Group 1
We’re thrilled to introduce our upcoming Two-Week Intensive (TWI): "Avoiding Exponential Left-Hand Tension" with guitarist Arturo Castro Nogueras! This interactive, online course is designed to help you identify and manage left-hand tension, equipping you with techniques that will elevate your playing to the next level. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned player, this TWI is packed with valuable insights and exercises tailored for all skill levels.
Sign-Up: October 1st - October 6th
Course Dates: October 7th - October 18th
Where: Our community forum
What You'll Learn Over These Two Weeks:
- How to Spot Tension Build-Up: Learn how to recognize early signs of left-hand tension and how to relax your hand before it impacts your playing. Arturo will provide practical advice on maintaining a relaxed approach to your technique.
- Exercises for Continuous and Active Relaxation: We’ll explore specific exercises that promote ongoing relaxation, helping you stay mindful of your hand positioning and tension levels during your practice sessions.
- Mastering "Position Zero": Discover the concept of "position zero" and how to use this foundational technique to keep your left hand relaxed, improving your overall control and sound quality.
How to Participate:
- Join the course discussions on our community forum.
- Watch Arturo’s video assignments, and share your progress.
- Receive feedback directly from Arturo Castro Nogueras throughout the two-week journey!
Ready to relieve tension and unlock smoother playing? Mark your calendars and get ready to dive into this intensive learning experience. See you on the forum! 
Assignments
Hello everyone!
It's great to be back with a new TWI. This time we are going to focus on left-hand relaxation!
Exercises:
1. Observe your relaxed hand. Play simple notes or chords and in between always consciously relax your hand. This first part of observing your relaxation will be very important for our next exercises.
2. Record a couple of bars of a simple piece you are practicing right now, returning to "position zero" in between of every position change.
Looking forward to your questions and comments!
Exercises for the second video:
1. Identify the structural sequence to design a practice pattern
2. Practice the three steps to change between positions. (relax - prepare - play)
The music examples are in the comments. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Exercises for the third video:
1. Practice the first line of Estudios Sencillos No. 2 and apply the 3-step system for relaxing (relax - prepare - play)
2. Count five seconds between each step so you take time to feel your hands and observe the process.
I'll post the excerpt of the etude on the comments.
(Sorry if the video is a bit longer than usual, I got exited with the subject. Pinky promise that the next one will be shorter :)
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Arturo, here is the link for a piece that I am working on.
Best, Pete from Albany NY
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Peter , I just clicked on the link and it played, on YouTube. I had a few clunkers but I think I am understanding what you mean by posistion zero.
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Peter try this link Arturo
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Peter I missed your video, but now I saw it. It looks good in general. It will definitely help to identify the structures as I explain on my second video and practice slowly the shifts between them. It will also give you more security while playing.
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Hello Arturo,
I try to relax my left hand before each movement, just for a moment.
Of course I don't respect the tempo.
I hope the exercise is done correctly.
Thank you very much, Arturo.-
GALAIS Olivier thanks for sharing! That is definitely the right idea. Well done. Check my latest video where I explain why it is important to do it slower. The same thing you are already doing, just giving yourself more time to observe your hands and relax. Let me know what you think.
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Arturo Castro Nogueras , attached will be my attempt at the second example,
Thank You, Pete
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Peter thanks for sharing! I can see you are relaxing and in general it looks good. May I suggest you lower your LH thumb a little bit so you have more space between the palm of your hand and the lower part of the neck of the guitar? Let me know if this helps.
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Dear Arturo
Here is my new attempt on the latest assignment.
https://1drv.ms/v/s!AnKUSGIvnByMhukmOtDh53T9LjMS3Q?e=8Ted4g
I think that I can play a slow and shott passage like this without feeling any tension in my hands. I also play the Bm-study by Sor regularly (for many years now) and if I play it very slowly, taking time in between the chord changes, I can play the whole study without tension. But if I try to play it fluently with a decent pace, I feel tension bulding up as I play.
Does this mean that I didn't practice the chord changes slowly enough or did I increase the tempo to early?
I am looking forward to reading your remarks.
Gunter-
Gunter thanks for sharing. What you play in the video looks very good.
About your question: it all depends. I would try to identify where does the tension starts building up and pay extra attention to that section or chord change.
Like I said earlier, all of this becomes much easier to identify and fix with time, but know is important to be as observant as possible.
Let me know if this helps.
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Arturo Castro Nogueras
Dear Arturo
This makes sense. I obviously learned my pieces well enough to play them fluently, but not well enough to play them in a relaxed manner. So, I will have to go through them all once more to find the sections where tension builds up.
