Chords for Jack Sanders - Left Hand Technique (1994 John Gilbert)
Tempo:
89.2 bpm
Chords used:
E
A
C
Gb
G
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Hi, with the scale videos that [C] I've presented thus far, I haven't [N] focused too much on the left hand.
So with this video, I'd like to demonstrate some issues that I think are important with
the left hand.
First of all, when you relax your hand, if you open up your hand like this and then you
relax it, your fingers will curl into what maybe you can call a neutral position.
Likewise, if you make a fist and then you relax, your fingers will again open to that neutral position.
As it happens, the neutral position is pretty much the ideal left hand position, whether
you're on the first string or the sixth string.
So I think you want to try to promote this in your own playing, having that natural curve
to your fingers.
What I think you want to avoid is crunching up your fingers like this, where you have
a lot of bend in all your fingers and this knuckle goes inwards.
That basically is only something you can do by co-contracting your muscles and that's
less than desirable.
One of the things that I want to focus on is trying to keep my fingers over the string
at all times.
So when I have my fingers off the string, two, three, and four are off the string, I
want them to be in this position as opposed to this position or this position.
So I'd like to suggest experimenting with this exercise where you touch the strings
without any pressure.
If you open up your hand and then relax it, stay in that state as you do this exercise.
So you go one, two, three, four, [Gb] one.
[Eb] [E]
Notice [Ab] that my fingers [G] stay over the string at all [A] times.
[Eb] Now I'm going to go backwards, four, three, two, one, four, [B] and again I'm going to keep
my fingers over the string.
If [N] I move only from this joint, my finger will lift up and go back down in the same place.
If I involve these two joints as well, my finger will pull behind the string, in which
case I'm not in as good of a position.
[E]
[G] The next thing you might try is to play a note, relax your [Gb] hand, play, [G] relax, play,
relax, play, [F] relax, play.
[E] Again when I lift up, I want my fingers to stay over the string.
[Bm]
By relaxing in between each finger, [Abm] I'm able to [E] then [Em] shift [E] the focus from each finger to the next.
[Am] [G] Then when I go backwards, [Gb] I'm only going to lift [Eb] a little bit by [Db] basically releasing my
fingers and then letting them [Gb] fall back on the string.
[Eb] Release, release, [A] release, release.
[Am] [Em]
[B] [A]
[Am] [E]
[A]
[Gbm] [E] [Gb]
[N] Then if I apply these techniques to a scale, I can do this first.
[Ab]
[E] [C]
[A] I can get each note partly [C] by squeezing and partly by dropping the weight of my arm [D] and
shifting the pressure and the weight to each finger in succession.
[E]
[C] [B] So keeping your fingers over the string and over each fret is a super important detail
with your left hand.
You want to avoid having your fingers point anywhere other than the fingerboard.
This is not good, this is not good.
This also means that you have too many joints involved to get your finger back to the string accurately.
The bottom line is one of the [G] best things that you can do for any exercise is to practice
what I call [Bbm] pure movement.
If [Ab] I play the scale without pressing, where my thumb is [A] just lightly touching, I'm not
pressing, my hand is completely relaxed, [C] I call that pure [B] movement.
When you practice like that, that teaches you how to have the ideal movement for any
exercise or even parts of a piece.
And then, just think of starting with very little pressure, very light pressure, and
add just the amount of weight and pressure that you need to get what you need.
I hope this helps.
Thank you very much.
[N]
So with this video, I'd like to demonstrate some issues that I think are important with
the left hand.
First of all, when you relax your hand, if you open up your hand like this and then you
relax it, your fingers will curl into what maybe you can call a neutral position.
Likewise, if you make a fist and then you relax, your fingers will again open to that neutral position.
As it happens, the neutral position is pretty much the ideal left hand position, whether
you're on the first string or the sixth string.
So I think you want to try to promote this in your own playing, having that natural curve
to your fingers.
What I think you want to avoid is crunching up your fingers like this, where you have
a lot of bend in all your fingers and this knuckle goes inwards.
That basically is only something you can do by co-contracting your muscles and that's
less than desirable.
One of the things that I want to focus on is trying to keep my fingers over the string
at all times.
So when I have my fingers off the string, two, three, and four are off the string, I
want them to be in this position as opposed to this position or this position.
So I'd like to suggest experimenting with this exercise where you touch the strings
without any pressure.
If you open up your hand and then relax it, stay in that state as you do this exercise.
