand and in releasing tension (opening).

4. PLACING THE HAND ON THE GUITAR

a.  THE THUMB AND FINGERS FORM A ìVEE.î

The purpose of the first three months of guitar playing is to set the right hand shape.  The shape of the hand depends on the thumb and fingers forming a ìvee.î  The thumb stays four strings  behind the fingers and moves whenever you change strings with the fingers.  The fingers and thumb keep the same shape when you cross the strings, itís the arm that moves.  You can think of this as moving the thumb every time you cross the strings but actually the hand shape stays the same.

 FIG. 1  The thumb and fingers form a ìvee.î
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

B.  The index & middle form a line that is the angle of the fingers to the string.

Study the hand.  Look at your hand, palm up.  The index finger is shorter than the middle finger.  If you put a pencil across the index and middle fingertips, you have the line that the fingers fall on the guitar.  Remember this line.

 FIG. 2  THE INDEX & MIDDLE FORM A LINE THAT IS THE ANGLE OF THE FINGERS TO THE
  STRING.
 

2. Back Pain

I often hear complaints of back pain.  Sitting up is hard work requiring many small muscles that you may not use often.  Therefore, stretching is an important part of success at the guitar.  I suggest the following exercises:

Put a couple fat pillows on the floor or get a small, 6" bench long enough to support your head and torso.  Use a couple books for weights.  (Small, 2-3 lb. weights are enough.  You don't need to pump iron--your body knows what to do, even with small weights.)  Lie down with the pillows supporting the upper back.  With a book in each hand, practice these three exercises with breathing:

1. Super Flye:  Spread the arms in a grand cross and, breathing in, curl the arms across the chest.  Slowly release the breath as you close the arms across the chest.  Then, inhale and open the arms, exhaling as you complete the spreading of the arms.

 2. Swim:  Place your arms down at your side.  Slowly practice the swim motion, breathing in on the up swing and out on the down swing.

 3. Press:  Press the weights from the chest, breathing in on the press and out as they come down.

Practice this exercise routine for 15 minutes three times a week for a month to see dramatic results.  Or better yet, sign up for a yoga class.  But do something.