Are You Missing Something When You Play Guitar?

Do you ever sit down with the guitar and feel like something’s not right?

Of course, some days of guitar playing are better than others. But you can enjoy making music more often if you take care of the fundamentals each time you sit down with the guitar.

To help you do that, I made a checklist to put on your music stand. If you want the free PDF checklist, click here.

The following things can help you get each day’s music making off to a good start:

1. Body warmup – It’s easy to forget this, but warming up the upper body makes for less stiffness and discomfort while playing guitar.
   
   a. Torso twists – Do gentle torso twists to left and right, at least 5 times to each side.
   
   b. Big arm circles – Do gentle arm circles, at least 5 times with each arm. It is helpful to do large circles, while taking care not to extend past a comfortable range of motion for your shoulders.
   
   
2. Fingernails – Check the nails of both hands to make sure they are ready for playing.
   
   a. Right-hand nails:
   
   i. Length – File your index (i), middle (m), and ring (a) fingers to be about 1/16 inch past the fingertip. You can check this with a ruler. For thumb (p), the nail can be 1/8 inch past the fingertip.
   
   ii. Shape – File a rounded ramp shape, with each ramp sloping up toward the little finger. Start by creating the flat ramp on the end of the nail. Then round the corners. File a flat ramp underneath the nail and round the edges.
   
   iii. Smoothness – Smooth the nail with 500-grain-per-square-inch sandpaper, sold by the 3M company. Check each right-hand nail by sliding a left-hand nail along the surface to feel whether there are any rough spots not visible to the eye.
   
   b. Left-hand nails
   
   Short – All that matters with left-hand nails is making sure they are short enough not to get in the way of pressing down the string. Keep left-hand nails clipped close to the quick.
   
   
3. Tuning – Playing is a lot more fun if the guitar is in tune.
   
   Check with electronic tuner – It is great to be able to tune the guitar by ear.
   
   But to start your practice session quickly, you can tune with an electronic tuner. Using a tuning app on your phone can prevent wasted time looking for an electronic tuner or making sure the tuner has fresh batteries.
   
   
4. Sitting position – When tuning, you might not be super careful about sitting position, so the next thing is to find a comfortable position for your body. Adjust the guitar to your body rather than contorting your body around the guitar.
   
   a. Aligned spine – Don’t hunch over the guitar or bow your back. Sit up straight with spine aligned. If you use a guitar support like a NeckUp or Ergo Play or Guitar Lift, that will allow the spine to be more aligned than it would be when using a footstool.
   
   b. Right hand access to all strings – Strum all the strings with your right hand. If the right hand or arm is uncomfortable, adjust the guitar to allow comfortable right-hand access.
   
   c. Left hand access to all frets – Move the left hand from 1st position to 9th position and back. If this is uncomfortable, adjust the guitar to allow comfortable left-hand access.
   
   
5. Right-hand position – Check that your right hand is ready to play comfortably.
   
   a. Wrist in midrange – Check to make sure your right wrist is in its midrange. Avoid having it extremely flexed or extended. Also, avoid having it extremely deviated to the left or right.
   
   b. Curved fingers – Make sure your right-hand fingers are curved as if you are picking up a ball.
   
   
6. Right-hand warmup – Two simple exercises are a great place to start in warming up the right hand.
   
   a. pima – Place the fingers as follows:
   
   i. Thumb (p) on the 6th string
   ii. Index (i) on the 3rd string
   iii. Middle (m) on the 2nd string
   iv. Ring (a) on the 1st string
   
   When playing pima, place all fingers on the string before playing. Pluck one finger at a time. Then place all four fingers on the string again. Check for a good combination of nail and flesh plucked with each finger. Listen for a good tone. Repeat this several times.
   
   b. amip – Place the fingers as above.
   
   When playing amip, place each finger on the string as the previous one plays. Pluck one finger at a time. This forms a cycle where as soon as p plays, a is placed to begin the pattern again.
   
   As with the previous exercise, check for a good combination of nail and flesh plucked with each finger. Listen for a good tone. Repeat this several times.
   
   
7. Left-hand position – Check that your left hand is ready to play comfortably.
   
   a. Wrist in midrange - Check to make sure your left wrist is in its midrange. Avoid having it too flexed or extended. Also, avoid having it too deviated to the left or right.
   
   b. Curved fingers – Seek to have your fingers curved like those of a gorilla hanging on a tree branch.
   
   c. Thumb behind neck – Keep your thumb behind the neck to support the pressure of the fingers. Keep the thumb between the 1st and 2nd fingers.
   
   
8. Left-hand warmup – Two simple exercises are a great place to start in warming up the left hand.
   
   a. 1234 – Place these fingers on the 3rd string in the 5th position as follows:
   
   i. 1 on the 5th fret
   ii. 2 on the 6th fret
   iii. 3 on the 7th fret
   iv. 4 on the 8th fret
   
   Place each finger as the previous one plays, leaving all previous fingers down so that when you have played all four notes, all four fingers are touching the string. Repeat the exercise several times.
   
   b. 4321 – Place the fingers as above.
   
   Place all four fingers on the string before playing. Then lift them one at a time. Repeat the exercise several times.
   
   c. Active fingers just to the left of the fret wire
   
   To avoid buzzes, avoid having the left-hand fingertip on top of the fret or too far back from the fret. Instead, place the fingertip just to the left of the fret wire.
   
   d. Inactive fingers close to fingerboard
   
   Keep fingers that are not playing at a given time close to the fingerboard, not flying away toward the ceiling.
   
   
   Whew! When I write it out, that seems like a lot! But it only takes a few minutes to check these things.
   
   To get a free one-page PDF of my Warm-Up Routine checklist, click here. You can print it and put it on your music stand.
   
   What questions or comments do you have about a good warm-up routine?
   
   Keep making music!