I’m working on A Technical Workout for Classical Guitar, Speed and Flexibility, and I thought I would share a portion relating to extensor development in the left hand. I will try to post a video to support this but here is something to keep everyone busy.

Excerpt from up and coming book:

Speed in the left hand is determined by several factors but two of the most important ones are the time it takes the finger to achieve precise placement on the fret and the time it takes the finger to release and reload for the next placement. The former movement depends on the flexor muscles of the fingers which are constantly worked in an active fashion (we typically focus our attention on placement) and the latter movement depends on the extensor muscles of the finger (we typically do not focus on this aspect of the movement). In a way, descending slurs work the extensors but we can be a bit more specific and pro-active about developing extensors in our left hand.

In order to develop the extensor muscles, simply place the finger and then actively release the finger back as quickly as possible achieving a slightly sloppy staccato effect with the left hand. This work does not involve the right hand at all. This movement is more strenuous than it sounds. When done correctly it almost sounds like light slurring. Keep the left hand finger placement accurate and keep the left hand contained so that it’s not the hand that is moving away from the fretboard but the fingers.

Complete Exercise 1 below with all the following left hand finger combinations:

Single Pair Finger Movements: 12, 21, 23, 32, 34, 43, 13, 31, 24, 42, 14, 41

Exercise 1 – Focus on the instantaneous release and post relaxation after the placement of each finger (example below using 12 and 21)

Good luck!