Question: How is the weight of the left arm used in classical guitar technique?
When proper technique, sitting position, and curved fingers are in use, the weight of the left arm can be used to help pull the fingertips into the strings of the classical guitar. This helps relieve the tendency of students to use a vice grip between the fingers and thumb of the left hand. Although classical guitarists primarily use this advice when discussing barre technique, it is also subtly used for general playing technique. Let’s look at some various techniques and how this tip can help.
Left arm weight during barre technique
Provided your barre technique is solid you do not need to vice grip the 1st finger and thumb to press the strings to the fret. A great way to test this is to remove your thumb from the fretboard and play the barre using only the weight of your arm to press the strings down. There is a specific angle you want to discover for this (see the video below). Your shoulder might help a bit a well which we will discuss below.
Here is a video on barre technique and at 1:50 I demonstrate this concept.
Left arm weight when playing non-barre chords and melodic notes
Just as with barre chords, if you are using good technique positions and curved fingers, the weight of the left arm can help pull the fingertips into the strings to avoid the vice grip of the left hand. However, the use and amount of weight is much less than it is for barre technique because we want the fingers to be able to reflexively move on and off the strings without weight or tension attached. The left arm is supporting the hand to allow the fingers easy on-off motions from the strings. In melodic playing not much weight or pressure is needed at all. During thick chord shapes maybe a touch more is needed but still likely not as much as students think.
My advice is to monitor tension and vice gripping in the left hand and when you feel tension during a thick or difficult chord, try using a bit of arm weight and release left hand thumb pressure.
Learning to press less hard – This brings us to a more important discussion which is directly related to this question: how much pressure is needed? Students tend to use much more pressure than is needed to press the strings to the frets. Nylon strings are super easy to press down but once weird shapes and poor technique come into the mix the natural tendency of many students is to squeeze hard to correct for buzzing. Here is a video on the topic as well as exercises to avoid tension and vice grips.
Video Times:
- 0:00 Intro and Discussion 1
- 1:28 Vice Grip and Thumb Relaxation
- 4:00 Muted and Buzz Exercises
- 8:01 Review and Right-Left Disassociation
- 9:54 Conclusion
What about shoulder use and strength?
Is it all weight from the arm or is some shoulder strength used? When I teach I don’t like to mention shoulder strength because it implies an amount of force that is not needed for playing classical guitar. However, I reluctantly agree that some shoulder strength pulling a barre finger into the strings along with the weighted arm can help in some situations.
But I caution you to not think of it as shoulder strength. Think of it as supplementary directional energy. This is a subtle technique and I would never tell a beginner student to “put shoulder into it”. Instead, focus on good technique in the hands, accuracy (close to the frets), and weight of the arm instead of shoulder strength. If you train your technique in this way you’ll be able to figure out the subtle use of the shoulder in a context that is healthy and non-destructive to your foundational skills.
Need a Technique Book?
Check out my book Classical Guitar Technique: Essential Exercises, Scales, and Arpeggios. The 122 page book includes: Practice Routines, Tips, 100 Open String Exercises, 120 Giuliani Arpeggios, Scales, Slur Exercises, Shifts, Finger Independence, Barre, Tremolo, Common Harmonics, and much more.
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