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Copyright Douglas Niedt. All Rights Reserved. This article may be reprinted, but please be considerate and give credit to Douglas Niedt.

This month it's back to the basics: the right-hand position. This technique tip is an all-video tip. It is a 20-minute comprehensive guitar lesson on how to find the perfect right-hand position on the classical guitar. I explain the importance of maintaining a straight, flat wrist to prevent tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. I explain step-by-step how to find the best position of the arm, wrist, hand, and fingers that will work for you. But this is for more than just beginners. Even if you've played for a long time, you will learn something new.

If you cannot watch the entire video at one sitting, or if you want to come back to a particular part, here is a list of some of the topics I discuss with the time code for each:

• 00:06 THE IMPORTANCE OF A FLAT WRIST
• 01:04 THE IMPORTANCE OF A STRAIGHT WRIST
• 01:50 A FLAT AND STRAIGHT WRIST PREVENTS TENDONITIS AND CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME
• 02:38 HOW TO FIND A GOOD RIGHT-HAND POSITION, STEP BY STEP
• 07:57 ONE MORE TIME: LET'S REVIEW
• 08:49 THE ARM POSITION
• 09:23 THE THUMB POSITION
• 09:50 ALL THE MOVING PARTS ARE INTERRELATED
• 11:05 MOVING FROM STRING TO STRING
• 12:01 ANOTHER ADJUSTMENT: LEANING THE HAND FORWARD OR BACK
• 13:22 THE SEGOVIA HAND POSITION
• 14:44 ALLOW FOR VARIABLES IN ANATOMY—THEY WILL REQUIRE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE HAND POSITION

One of the important elements of a good right-hand position is maintaining a flat wrist. If you do this, sort of like making a fist (which is similar to the finger movements of playing the guitar), and then arch the wrist up high, it's very uncomfortable. It doesn't work very well. If you sink the wrist down, the same thing happens; it's not particularly comfortable.

It feels best when your wrist is flat. And when you're making these little fists, that's what you're doing when you're practicing for hours on end or doing a gig. You're flexing and extending, flexing and extending. So, this position of the flat wrist is very important.

Another important element of a good right-hand position is maintaining a straight wrist. Again, if we do that motion of making a fist, which is similar to plucking the strings, and we kink the hand to our left (your left if you're playing), it's not very comfortable—you feel a lot of tension. Likewise, if you turn your hand hard to the right, it's also very tense and doesn't feel very good. But when it's straight, it feels very good, effortless, with very little tension involved at all.

So, it's important that the wrist be straight and flat. The tendons that move the fingers move in a little tunnel called the carpal tunnel. When the wrist is out of alignment, either arched up too high, sunk down too low, turned left too hard, turned right, or too much in any direction, more pressure or friction is put on the tendons that are trying to move through the carpal tunnel.

When that pressure and friction become excessive, you can develop carpal tunnel syndrome or tendonitis. So, the wrist should also stay straight in order to execute good rest strokes and free strokes correctly and to get a good tone. We'll look at that in a little bit.

Now, how do you find this great right-hand position? Follow these steps:

1. Relax Your Arm: Let your arm hang down to your side, totally relaxed. Shake it around, shake your hand around. Shake it all out. You'll notice when you're really relaxed and totally loose, your wrist is straight and flat. It's not arched up or sunk down.
2. Check Your Wrist: If you rotate your wrist and observe it, you can see that it's straight. It isn't turned in any particular direction.
3. Make a Loose Fist: Let your arm hang there, shake it out, then make a fist with your fingers. Just curl them up lightly. You don't have to be tight-fisted about it, just loosely form a fist.
4. Bring Your Arm Up: Keep everything as it is and bring your arm up onto the guitar into playing position. Everything should be hanging down straight and flat; fingers are loose. Then make your loose fist and bring your arm up onto the guitar.
5. Position Your Thumb: When you bring your arm onto the guitar and your hand is in this loose fist, set the hand so that the thumb is over the rosette (the little design around the sound hole) at the bottom of the sound hole. Don't hover directly above the sound hole or too far down (towards the bridge).
6. Set Your Fingers: When you set your hand on the guitar, be sure that the finger segments are absolutely flat on the strings. Don't let your little-finger side come up, and don't set it so that the index-finger side is not quite on there. Make sure all four are flat on those strings. Your thumb, of course, is above the rosette at the bottom of the sound hole.
7. Slide Your Thumb: Next, take your thumb and slide it along the strings until the tip of the thumb is in between the fifth and sixth strings. Make sure the hand still stays absolutely flat on the strings. Don't let any finger come off or the little-finger side raise up.
8. Position the Thumb and Fingers: Now, the thumb is in between the fifth and sixth strings, and the fingers are still flat on the strings. We're not allowing either side of the hand to raise up.
9. Uncurl the Fingers: Slowly uncurl the fingers and set each finger on a string—the index finger on the third string, the middle finger on the second string, and the ring finger (the "a" finger) on the first string.
10. Final Adjustment: Push up on your fingertips to straighten out the fingers a little bit, and as you do so, your thumb will pull in towards your index finger. You'll notice your whole hand raises up at the same time.
    • Thumb and Fingers Placement: Once again, you were flat on the strings, with your thumb between the fifth and sixth strings. Uncurl the fingers slowly, placing each finger on its own string, and push onto the fingertips. Let the thumb move towards the index finger.
    • Wrist Position: Look at it from a little further away. You can see that the thumb is between the fifth and sixth strings, and the fingers are flat on the strings. Notice that the wrist is flat, having been brought onto the guitar from its relaxed position.
    • Uncurl the fingers: Rest each finger on its own string, and push up on the fingertips, straightening them out. The thumb comes towards the index finger. When you uncurl your fingers, setting them on the first three strings, ensure that the tips of the fingers are still together. Don't splay the fingers apart; keep them firmly together. Keep the little finger against the "a" finger (ring finger), and don't let it splay off on its own or get tucked behind.

