Hey, how you doing? Justin here. Today, I wanna share with you a little discovery
that I've made, that I probably should have realized long ago and didn't. Doing
my left-handed practice, I noticed this; I was doing my, kind of, meditative kind
of, head-space practicing, observing, just trying to be open to the whole experience,
and I noticed that I'm really feeling the frets with my fingers when I'm playing the
chords, and that's helping me get them in position; now, right-handed, I don't even
think about it, my fingers just go to the right spot all the time. I don't have to
think about it, I can play with my eyes closed, most of the time, unless I'm doing
like, you know, big jumps around the fretboard, and I was thinking a bit about
how this works, and what's going on, and I started noticing when I was playing
left-handed that I could feel the frets, so then I started just really being open
to the full experience, and this is something I'd like you to start doing, because
I think it can really help you get your fingers in the perfect position for the
chords, without having to worry about it too much. You need just be focused on
it for a little while, to build up the awareness, but once you got it, you'll
find that it starts working on its own. So, to start off with here, I'd like you
to put down a 'C' chord, then remove your 2nd and 3rd fingers, so you're just left
with your 1st finger there, in the first fret of the second string. It'll be a
really good idea, I think, to do this along with me, so you really understand
what I'm talking about. If you try to do it later on, it might feel a little weird,
or it's not gonna be a part of your practice routine. So, 1st finger's in the
first fret of the second string; in the middle of the fret, the only thing you're
gonna feel, is the string underneath the finger. You might notice that if your finger
lays down a bit too flat, that you might feel the thinnest string underneath the 1st
finger, and if it's up too high, you might even feel a little bit of that 3rd string,
although it's more likely, in my case to be the finger nail, but it might be the
flesh for you. But what I want you to do is slide it forward, until you start to
feel the fret, and you should start to notice, kind of, underneath where the
string is, so here in-between the first string and the second string, you start
to notice a little bit of the feeling of the fret. Now, at that point, that's just
where you start to get the feeling that's the perfect position for the finger; it
shouldn't be on the fret. If you move the 1st finger so it's like right on top, you'll
feel the fret above and below, and the string in the middle; in fact, you'll feel
the string less, probably, but that's not a good position; that will get you a kind
of a buzzy muted note [playing guitar]. That's the perfect position, and at this
position, I can just, only just, feel the fret there, in-between the first and the
second string; I can't really feel it above the string, to be honest, like toward the
third string, but just, I can just feel it, so if you just even close your eyes and
just move your 1st finger forward slowly until you feel that, it feels like a little
lump; it doesn't really feel like a metal fret, it just feels like a change in
pressure as to where it is, and that will help you position your finger. When you're
playing a 'C' chord, that's where it wants to be is, where you start to feel that fret.
Just experience it a little bit; try and move the finger around; get used to what it
feels like, 'cause it will help you know where your 1st finger should be. Just
grow a slowly slide-up, till you feel it and that's where...and then stop. Slide
it up and then stop. Get used to that very subtle feeling of the fret under the
finger. Now try it with the 2nd finger, so where the 2nd finger would be for the 'C'
chord, it doesn't really matter what the chord is, we're just picking on the 'C'
chord 'cause it's interesting. So then, same thing again, slide the finger forward
until you just feel the fret, and it will be subtle; it will be really subtle. Here
it is. Doing it with your eyes closed is very helpful. It's the one thing I've been
experimenting with a bit is, using it to help me find the right position for the
chords. You'll find that you probably have the feeling already, if you're placing
your fingers well. You will be placing your fingers in the correct spot already
but this kind of training and training up your awareness will help, you know, expand
it over all of the time that you play. It's great for scales and everything - this
isn't just about the fingers. So, there we go, 3rd finger now; just slide it up.
I don't feel as much with the 3rd finger, it's...yeah yeah, I do. It's funny, I'm
not...maybe it's because there's thicker calluses on my fingers now for the right
hand, or maybe it's just because I've done it for so long that it's hard for me
to notice. Left-handed, I really notice it a lot more. I think it's probably 'cause
the skin's a little thinner or some, got a little bit more awareness there but I
can definitely, there's the spot; I can just feel the fret, just ever so slightly
touch the 3rd finger; it's really good. Try with a 'D' chord; move to a 'D' chord,
and then, just move the 1st finger, oh yeah, there we go, that's the nice...2nd
finger's already right on it; there we go, and there's the good the good spot. So,
we're talking about of something that's very subtle here; it's not something that
I'd recommend that you practice; it's something that you should experiment with,
and then just try to observe it when you're practicing, when you're playing anything.
Again, it's not one of those things that I'm ever conscious of now, when I play,
and I don't think you should be either, but it's probably gonna be helpful to have
a period of a few months, where you do stay aware of it; where you become focused
on this one little things to really help you to develop your fingering; much like
you'd concentrate on breath when you learn to meditate, but you probably don't wanna
be doing that for ever when you meditate; it's just a thing to focus on to help you
develop your awareness. On guitar, developing that level of awareness in your
fingers is gonna be very very helpful, particularly for playing with your eyes
closed; not that you have to play with your eyes closed, but learning to play
with your eyes closed is a very nice thing, kind of gets you, for me, it gets
me more absorbed in the music, when I'm not focused on stuff; when I'm not looking
at things and being distracted, I can give my full attention to the sound that's
coming out of the instrument. Nearly always, when I record, I'm playing with my
eyes closed, so just kind of, in this little dazy state, where they're kind of
half-open, maybe. So, I'm not sure how to tell you, like, an exercise to do it; I
just want you to spend some time exploring this idea, trying to develop the awareness
of the fingers touching the fret, when you play your chords 'cause it's gonna really
help you along. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated, so do let me know in
the comments, if you're finding this very helpful, or if you're finding a little bit
of a struggle; I'll do what I can to clarify and make sure that it's perfect
for you. If you're over on YouTube, do remember, on the website, there're loads
of cool features that will help you on your beginner journey, like "My Practice
Assistant", for those of you that are on the website already, well, you probably
know about it; I'll look forward to reading you comments on the webpage.
Bye bye.