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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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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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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Ariel Elijovich Thank you!
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Ariel Elijovich These are some great pieces of advice. Thanks for taking the time to do this. I have a question: how to hold full barre on the 1st position, especially with the pinky finger on the 4th fret B string? This is especially hard when I have to move the other fingers while holding the barre with the first finger. Should we pull our elbows up and away from the fretboard while also using bicep strength to pull the guitar towards the chest?
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary The more you hold your elbow up and away the more costly it'll become. Try it with out the guitar! The more extended your arm is, the more tireing it becomes. And working farther away from your center is allways more difficult than working closer. So, maybe, if you feel that the first fret is too far away for your elbow to be confortable, maybe you should move the position of your guitar a little more to your right, so that the fretboard comes nearer the action radius of your left arm.
And if the 4th finger extension is too big, try it first in lower frets, until you feel comfortable.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO ANYBODY: YOU DON'T WORK UNCOMFORTABLY UNTIL IT BECOMES COMFORTABLE. YOU WORK FROM AN EASYER COMFORT AND YOU WORK YOURSELF UP TO A MORE COMPLEX COMFORT!!
so, maybe try the same barré with less finger movement and the 4th finger transposed to 4th or 5th fret. Try it and let me know!
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Ariel Elijovich How to position the guitar at will??? I have tried all sorts of supports. Sometimes I feel that they all confine me in finding the best position possible, and, in fact lock me into one position for too much time. Perhaps the footstool is still the most flexible option, except, perhaps the lute's strap tradition? I have watched the ToneBase specials on supports, but the ability to make adjustments and not let the support dictate the positioning remains unresolved for me. Perhaps you have come across some innovative approaches, or perhaps the footrest is your choice for its simplicity and flexibility? I have been thinking of engineering my own for my own particular guitar and body dimensions. Perhaps I will find a solution one of these days that is more universal and practical at the same time. I am tired of shopping/spending a lot of money on supports, ending up with a collection that never quite addresses what I see is the fundamental problem; good support without constraining the arms, but also offering good options to adjust so that various positions are possible so that the body is not locked in to any one rigid position. Any ideas you could share on your observations with students or your own experiences would be appreciated.
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David hi, David! I watched again a few of your videos. It doesn't strike me as if you have a bad position. If you are troubled by first positions and open elbow (i assume because you are responding to this thread) it may be (maybe) because perhaps you are replacing with open elbow something that you could do with ulna and radius rotation? It's a question.
Regarding footstools: i solved my problems some 25 years ago with a gift from a danish colleague. Very similar to this one: https://www.stringsbymail.com/sagework-atlas-adjustable-magnetic-barnett-guitar-support-standard-7761.htm
I do use a string around my waist that i tie around the support so that the guitar is still even if i move a little without holding it.
I feel that the guitar position should come to occupy the void that your body leaves and not that one has to adapt to the guitar.
It's really difficult to solve it via message. But maybe we can start a general discussion about this and share stuff and info via videos? I can, then share with you all the pointers i give to my students if you think that would be useful for you.
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Ariel Elijovich That sounds like a great idea. Can we start that on ToneBase in the community discussion area?
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David sure! I'll start the thread as soon as i can record an initial video.
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Ariel Elijovich Thanks a lot for the reply, and such detailed insights into the ease of playing. I really appreciate it. Wow, your explanation and pieces of advice makes complete sense.
I'll definitely try them the moment I pick up the guitar.
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Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary David the post about Body and Guitar position is ready here:
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Ariel Elijovich I have been experimenting with the application of larger muscle groups and the advantage of leverage that you describe in the well-explained video. I still notice some endurance is required in the carpal flexor muscles of the forearm, but that I can release the tension in the abductor muscle of the inner thumb often, which is an improvement. There are instances, though, that I still find that a slight pressure with the tip of my thumb to assist in rotating the index finder down onto a mid-string barre helps a bit, especially when there is horizontal extension required for a chord in fingers 2-4. I am working on the finger independence study in chords that you described, where only one note of the chord is allowed to ring and the others are muted by relaxed left hand fingers of the chord. It's challenging, but that tells me that it's a good exercise. I'm probably allowing the harder-to-depress finger dictate the overall tension in the hand, and independence will help alleviate that.
