BEST LEFT-HAND EXERCISES
FOR THE CLASSICAL GUITARIST
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Douglas Niedt is a successful concert and recording artist and highly respected master classical guitar teacher with 50 years of teaching experience. He is Associate Professor of Music (retired), at the Conservatory of Music and Dance, University of Missouri-Kansas City and a Fellow of the Henry W. Bloch School of Management—Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
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BEST LEFT-HAND EXERCISES
FOR THE CLASSICAL GUITARIST
By Douglas Niedt
Copyright Douglas Niedt. All Rights Reserved.
This article may be reprinted, but please be considerate and give credit to Douglas Niedt.
These are the best exercises to practice to improve a classical guitarist's left-hand technique overall and to improve left-hand speed, accuracy, strength, agility, finger independence, and stretch.
Slurs for the left hand are the number-one exercise to practice to improve your left-hand technique.
Slur exercises will improve everything having to do with your left-hand technique: left-hand speed, accuracy, strength, agility, and finger independence. IMPORTANT: Be sure to warm up for at least 10 minutes with other exercises before practicing these. They are strenuous on the muscles and tendons.
One of the best slur exercises is this one for the left hand alone.
The article is in two parts. Here is the second part.
Slurs are difficult to play. Be sure to read this article to be sure you are executing the slurs with the correct technique.
You don't want to practice slur exercises with uneven slurs. Read this article to learn how to make your slurs even.
The spider exercise for the left hand
The spider exercise is an excellent exercise to improve left-hand finger independence, agility, and stretch.
Switcharoo Exercise for the left hand
The switcharoo exercise is excellent for improving finger agility, accuracy, and independence. Check it out here: Check it out here:
Practice intervals for the left hand
Practicing intervals such as 3rds, 6ths, octaves, and 10ths are great for left-hand finger independence, agility, and accuracy.
Be sure to practice both normal intervals and intervals in broken style, especially chromatic octaves.
Practice scales to improve overall left-hand technique
.Practicing scales can solve numerous technical problems in a relatively short time. Here are 19 reasons (and ways) to practice them.
Difficult passages from pieces you play or are learning are great to use as left-hand exercises
Make a list of difficult passages from pieces you play or are learning. Practice those difficult spots every day as exercises. Be sure to use various practice strategies such as: speed bursts, step practice, slam-on-the-brakes, stop—then go , practicing with the right hand alone, and practicing with the left hand alone.
Practice slur passages from your piece
In addition to practicing the slur exercise mentioned above, you can practice difficult slur passages from pieces you know or are learning. Use these as daily exercises.
Practice stretches from your pieces
To improve your stretching ability, in addition to practicing the spider exercise, switcharoo, and interval exercises mentioned above, extract difficult chords and stretches from pieces you play or are learning and use those as stretching exercises.
Caution: Don't over practice exercises
The right kinds of exercises such as these are very valuable. But don't spend all your practice hours practicing exercises. You will learn nothing but how to play exercises! You need to spend the majority of your time practicing real pieces.
If you have 30 minutes to practice, practice exercises for 5-10 minutes.
If you have an hour to practice, practice exercises for 15-20 minutes.
If you have two hours to practice, practice exercises for 30-40 minutes.
If you have three hours to practice, you can practice exercises for 45-50 minutes.
These are all approximations, but you get the idea. The focus should be on practicing repertoire—real pieces.
Besides, as I point out above, some of the best exercises you can practice are those derived from the pieces you know or are learning.