Can you analyze my fretting hand?

[Michael_Mark]

Hey guys,

I’d really appreciate it if some of you who’ve been playing long enough to notice really minute details could take a look at my left hand & fingers here:

You might not notice it right away, but as I’ve been recording myself, I realized that my left hand fingers look really weird. Like not just a too tense kind of weird, but maybe a “needs to completely revisit left hand technique” weird. My fingers seem like they never know where to go– not when they’re playing, but when they’re not playing.

I know there’s an economy of motion aspect that I really need to work on, but is my angle off too? Fretting pressure too strong?

So yes, I know that I have really long fingers, but I’m wondering if there’s a big change that needs to happen in my technique.

This didn’t really manifest until I started to play more complex/faster things when the minute details matter more.

I think this hinders me the most on mandolin (I’ve essentially stopped playing mando because I feel I can’t get anywhere with it), and probably the least on banjo since the left hand is generally more simple.

Another thing that prompted me to make this post is that the skin underneath my left hand’s fingernails tends to separate from the nail, mainly when I bend, especially on banjo. When I have my fingernails cut shorter, it makes me more vulnerable to this issue… and even when they’re as long as they can be without severely hindering me, it still happens (just happened a few minutes ago after playing banjo– granted, I was playing some Ron Block stuff). Thoughts/solutions/similar experiences? Could this be related to my other issues?

I know that these are pretty small details that haven’t stopped my progress too much up to this point (besides needing to take breaks from playing because of problem #2), but I want to be the best player I can be. I don’t want to be just good, I want to be a world class musician one day.

What can I do to fix these issues?

[Flatpickin_Libby]

I don’t know that I really notice anything off (on the guitar videos, that is) - but I’m certainly no pro… one thing that’s helped me, when thinking about fretting hand technique, is making sure my four fingers are at a perpendicular angle to the guitar neck and not a slanted angle. Bryan Sutton talks about being able to reach 4 frets with 4 fingers. So have your fingers going directly at the guitar neck, not sideways. Then he says slide those 4 fingers all the way up and down the neck, on every string; then try going horizontally like that (so 1st string to 6th string, and then back) and keep each finger squarely on its own fret. I don’t know if that’s pinpointing your problem or not, but it might help. On a side note, since you want to be a world class musician someday, a Skype lesson with Jake Workman would solve every guitar problem you could ever imagine having! Your Ashokan Farewell is beautiful by the way!

[Archie]

Banjo fingering looks fine to me. @Michael_Mark We are all built differently so there is going to be slight variations. I recall Jim Mills saying he wanted to play like Earl so bad that he tried to pry his front teeth apart with a toothpick so he had a space just like Earl.

As for the skin issue. You gotta build good calluses over time. If your practicing bends and slides a lot then your going to damage the skin. Try easing up on the pressure on the strings. Sometimes I take an emery board and lightly file the skin if the callus become hard and painful. Don’t go crazy with this advice just a light brush of the skin will remove the old layer and allow new skin to grow.

Now since I am not a world class player and have no ambition to become one perhaps my advice might not be the best to follow. Use your own judgement I promise I wont feel offended.