How hard should you press the strings?

When you first start learning guitar, it’s natural to press as hard as you can.

If the note doesn’t sound clear, it seems like the solution must be to push harder.

But here’s something that surprises many beginners:

You don’t need to press nearly as hard as you think.

In fact, pressing too hard can make playing guitar more difficult.

When you squeeze the strings harder than necessary, a few things tend to happen:

• Your hand becomes tense
• Your fingers get tired more quickly
• Chord changes feel slower and clumsier

Instead of helping, that extra pressure often works against you.

So how hard should you press?

A good goal is to press just hard enough for the note to sound clear, and no harder.

Here’s a simple way to find that amount of pressure.

Pick one note on the guitar and press the string down lightly. At first, the note may buzz or sound muted. Now slowly increase the pressure until the note rings clearly.

Once it sounds clean, stop there.

You’ve just found the amount of pressure you need.

If you keep pressing harder after that point, you’re using extra effort without getting a better result.

Do this exercise regularly so your fingers start to feel how little pressure you need.

Make it your goal to use this amount of pressure each time you play guitar.

When you notice you’re holding the guitar neck with a death grip, stop playing for a moment.

Drop your left hand away from the guitar, relax, and try again.

In the long run, a light touch and good accuracy will take you much further than tension and force.

Keep making music!