Practice

Finger exercises for every level, and how to hold the guitar so nothing aches.

Practise a scale →

Stop if anything hurts — aching muscles are normal, sharp or joint pain is not. Short breaks beat pushing through.

Both feet flat on the floor, weight even, sitting forward on the chair rather than slumped into the back of it.

Angle the neck slightly upward. A neck pointing at the floor bends your fretting wrist into the position that causes trouble.

Bring the guitar up to see your hands instead of hunching your head down to them.

Shoulders down and level. If your strumming shoulder is creeping up, the guitar is sitting too low.

Set the strap so the guitar sits at the same height standing as it does sitting — then everything you practised still works.

The strap goes across the shoulder, not up against the neck. Let the weight sit on the shoulder blade.

Keep the neck up at roughly 20 to 30 degrees rather than hanging low.

Feet about shoulder-width apart, knees soft, not locked.

A wide strap spreads the load. Worth it for a heavy solid body or a long set.

Short and often beats long and occasional. Five minutes of these, every day, does more than an hour on Sunday.

The 1-2-3-4 walk

Finger independence

One finger per fret on frets 1 to 4 of the low E — index, middle, ring, little — picking every note. Move to the next string, and come back down again.

Two passes up and down, slowly, one note per metronome click.

Open string picking

Picking hand

Alternate down and up on a single open string with your eyes off your hands. All you are listening for is whether every note is the same volume.

One minute per string, or one minute at each of three tempos.

Press, lift, replace

Fret a note just behind the fret wire, play it, lift the finger clear without moving your hand, then put it back. Buzzing usually means you are too far behind the fret or pressing too softly.

Ten repeats per finger on the D string.

Two-chord change

Chord changes

Pick two chords you know and swap between them on every fourth click. Say the change out loud one beat before it happens.

Two minutes, then swap one chord for a harder one.

Thumb and wrist check

Relaxed hand

Hold a shape and look at your fretting hand: thumb behind the middle of the neck, wrist not folded, fingers curved rather than flat. Release, shake the hand out, and rebuild the shape.

Five rebuilds, between other exercises.

Accuracy first, speed second. If a note buzzes at this tempo it will buzz twice as loudly faster.

Index on the 6th string 1st fret, middle on the 5th string 2nd fret, and keep crossing the fingers over each other across the strings. It feels awkward, which is the point.

Four minutes, slowly, every finger pair.

Scales in triplets

Take the exercise from the Scales tab and play three notes per click instead of one. Keep your alternate picking strict even when the group crosses a string.

Ascend and descend twice at a tempo you can hold cleanly.

Hammer-ons and pull-offs

Fretting hand strength

Pick one note, hammer to the next with the finger above it, then pull back off. Only the first note is picked — the other two come from the fretting hand alone.

Each finger pair, one string, two minutes.

Barre chord roll

Barre chords

Form an F barre, play it, release the pressure without lifting the hand, move up one fret, press again. You are training the release as much as the grip.

Frets 1 to 7 and back down.

String skipping

Play a simple pattern on the 6th, 4th and 2nd strings, missing out the strings between. Your picking hand has to learn where the strings are without brushing past them.

Three minutes with the metronome.

At this level the exercise is control, not effort. Play everything at a tempo where you could hold a conversation.

Three notes per string

Position shifts

Run a scale three notes to a string across all six, then shift position and run it back. Watch that the shift lands in time rather than stealing a beat.

Four positions, ascending and descending.

Picking bursts

Speed control

Four notes per click for one bar, then back to two for a bar. Alternating between the two teaches your hand to change gear without tensing up.

Eight bars, then rest the hand fully.

A whole scale position with one pick stroke per string, everything else hammered and pulled. Aim for the unpicked notes matching the picked ones in volume.

Two positions, up and down.

Bends to pitch

Play the target note, then bend up to it from a tone below and hold. Use the reference tones in the Tuning tab to check you are actually arriving at the note.

Semitone, tone and tone-and-a-half bends, five each.

Economy picking groups

Three-note groups where the direction of the stroke carries you onto the next string instead of doubling back. Slow enough that every note still speaks.

Three minutes, then the same passage strictly alternate picked.

Low E then A — index, middle, ring, little. Carry the same shape across all six strings and back down.

One open string, shown here on the D. Down and up, every note the same volume.

Play the note, lift the finger clear without moving your hand, then put it back in the same place.

C on the left, G on the right. Swap between them on every fourth click.

Hold an E minor shape, check the thumb sits behind the neck and the wrist is straight, release, rebuild.

The fingers cross over each other as you move between the two strings — awkward on purpose.

Three notes to every click. Keep the picking strict through the string change.

Pick only the first note of each group — hammer up to the second, pull back off to the third.

F barre at the 1st fret, release the pressure without lifting, move up, press again.

Sixth, fourth, second and back again, without brushing the strings in between.

Three notes to a string across the neck, then shift position and run it back down.

One note, repeated. Four per click for a bar, then two — change gear without tensing up.

One pick stroke per string; everything else hammered and pulled, matching the picked notes in volume.

Play the 10th fret, then bend the 8th up until the two sound identical.

The stroke direction carries you onto the next string instead of doubling back.

Choose your cookie settings below

Left-handed mode on — diagrams mirrored

Left-handed mode off

Aim for 45 to 55 percent

That is the range most guitars are built in and happiest living in. Anywhere from 40 to 60 is fine day to day.

Too dry is the dangerous one

Below about 35 percent the top sinks, the action drops, fret ends turn sharp and the wood can crack. Winter heating is the usual culprit.

Too damp swells it

Above about 65 percent the top rises, the action climbs and the tone goes dull and muddy. Damp rooms and lofts do this.

Measure where the guitar lives

Put the hygrometer in the case or on the wall beside the stand, not in another room. Give it a couple of hours to settle before you trust the reading.

Act on what it tells you

A soundhole humidifier or a case humidifier packet costs very little and fixes a dry room. A dehumidifier or silica packs handle the opposite.

Tech or careful DIY

The truss rod sets a very slight forward bow in the neck. Too little and the strings buzz; too much and the action is high in the middle of the neck. Small turns only, and let the neck settle between them.

Action height

How far the strings sit above the frets, set at the bridge or saddle. Lower is easier to play but buzzes sooner — the right height depends on how hard you play.

Slots cut too high make the first few frets feel stiff and play sharp. This is the most commonly neglected part of a cheap guitar and the most transformative to fix. Cut too deep and the nut needs replacing, so leave it to someone with the files.

Pickup height

On an electric, two screws either side of each pickup. Closer to the strings is louder, but too close pulls the strings out of tune magnetically, especially on the bass side.

DIY on electric, tech on acoustic

Setting each string so it plays in tune all the way up the neck. See below.

Fit fresh strings and tune the guitar accurately. Old strings will never intonate properly.

Play the open string, then the note at the 12th fret, and compare the two on a tuner.

If the 12th-fret note reads sharp, the string is too short — move that saddle back, away from the neck. If it reads flat, move the saddle forward.

Retune and check again after every adjustment, and work one string at a time. Small movements make a surprising difference.

Rest the waist of the guitar on your thigh. On a left-handed guitar that is usually the left leg, or the right with a footstool if you play classical.

Rest the waist of the guitar on your thigh. Classical players use the left leg with a footstool; most others sit it on the right.