• Starting Position: Looking straight on, start with the hand hanging by your side, really loose. Make a fist and bring it onto the guitar so that the thumb falls at the bottom of the sound hole.
• Finger Placement: Make sure your fingers are flat on the strings. Move the thumb out to the left, between the fifth and sixth strings, and slowly uncurl the fingers, resting "i," "m," and "a" on the first three strings.
• Final Hand Position: Straighten the fingers, pushing up on the fingertips. The thumb comes in, and there's your very nice hand position. You've got a straight wrist. It's not kinked in any direction and is flat, not arched up or sinking down. It looks really good.

You don't have to worry much about your arm position on the guitar. If you follow these instructions, setting the thumb at the bottom of the sound hole above the rosette, your arm will automatically be in the right spot. You don't need to adjust it.

Arm Length Consideration: If you have long arms like I do, the middle of the forearm will contact the guitar. If you have shorter arms, the part of the arm closer to the bicep will contact the guitar.

Your thumb should be situated to the left of your index finger, not behind it where they might collide, and certainly not going into the hand. However, it shouldn't be too far out to the left either. You want the thumb to feel like it's part of the hand's motions, working together with the rest of the fingers.

• Flat Wrist: If your wrist is kept flat, you'll probably be okay. A flat wrist helps the thumb produce a good tone.
• Sinking Wrist: If you sink your wrist down, your thumb may go too parallel with the strings and shoot out to the left, leading to a thin, clanky sound.
• Arched Wrist: If you arch the wrist up too high, it'll bring the thumb too close to the index finger, causing them to collide.

The key is to keep the wrist flat or slightly arched, as this will help put the thumb in the correct position.

When playing on different strings, you don't change strings by adjusting the wrist position. Whether you're moving from the third string to the sixth or to the first string, the alignment and flatness of the wrist remain the same. Simply move on the loose skin of the arm that's resting on the guitar, so that everything stays consistent. Everything should move as a unit, not tightly, but in unison.

There may be times when you need to adjust the hand position to change tone qualities or use certain techniques:

• Fast Rest-Stroke Scale: If you're trying to play a fast rest-stroke scale, lean the hand back to lessen the resistance of the strings to the fingernails, which will allow you to play faster.
• Thin, Bright, Free Stroke: If you want to play a thin, bright, free stroke, bring the hand forward towards the floor and curl the fingers, pulling from underneath the string.

But notice that these adjustments are made by moving on the loose skin of the arm and the forearm on the guitar. You're not changing positions by arching or sinking the wrist or altering the alignment of your hand. Everything else remains unchanged, with a flat wrist and straight-wrist alignment. The movement is simply a shift of the hand forward or back on the loose skin of the arm. By understanding these principles, you can achieve precise control and a wide range of tonal possibilities in your classical guitar playing.

Contrary to what is often depicted in books and photographs, especially of the great Andrés Segovia, having the knuckles parallel with the strings is not always desirable for many guitarists.

While this positioning worked wonderfully for Segovia and does suit some people, it doesn't work well for others. The reasons for this include not only the stress on the tendons caused by the bent wrist position but also the fact that it doesn't produce a good tone quality for many players.

Most guitarists produce their best sound quality when playing on the left sides of their fingernails. Therefore, the most useful and comfortable position is usually one with a straight wrist, not kinked to the right. However, it's essential to recognize that everyone is different. Segovia's technique worked beautifully for him, so it's worth experimenting with, but a straight wrist is generally the best approach for most people.

I must caution you not to interpret these hand-position instructions too rigidly, as they will vary from player to player.

• Finger Length: The length of your fingers, including the thumb.
• Thumb to Finger Length Ratio: The ratio of the thumb length to the finger length.
• Finger Length Ratios: The ratio of the length of the "a" finger to the "i" finger and to the "m" finger.
• Fingernail Shape and Length: The shape and length of your fingernails (for example, I keep my nails long).
• Forearm Length: The length of your forearm.

Likewise, specific characteristics of the thumb, such as an excessively long or short thumb, an extremely flexible or inflexible tip joint, and differences in the length and shape of the thumbnail, will require adjustments to the thumb position as well.

Be flexible in your approach. Don't be too rigid in interpreting these instructions. While they provide a good general idea of what you're aiming for, individual variations in anatomy and playing style will necessitate personalized adjustments. Experiment and find what works best for you, keeping in mind the principles of comfort, efficiency, and tone quality.

Be sure to watch the video on this web page for a demonstration of all of these details. Or, watch it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfI7hS3GQik.