Lesson: Horizontal Stretch Exercise for the Left Hand

This exercise is from my book Classical Guitar Technique: Essential Exercises, Scales, and Arpeggios. The 122 page book includes: Practice Routines, Tips, 100 Open String Exercises, 120 Giuliani Arpeggios, Scales, Slur Exercises, Shifts, Finger Independence, Barre, Tremolo, Common Harmonics, and much more. YouTube Video Link

Horizontal Stretch Exercise for the Left Hand (page 100) – Be careful to take breaks and relax during this exercise to avoid injury. If you feel any pain or burning in the muscles, stop immediately. I’ve notated the exercise at the 5th fret but feel free to play it at any fret (playing at the 1st fret results in the largest stretch). Keep all fingers down after playing and your hand and knuckles aligned with the strings. Any right hand fingering is acceptable, such as i-m alternation. I’ve indicated the stretch with a bracket in the first bar of each exercise. The lesson covers the exercise, tips for alignment, and ways to practice the exercise to reduce tension and encourage relaxation.

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Bradford Werner
Bradford Werner

Bradford Werner is a classical guitarist and music publisher from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He originally created this site for his students at the Victoria Conservatory of Music but now shares content worldwide. Curating guitar content helps students absorb the culture, musical ideas, and technique of the classical guitar. Bradford also has a YouTube channel with over 94,000 subscribers and 13 million views. He taught classical guitar at the Victoria Conservatory of Music for 16 years and freelanced in Greater Victoria for 20 years and now dedicates much of his time curating content online and helping connect the classical guitar community. See more at his personal website.

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  1. Thank you. I’ve added this to my warm up routine. Do you have any non-fret board stretching exercises that you recommend or even don’t recommend?

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