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David do not exclude anything. many exceptions exist and there's not just one way. If the pressure is a little more efficient then it's already another universe opening up in front of you. The independent pressure excercise is great! you'll have tons of fun with it!! let me know!
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Based on your third video, I had a look at the Brouwer study, but decided to rather send a recording of my practice on the problematic section of the Stepan Rak Romance.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-52aqzBflzgNyMKH18HsfHAcJUjXhfQd/view?usp=sharing
I had three teachers over 6 years years in the late 80's and early 90's. Why didn't anyone point this out to me?Anyway, I am sold on this practice technique and it is really helping me a lot.
In the video, I recorded myself trying to distil the sections down to the critical position shifts and applied the technique. I also included myself playing the actual section. Of course you haven't seen the before, but take my word, it was a lot messier and more strained. A little more practice and I think I will be comfortable with the piece.
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Peter Train I am so happy it is helping you! Your video looks very good, continue working slow and you"ll see how the understanding of tension will improve.
About your question, haha I don't know. I didn't learn it until much later too.
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Hello everyone,
I hope you gained some insight on how to start paying more attention to your hands and how they should constantly being relaxed. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Thank you very much for joining me!
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Arturo Castro Nogueras Thank you Arturo. I have a couple of questions? In the Brouwer etude.2, I have issue with bar 3 (I think) when I have to lift up the 3rd finger from the G to bring it to F while holding the pinky on the D (which wants to raise itself off the string!). I wonder if this is due to inadequate finger independence between the 3rd and 4th fingers. Generally, how much role does LH finger independence play in our ability to relax the left hand?
Secondly, what should be the position of our elbow while holding a full barre in the first position, especially when you have to extend the 3rd and 4th finger to the 4th fret? Should it momentarily move away from the body while holding that barre shape?
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Nijwm sorry for the late reply. Can you send me a video link about your two quesitons to my email? I think it will be easier to asses.
Thanks!
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Arturo Castro Nogueras Ariel Elijovich Thank you very much Arturo for sharing your wisdom and advice on this important topic. Also, Ariel for your added contribution --it is very informative and helpful. Much appreciated guys!
In the attached measure 35 of Granados' Spanish dance No. 2 (Oriental), holding down the bar at position VII while doing the trill with 3rd finger (trilling the G string) is creating extreme tension in my left hand. I was practicing this measure over and over with not enough rest , so the pain has not yet recovered. (There is another almost identical measure at the beginning of the piece, which has the same trill, but without holding down the high "d" on the first string. Same issue there.)
Do you have any suggestions with fingering, position, or otherwise when holding down this bar while doing this trill? Thanks for your help!!
All the best, Barney
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Here my attempt of having my left relax while playing the coral lento by leo brouwer I feel more relax in the finger I'm not sure toward how my thumbs yet though here my video through Google drive
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12aarDTOdPXQsMZ5jSSvMWeTvUcVrj6Rm/view?usp=drivesdk
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Hi Arturo
Sorry that I haven't had a chance to record a video. I have been doing these exercises and I find them very beneficial. Moving forward these momentary relaxations are going to improve my technique a lot I think, especially when there is a passage where you have to hold down a barre for a long time! Thank you very much for this TWI. Looking forward to the next one!
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Hi again, Arturo Castro Nogueras and everybody!!
based on some questions and videos on Brouwer's Estudio n°2, i thought about sharing with you my blasphemous fingerings to correct Leo's notation mistake about bass duration. This is of course an interpretation. You may very well decided to make all bass notes short length. But since i think longer sounds better... (what should never be is that G basses last shorter because they are not open strings!)
And another aesthetical error, in my opinion, the open stringed GBE chord in the development section. It doesn't fit well, specialy if you feel like adding a nice vibrato to the whole piece. So, here it is, a little outside of our main concern of LH relaxation matter, but at least interesting, i think.
martin
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Ariel Elijovich Thanks for this. Interesting fingering choices. For me, the issue has been when I need to lift up the 3rd finger from the G to bring it to F while keeping the 2nd and 4th finger in place to keep the notes ringing. I notice also that I try to compensate the pressure by pushing with my thumb too hard to keep the 2nd and 4th in place while lifting up the 3rd finger.
I'll try your fingering, although it might take a bit of getting used to it for me.
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