(upbeat guitar music)
- What's up, guys?
It's me, Taylor G.
And I'm here to show you today,
a troubleshooting technique
to be able to reach some of those hard to reach chords,
and it's all in the wrist.
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Okay, so I don't know if you guys have ever seen people
play like this and it's the weirdest thing.
It feels comfortable.
It feels natural.
However, it is wrong.
And what needs to happen is you need to be able
to drop the wrist.
The wrist is so important because it plays a major role
in how much length you have with your fingers.
So for instance, if my fingers are like this,
as you can see, you can't really formulate
many chords with that.
Like, I can do a G chord,
but if I had to bar a chord
or maybe play a certain chord
that requires a little bit more length in my fingers,
then it would be extra, extra hard to reach those chords.
So, one thing that I like to do is drop my wrist.
Once you drop the wrist,
again, you see the length.
It makes it a lot easier to play certain chords.
You know, you could really play.
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And you're hand might turn, your wrist might turn
this way or that way, but it stays dropped.
And it stays at a comfortable position
that allows the fingers to do what they wanna do.
Because this is their moment to shine.
So let's take our left arm or our right,
for all my lefties out there,
and place it under the neck of your guitar
at a 90 degree angle.
Now I want you to take your elbow
and make sure that it's tucked nicely at your waist.
Not too hard.
You don't wanna feel like you're pressing up against,
but just nicely enough to where, you know, it can touch.
Then you wanna go ahead and take your wrist
and bend it slightly.
Not too much.
You don't want it to be way out here,
but just bend it nicely so it's at a comfortable position
and allow your fingers to kinda just rest over the fret.
Give yourself a second and kinda allow yourself
to be conscious of how that feels.
So let's go ahead and let's try to play a couple of chords
with that new hand posture that you just learned.
So let's try to form a G chord.
Remember, always keep your elbow
tucked in nicely at your side,
keep your wrist slightly bent
and just allow your fingers to form the chord.
Really consciously, make the effort
to make sure that you're positioning,
or the mechanics of what you're doing is right.
Because this is gonna help form a habit in the long run.
You never wanna form bad habits
and you never wanna keep those bad habits for a long time.
Because they become very, very hard to break.
So let's try to play the G chord.
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It's not forced.
It doesn't feel awkward.
I don't feel like I'm straining to play it.
It just works.
So let's try to play another chord.
Let's try a D chord.
(soft guitar music)
All right?
Okay, let's try a C chord.
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Okay, you know, let's try and make it a little bit harder
for all my barf-barring friends, who love to bar.
Let's try a C minor seven.
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And again, it takes time to become comfortable
with this new found posture.
And that's only because it's not normal.
It's not normal.
Your wrist kinda is gonna wanna do what it wants to do.
And you have to now be the driver in this situation
and say, "No, we're gonna do it right."
(upbeat guitar music)
Thank you guys so much for watching.
I hope you learned a lot.
And just remember to always intentionally practice.
Practice with intention.
Be conscious of what it is that you're doing.
Because that creates good habits.
(upbeat guitar music continues)
I'm Taylor G.
This is Technique of the Week.
And you guys have a wonderful week, bye.
(upbeat guitar music ending)