10 Common Guitar Mistakes To Avoid In The Right Hand

In this, we will talk about the ones that I have seen in many beginner students when they play with the right hand.

1. Touch with your fingers on the lid

When we begin to play the guitar in a self-taught way. The tendency to hold it is always to find a way that is comfortable for us. As we do not have the ability to remember how the guitar is held by those who already know how to play and who play well. We hold it as we can good, without thinking that in the long run this can affect us.

One of those ways to hold the guitar for the first time is by resting your fingers on the lid. Touching with your thumb downwards and touching all the strings at the same time or individually. This is related to a need to hold the instrument as if it were going to fall to the ground. To correct this position put the guitar between the two rings, on the right thigh (or left if you use foot support) and place your thumb on the string 5 or 6 so that you do not escape your hand to unsuspected places, now watch the Point 2.

2. Touch with one finger repeatedly

If you decide to play the guitar with your fingers (below tips for the pick) it is important that you alternate between index and middle finger. With the thumb on the string 5 or 6 as we said in point 1. Try not to touch only the thumb, forefinger or other fingers unless specified by the composer or arranger.

Aesthetically it is bad and the sound can also be affected. Surely you’ve seen a guitarist play with just one finger. Yes, for example Wes Montgomery, as well as other jazz guitarists plays only with a thumb. However the talent of these musicians allows them to decide how they have to play the guitar.

3. Touch with extended fingers

The fingers, if possible, should always be bent inwards. You should never have them extended. Watch other guitarists who play the style that you would like to learn and look at those little details as they cannot be overlooked.

4. Touching with the thumb

Apart from touching only with the thumb as in point 1 there are also people who play with the thumb and also supporting. Use your other fingers and do not lean your fingers if you are going to combine bass with treble unless it is specified in the score. Another way to play that I have also seen in students is to touch with the middle finger on the extended index finger. This is a tripe error that you have to avoid at all costs since you are supporting. You have your index finger extended and also the middle finger is not in place.

5. Close the first and hide the fingers

Some guitarists who start also tend to hide their fingers as it happened with the left hand. It is important that all the fingers are out and of course, without supporting them on the lid as we said in point 1. Let them hang near the strings 1, 2 and 3 because if you do an arpeggio with the index, middle and ring fingers, these will easily reach the ropes.

6. Touch with the forearm hanging between the two rings.

This error is usually done also supporting with the index finger and a half. Do not do it, it is also a very common mistake. Especially in children to whom the big guitar comes. Adults also do it and it’s not right. You have to place the forearm on the second ring and pose it diagonally to the strings and perpendicular to the arm, with the thumb located on the string 5 and 6 as we said (at least in initial levels).

7. Touch too close to the bridge

The great inconvenience of playing this way is the sound you get from the guitar, this being a shrill and screeching sound. When it should be sweet and pleasant. If you combine this with point 8, the guitar may sound like lightning. So try to avoid playing near the bridge unless it is specified by the score. Since sometimes you have to play in this area to get other effects and sounds in what we are playing. But always as a contrast to the correct way of positioning the hands that is at the height of the mouth of the guitar. Not too close to the fret, not too close to the bridge.

8. Pulling too hard on the guitar ropes

This error is one of the most repeated, especially if you are learning with more people at the same time and do not listen to yourself. To avoid the mistake of pulling the strings too hard, you must first understand it. This way of playing the guitar incorrectly consists of introducing too much of the fingers, arriving to introduce the first complete phalanx until reaching the guitar. If you do, you will find that it does not sound very pleasant to the ear. The advisable thing is that you throw with the yolk of the fingers without introducing them and if you have long nails, that it is a mixture of nail and yolk.

9. Holding the barb without firmness

If you decide to play with a pick and not with your fingers there are two very common mistakes. One of them is to hold the pick as if you were disgusted. The prong should be firmly and decisively held. First placing it on the index finger horizontally and crushing it with the thumb. Leaving a small space for the tip of the barb, which is responsible for pulling the strings.

10. Touch with the pick without alternating down / up

We arrive at the final point of mistakes that beginner guitarists make in the right hand and here we have another very extended one to play without switching. Usually, when you play with the pick you always have to switch between touching down and touching up. The first blow must always be down and the second blow up. If we played 4 blacks for example the 1st and 3rd we would play it down and the 2nd and 4th up, this coincides with the strong and weak pulse. That is to say, down the strong blows and upwards the weak ones.

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