So you go one, two, three, four, [Gb] one.
[Eb] [E]
Notice [Ab] that my fingers [G] stay over the string at all [A] times.
[Eb] Now I'm going to go backwards, four, three, two, one, four, [B] and again I'm going to keep
my fingers over the string.
If [N] I move only from this joint, my finger will lift up and go back down in the same place.
If I involve these two joints as well, my finger will pull behind the string, in which
case I'm not in as good of a position.
[E]
[G] The next thing you might try is to play a note, relax your [Gb] hand, play, [G] relax, play,
relax, play, [F] relax, play.
[E] Again when I lift up, I want my fingers to stay over the string.
[Bm]
By relaxing in between each finger, [Abm] I'm able to [E] then [Em] shift [E] the focus from each finger to the next.
[Am] [G] Then when I go backwards, [Gb] I'm only going to lift [Eb] a little bit by [Db] basically releasing my
fingers and then letting them [Gb] fall back on the string.
[Eb] Release, release, [A] release, release.
[Am] [Em]
[B] [A]
[Am] [E]
[A]
[Gbm] [E] [Gb]
[N] Then if I apply these techniques to a scale, I can do this first.
[Ab]
[E] [C]
[A] I can get each note partly [C] by squeezing and partly by dropping the weight of my arm [D] and
shifting the pressure and the weight to each finger in succession.
[E]
[C] [B] So keeping your fingers over the string and over each fret is a super important detail
with your left hand.
You want to avoid having your fingers point anywhere other than the fingerboard.
This is not good, this is not good.
This also means that you have too many joints involved to get your finger back to the string accurately.
The bottom line is one of the [G] best things that you can do for any exercise is to practice
what I call [Bbm] pure movement.
If [Ab] I play the scale without pressing, where my thumb is [A] just lightly touching, I'm not
pressing, my hand is completely relaxed, [C] I call that pure [B] movement.
When you practice like that, that teaches you how to have the ideal movement for any
exercise or even parts of a piece.
And then, just think of starting with very little pressure, very light pressure, and
add just the amount of weight and pressure that you need to get what you need.
I hope this helps.
Thank you very much.
[N]
Key:
E
A
C
Gb
G
E
A
C
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Hi, with the scale videos that [C] I've presented thus far, I haven't [N] focused too much on the left hand.
So with this video, I'd like to demonstrate some issues that I think are important with
the left hand.
First of all, when you relax your hand, if you open up your hand like this and then you
relax it, your fingers will curl into what maybe you can call a neutral position.
Likewise, if you make a fist and then you relax, your fingers will again open to that neutral position.
As it happens, the neutral position is pretty much the ideal left hand position, whether
you're on the first string or the sixth string.
So I think you want to try to promote this in your own playing, having that natural curve
to your fingers.
What I think you want to avoid is crunching up your fingers like this, where you have
a lot of bend in all your fingers and this knuckle goes inwards.
That basically is only something you can do by co-contracting your muscles and that's
less than desirable.
One of the things that I want to focus on is trying to keep my fingers over the string
at all times.
So when I have my fingers off the string, two, three, and four are off the string, I
want them to be in this position as opposed to this position or this position.
So I'd like to suggest experimenting with this exercise where you touch the strings
without any pressure.
If you open up your hand and then relax it, stay in that state as you do this exercise.
So you go one, two, three, four, [Gb] one.
_ _ [Eb] _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ Notice [Ab] that my fingers [G] stay over the string at all [A] times.
_ _ [Eb] Now I'm going to go backwards, four, three, two, one, four, [B] and again I'm going to keep
my fingers over the string. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ If [N] I move only from this joint, my finger will lift up and go back down in the same place.
If I involve these two joints as well, my finger will pull behind the string, in which
case I'm not in as good of a position.
_ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] The next thing you might try is to play a note, relax your [Gb] hand, play, [G] relax, play,
relax, play, [F] relax, play.
[E] Again when I lift up, I want my fingers to stay over the string.
_ _ _ _ [Bm] _
_ By relaxing in between each finger, [Abm] _ I'm able to [E] then [Em] shift [E] the focus from each finger to the next. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Am] _ _ _ [G] Then when I go backwards, [Gb] I'm only going to lift [Eb] a little bit by [Db] basically releasing my
fingers and then letting them [Gb] fall back on the string.
[Eb] Release, release, [A] release, release.