I have also noticed that a good amount of tension starts to build up in sections, where I want to play very expressively. It seems that the inner tension of a phrase is transferred to a physical tension of both hands. But perhaps this issue can be solved in the same way of being more observant.
Thank you for your support and interesting thoughts.
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I am a little late getting to this. I have a submission in response to your second video. I hope the video is close up enough to see the subtle movements. I attempted the exercise on the same two Sor studies that you used in your demonstration. My thoughts:
- It makes me feel like a beginner watching myself do these exercises.
- I have tried applying this to a couple of pieces that I have difficulty with and I feel very positive about the results! In both cases, I am already seeing improvement.
Villa Lobos, Etude 1. Certain sections would result in me feeling a little fatigued, but I generally get through it without the fatigue having an obvious impact. However, I am sure the fatigue impacts on speed and I am sure it also holds me back in other ways too.
Stepan Rak Romance. There are sections in the middle which alternate between stretched and contracted hand positions which I struggle to play cleanly.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-28VItUap7jKnOF_9d4R-s8TalNjXFzL/view?usp=sharing-
Peter Train thanks for sharing! The relaxation looks. Nevertheless, I think you are pressing too hard. Have you tried using less pressure on your chords and positions? Ariel posted a video talking about this around 6 days ago. Maybe it helps. As you use less energy your hands will feel less strained and it will be easier to relax. Let me know if this helps.
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Arturo Castro Nogueras Thanks. I actually think I subconsciously noticed that it looked like I was crushing the guitar when I watched the video. After I posted this, I did go back and watch some of the other videos (including Ariel 's) and experimented a bit with what he spoke about.
I am trying to think of an example, but there are a couple of pieces where I sometimes have intonation problems on 1 or two chords in higher positions. I wonder whether my heavy hand also contributes to that? When I can think of an example, I will have to experiment as to whether the intonation improves as I develop a lighter touch.
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Peter Train Yes! definitely, if you find an example posted here so I can see it. I'm glad it helped.
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Hi Arturo, I found this etude by Sor that has a chorale style and seemed good for relaxing between each chord change. Sorry for the halting presentation; getting used to the added relaxation step is definitely something I need to make automatic. Here's a link to the video: https://youtu.be/81eft6fBP20 . Next is my attempt at the Sor Op. 35 No. 22 B minor to see where more relaxation in all the barring can be found in my playing: https://youtu.be/z8HhxQHg4hI
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David Great! thanks! Yes, that first study of Segovia's Sor edition is perfect for that. Try it a bit slower and with less pressure though. You'll see it will work much better. For your second video i would recommend the same.
1. Identify the position structure so your fingers are not working independently, but together
2. Do it slower, so you reeeeeally observe the relaxations and the 3 steps.
3. Doing it slower with allow you to learn it much faster and correct.
Hope this helps! Let me know.
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Hello again Arturo, I have posed a video question here: https://youtu.be/bDeize9JSAs
Essentially: "Does guitar require time to build fitness in the hand that also contributes to reduced tension when that conditioning occurs? Is there something else I can work on with barre chords that I am not currently focussing on?"
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David thank you so much for your questions and video. This is very important.
1. Yes, there has to be a fitness buildup, but not only in your hand but understanding where the strength comes from.
2. There are two important ways to observe this. the one that Ariel mentions in the video he just posted yesterday, (which is using your left biceps to pull back instead of the muscle in you had) and also using both arms in making a counter weight as you pull back and distribute the strength around your body.
I'll post a video about this today. Let me know if this helps.
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Hi, everybody! with permission from Arturo, i'd like to share with you this new video. I've noticed that most of the worries concentrate around Chord tension and Barré so i wanted to share with you some new excercises and approachs that I use with my stundents. I hope this new one will be useful too!!
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Ariel Elijovich Much appreciated! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
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David at your service! :-)
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Ariel Elijovich @Galais Michelle Roper , Peter Train , Peter , Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary , James Washburn , Brett Gunther
Hi, friends! i hope you'll find this new one useful too. It's very much in line with what this great workout is all about.
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Ariel Elijovich
Dear Ariel
Thank you for these exercises. They complement very well with Arturos approach. Relaxed fingers lead to relaxed hands and finally to a relaxed guitarist...
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Gunter
Dear Gunter,
Very welcomed! and the most important thing: as in a playground, the more relaxed and confident you feel, the more joy you have!! Glad to be of help!
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