If you want to know how to learn the guitar well then proper technique is an essential skill. What it means is having the skill to play the guitar effortlessly and especially at speed.
But to learn to play guitar fast requires strong musculature in the hands, fingers and arms. When you are learning how to play guitar, it’s a good idea to warm up first by playing some scales to get you ready to play, just like athletes get their muscles warmed up.
Guitar hand position when playing the guitar is important as the wrists are particularly at risk of strain when fretting the strings and you can develop carpal tunnel syndrome, which is very painful. The straighter your wrists are the better if you want to avoid a sore wrist. Playing with a bent wrist puts a lot of strain on the tendons and can cause tendonitis.
If you get any wrist problems when playing the guitar, stop playing immediately and let your hands rest for the rest of the day.
Learning to play the guitar in a standing position is particularly bad because the angle of the wrist on the fretboard is all wrong and forces you to play with an awkwardly bent wrist just to reach the guitar neck. Sitting down to play is best but in a group that wouldn’t look very cool would it? Whether sitting or standing to play the guitar, holding it somewhere around your stomach area is about right
To see if you are holding the guitar correctly and your wrists not under too much stress, try looking at your posture in a mirror. The straighter you can hold your wrists the better, although this is not always possible when playing the lower strings.
The position of the thumb on the guitar neck can cause wrist strain, so your thumb should be in the center of the neck. If you can see it sticking out then it is too high on the neck and chords will be harder to play. If your thumb is too low on the guitar neck then you will have to bend your wrist more to reach the strings that are higher off the floor.
How hard do you need to press the strings to the fretboard to sound a note?
The simple answer to this is press the strings down to the fret board just hard enough to make the note sound clearly. It you don’t press down hard enough the string will make a buzzing sound on the fret.
You need to press the string firmly but there is no need to press it too hard to make the note sound. In fact, the less pressure you use when fretting the guitar string the better as you will use less effort which will allow you to play faster when needed.
Always make sure your finger is close to the fret and that you only press with the tip of your finger not the flat part. Your fingers should form a smooth curve and be near to the fretboard at all times. If you want to learn to play guitar fast then the nearer they are to the frets the faster you will be able to press down on the note and the faster you will be able to play.
