Group 2
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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https://youtu.be/kF8CwfHLO4o?si=tuzY68foM2CYSmVW
Here is my playing of the last exercise. I practiced by saying aloud “relax, place, play.” I found it helpful to play the staccato piece since it helped avoid the temptation to rush with legato to place and play with the left hand in order for the chords to run seamlessly from one to the other.
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Gordon Macdonald very good! Thanks for sharing. As I told @mark , you can do this much slower sand benefit much more. The idea seems clear, but the point of the exercise is the creation of a muscular memory, which also involves the detailed observation of your hand relaxing.
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Thank you for your 2nd video. I found the analogy of the pillars very useful. I’ve also observed what my arm/wrist need to do in order for the left-hand fingers to be able to use the minimum pressure to fret the notes accurately and easily – I guess that’s like laying the foundations on which the pillars are built.
I’ve also noticed that I have a tendency for my right shoulder to tense up when playing, so I’ve also tried to incorporate relaxing it in the ‘relax step’.
Here are a few bars from the beginning of Barrios C minor prelude. Hopefully I’ve got the pillars correctly!
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Ron Well done! The idea of spending a lot of time relaxing and observing is exactly this: finding unnecessary tensions that are affecting our playing. You'll see, practicing this prelude like this will give you more stability while playing. Needless to say, you have to practice it also how it is written, this is an exercise of creating stability and observing the positions and where to relax.
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Arturo Castro Nogueras Thank you Arturo - yes I will continue to pratcice to achieve stability and then move to praticing it as written. I think my ability to play this piece will really benefit from this approach
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Hello all,
Here is my video of the practice 3, following the steps (relax- prepare right hand- prepare left hand- play- relax). I did add one more step to be consistent with the Practice Principle lesson by Lukasz Kuropaczewski (on Tonebase).
It feels certainly weird at the beginning but I have to say that I already feel the difference when learning a new piece as well as less stress in my left hand. This definitively still works in progress but with time this should pay off.
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Andre Bernier well done! This is the idea. As you gain confidence, you'll be able to play relaxed while playing faster and on tempo. Thanks for sharing.
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Here is another video of a relaxation exercise for the hands and arms. This is an exercise I learned a few years ago when practicing Tai Chi.
You simply put your arms in front of you with hands pointing to the sky. Then start slowly a rotation back and forth of your hands. Increase progressively the speed to what would feel comfortable for you. Do that exercise for 20 to 30 seconds and you should already feel the difference. You can repeat 2 or 3 times (not more than 30 sec each time).
The exercise relaxes tensions in the finger, wrist, arm and shoulder and; increase the blood flow which also help for reducing tension.
Try it and let me know if it helps
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Andre Bernier Thank you so much for sharing this with the group. I tried it and it feels great afterwards.
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Andre Bernier Yes I found that exercise surprisingly effective for something so simple and very quick to do. Thanks for sharing.
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Worked on two exercises. Slowed down to focus on relaxation.
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Jose Luis Ochoa great! This is the idea. Now that your hand is relaxed, try to use that same momentum to get to the next position. Let me know how this feels and if you have any questions.
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I thought playing fast was a challenge but playing slow is really tough! I really tried to inject the relax phase in between play and place but I will have to work hard to integrate it as a matter of instinct. I will have to slow down further so as to feel the relaxation. I think I know what to do so I’ll just keep applying myself to the task.
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Gordon Macdonald awesome, thanks for sharing. This looks much better already. My pianist father always said to me, if you really want to know if you know a piece very well, play it extra slow haha.
I think it is going very well, apply it to your regular practice sessions.
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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 Thanks Arturo, that's been an interesting couple of weeks
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Arturo Castro Nogueras Thank you Arturo - it's been very useul indeed for me. I would love to know more about how you move forward from the slow practice whilst still maintaining the relaxation and also about relaxing the fingers which aren't playing. Maybe a TWI part 2 at some stage in the future?
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Arturo Castro Nogueras Thank you, Arturo, it's been a very interesting two weeks. Getting it right will require continued practice over a prolonged time, but now I know what to aim for.
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Arturo Castro Nogueras Thanks Arturo. This was a very simple and rewarding experience and I am now just using this approach when working on a piece.
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Thanks Arturo. You have given me some very practical pointers that I can work with. I will integrate the relaxation process into my regular routines and look for forward to seeing, or should that be feeling, the difference as I play pieces.
End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
