Acoustic Guitar Exercise
How to stretch your left-hand fingers
Beginner lesson.
Hey guys, today I will show you this acoustic guitar exercise that you can use to stretch your left-hand fingers. Guitar players with a developed left-hand fingers stretch can easily play chords and melodies without struggling. Also, fingers stretch allows you to learn more things easily, creating positive momentum and drive.
Overall left-hand stretch is one of the most important aspects you want to develop when it comes to acoustic guitar and fingerstyle guitar.
How stretchy are your fingers? Let’s find out!
The video lesson
Stretchy Chops
First thing first, I will show you the video lesson so that you can have an idea of what the exercise looks like. There are a ton of different variations of it. This is the acoustic guitar exercise using all the fingers, which allows you to stretch your left-hand fingers consistently. However, if you find yourself struggling, you can always decide to simplify it. I am going to show you how later on in this post.
The exercise and its structure
What to expect for Stretchy Chops
This acoustic guitar exercise is based on the famous symmetrical combination that all guitar players refer to as the 1234 exercises. This exercise is pretty common, especially for beginners. It is basically a straightforward and symmetrical way to start “moving” your fingers on the guitar neck by playing a sequence of notes going from the first finger (labeled as number 1) to the fourth finger (labeled as number 2).
This picture shows you the fingers stretch you can obtain by using the sequence. Notice how each finger sits on one fret.
If you start the sequence on fret one with the finger one, then the second fret will have the second finger, the third fret the third finger, and the fourth fret the fourth finger.
Pretty easy, no?!
How to perform the exercise
Fingerstyle guitar tips
Once you understand the symmetrical 1234 finger concept, we can then move on to the acoustic guitar exercise we are about to learn. This exercise guy is pretty straightforward; however, it can be quite challenging to play.
I am going to post the first part of the guitar tab. You can also get the detailed PDF tab plus an introduction to the exercise by creating your BlitzGuitar account and instantly access a ton of free fingerstyle guitar lessons. By the way, this is a lesson from my free ebook, Fingerstyle Engine. 100% free!
This is the tab 
As you notice, the finger sequence is played on the second string, and you will be performing a 1234 pattern where each finger sits on a fret. You can start this exercise by playing the second string only before you add the first open.
Once you familiarize yourself with finger stretch on the second string, you can then add the first open string that will be alternated with the second string.
We add the first open string because we want to make sure that your left hand is positioned correctly. If you have to play the first open string, you are forced to lower the left-hand thumb and stretch your fingers to the maximum. Your hand will also be in line with the strings.
If your left hand isn’t positioned correctly, the first string doesn’t ring, so you’ll know that your left-hand position needs to be adjusted.
The worst left-hand position
How to kill your stretch for good!
In this picture, I will show you the WORST position you can apply to guaranteed failure.
Notice how the fingers are “rolling” on the side, and the thumb is sitting on the top neck.
This position kills your finger stretch and reduces the agility and fluidity of your fingers. If you ever find yourself playing using this posture, make sure you spend some time to fix that.
With this position, you will never be able to correctly perform Stretchy Chops as the first string will never ring out properly.
Final Thoughts
How much do you need to practice?
One of the questions I get asked the most is, “For how long should I practice this exercise?”
This is a fundamental question because, as with any acoustic guitar exercise, you want to make sure to allocate the right amount of time for it. Overdoing it will kill your improvement. Playing it for too little will not give you the results you are probably looking for.
I recommend that you practice this exercise for between 8 and 25 minutes. This is the right amount of time for you to fully engage with the exercise and maintain a high focus level. Before you heat 8 minutes, your brain is still “figure things out.” Once you cross the 25 minutes, the autopilot kicks in, so your fingers move, but your mind is somewhere else hence no improvement.
Practice this finger stretch exercise until you feel you are 100% focused on your fingers and feel the stretch and fluidity getting better.
Good luck with this exercise, guys, and please, make sure you take it step by step, practice slowly and enjoy the process.