Fix Flying Fingers on Guitar
Improve Left Hand Fingers Movement
Flying fingers is one of the most common problems guitar players face.
It occurs when your left-hand fingers move too much while playing a scale, chord progression, or melody.
There are different reasons why you might struggle to keep your fingers grounded. We can break it down into two points.
- Thumb position
- Fingers stretch
I struggled a lot with flying fingers, and it took me a while before I was able to fix it.
I figured out that playing a melody while holding the bass note could really help me fixing this horrible problem, so at that time, I spent a reasonable amount of time practicing short classical guitar ideas.
In today’s video, I will show you one of these little classical guitar ideas that really helped me a lot in fixing this problem.
We will be using a fingerstyle, so this lesson is not suitable for strummers.
Will it Work for You?
I did my best to explain the exercises slowly, and I focused a lot on the key points that could help you fix your flying fingers problem, however as every guitar player is different, you might find that this isn’t the right thing for you.
Depending on your style and musical skills, you might need a different type of exercise.
There are a few articles on Justin Guitar and Ultimate Guitar.
Good luck with your journey, guys.
The Video Lesson
Thumb Position
One of the thing you will have to focus on a lot if you want to improve flying fingers is to improve your left-hand thumb position.
I suggest you keep the thumb straight behind the neck and position it right in the middle of the neck.
Use the mirror or your phone to check if the thumb is placed correctly.
My preference is that I want to see the tip of the thumb as I am looking at my hand in the mirror.
By keeping the thumb low, your fingers are grounded and easy to control.
Give it a try.
Fingers Stretch
Another factor that determines flying fingers is poor fingers stretch.
With the exercises I am showing you today; you should be able to improve your fingers stretch.
Hold the bass note while you play the melody every time it’s possible.
This approach will keep your fingers close to the strings.
Take it to step by step and stop immediately if you feel pain between your fingers.