Left Hand Position is a free weekly video guitar lesson series by Ethan Fiks. Be sure to subscribe and check out Ethan’s official website.

Video Guitar Lesson

The battle between classical-ish square hand position and bluesy-ish angled hand position continues. Both are winners on their own turf. This video considers why most people seem to stretch with their left hand pinky and asks if there is a better way: Pointer extensions are weighed against pinky stretches. While there may be one preference for a playing within a traditional 7-note scale there may be another for blues and the blues shuffle intervals. While we want our hand working well, imperfections yield character. No one wants to wind up like a musical theater-trained singer trying to perform real rock… Or sometimes a jazz drummer trying to play rock… Are you with me? We need the right balance of strength and finesse.