_ _ _ [Am] _ _ [Em] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ [A] _
_ _ [Am] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ [Gbm] _ [E] _ _ _ _ [Gb] _ _
[N] Then if I apply these techniques to a scale, I can do this first.
[Ab] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ [C] _
[A] I can get each note partly [C] by squeezing and partly by dropping the weight of my arm [D] and
shifting the pressure and the weight to each finger in succession. _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ [B] So keeping your fingers over the string and over each fret is a super important detail
with your left hand.
You want to avoid having your fingers point anywhere other than the fingerboard.
This is not good, this is not good.
This also means that you have too many joints involved to get your finger back to the string accurately.
The bottom line is one of the [G] best things that you can do for any exercise is to practice
what I call [Bbm] pure movement.
If [Ab] I play the scale without pressing, where my thumb _ is [A] just lightly touching, I'm not
pressing, my hand is completely relaxed, [C] I call that pure [B] movement.
When you practice like that, that teaches you how to have the ideal movement for any
exercise or even parts of a piece.
And then, just think of starting with very little pressure, very light pressure, and
add just the amount of weight and pressure that you need to get what you need.
I hope this helps.
Thank you very much. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _
Hi, with the scale videos that [C] I've presented thus far, I haven't [N] focused too much on the left hand.
So with this video, I'd like to demonstrate some issues that I think are important with
the left hand.
First of all, when you relax your hand, if you open up your hand like this and then you
relax it, your fingers will curl into what maybe you can call a neutral position.
Likewise, if you make a fist and then you relax, your fingers will again open to that neutral position.
As it happens, the neutral position is pretty much the ideal left hand position, whether
you're on the first string or the sixth string.
So I think you want to try to promote this in your own playing, having that natural curve
to your fingers.
What I think you want to avoid is crunching up your fingers like this, where you have
a lot of bend in all your fingers and this knuckle goes inwards.
That basically is only something you can do by co-contracting your muscles and that's
less than desirable.
One of the things that I want to focus on is trying to keep my fingers over the string
at all times.
So when I have my fingers off the string, two, three, and four are off the string, I
want them to be in this position as opposed to this position or this position.
So I'd like to suggest experimenting with this exercise where you touch the strings
without any pressure.
If you open up your hand and then relax it, stay in that state as you do this exercise.
So you go one, two, three, four, [Gb] one.
_ _ [Eb] _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ Notice [Ab] that my fingers [G] stay over the string at all [A] times.
_ _ [Eb] Now I'm going to go backwards, four, three, two, one, four, [B] and again I'm going to keep
my fingers over the string. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ If [N] I move only from this joint, my finger will lift up and go back down in the same place.
If I involve these two joints as well, my finger will pull behind the string, in which
case I'm not in as good of a position.
_ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] The next thing you might try is to play a note, relax your [Gb] hand, play, [G] relax, play,
relax, play, [F] relax, play.
[E] Again when I lift up, I want my fingers to stay over the string.
_ _ _ _ [Bm] _
_ By relaxing in between each finger, [Abm] _ I'm able to [E] then [Em] shift [E] the focus from each finger to the next. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Am] _ _ _ [G] Then when I go backwards, [Gb] I'm only going to lift [Eb] a little bit by [Db] basically releasing my
fingers and then letting them [Gb] fall back on the string.
[Eb] Release, release, [A] release, release.
_ _ _ [Am] _ _ [Em] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ [A] _
_ _ [Am] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ [Gbm] _ [E] _ _ _ _ [Gb] _ _
[N] Then if I apply these techniques to a scale, I can do this first.
[Ab] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ [C] _
[A] I can get each note partly [C] by squeezing and partly by dropping the weight of my arm [D] and
shifting the pressure and the weight to each finger in succession. _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ [B] So keeping your fingers over the string and over each fret is a super important detail
with your left hand.
You want to avoid having your fingers point anywhere other than the fingerboard.
This is not good, this is not good.
This also means that you have too many joints involved to get your finger back to the string accurately.
The bottom line is one of the [G] best things that you can do for any exercise is to practice
what I call [Bbm] pure movement.
If [Ab] I play the scale without pressing, where my thumb _ is [A] just lightly touching, I'm not
pressing, my hand is completely relaxed, [C] I call that pure [B] movement.
When you practice like that, that teaches you how to have the ideal movement for any
exercise or even parts of a piece.
And then, just think of starting with very little pressure, very light pressure, and
add just the amount of weight and pressure that you need to get what you need.
I hope this helps.
Thank you very much. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _