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Vance Hurd

2 December 2013

Before approaching the essentials of guitar pedagogy, an adequate amount of attention must be
paid to the method of teaching itself. For many have tried teaching a student a concept which is simple
and clear in their own mind but has failed to solidify it in the mind of their pupil through their
instruction. When this happens, there has been a disconnect between how the teacher had learned the
concept when they were a student and their current understanding of the subject, or a lack of
understanding in how their pupil receives information. In any case, an error of communication has
occurred and so the teacher must again become a student of teaching.
The guitar, as any musical instrument, requires many tasks to be carried out simultaneously. In
order to have the student perform any one of the tasks well, they must be isolated at first. It is only after
adequate performance and understanding of the specific element that another should be added to it in
these early stages of technical training. As teachers have observed, when a new element is introduced
and added (for example: left hand notes being fingered while the right hand plays in rhythm), even a
task that the student can perform well is likely to falter as their attention shifts to the new task to be
carried out simultaneously. When this occurs, the tempo should be lowered, or the rhythmic element
should be removed, or the tasks isolated again. The student may not be ready to combine these
elements at this lesson as well, which trains us in getting an intuition for when a student is ready for the
next step of their technique training.
Just as it is not in the interest of the student to be burdened with several technical tasks too
soon, we should also not weigh them down with too many mental concepts at once. Aaron Shearer's
Four Principles of Efficient Muscle Function are invaluable to us as instructors, but would not be so
useful to explain to an absolute beginner before they are asked to demonstrate them in a lesson. Rather,
they should be introduced and explained upon their transgression by the student, allowing for an

understanding of their application. Again, as we will see, isolation is key to understanding.


Before a student begins to play the guitar, make sure they are seated in a suitable manner to play
it. The guitar is set on the right leg with a footstool and the body of the guitar, the student's thigh, and
torso should make a triangle. The student's guitar should be positioned far enough to the right so that
they can access the entire fretboard. The neck should be vertical enough so their left wrist is not bent
too far out of its midrange area. This is in correspondence with Shearer's principle of efficient muscle
function, Midrange Function of Joints. It states that Muscles function most efficiently only when the
joints they control are operated within their midrange of movement (10). All of this might be better
explained to a student after the first few lessons, as they will have enough to remember and keep track
of especially if they are an absolute beginner.
The next area to teach a student is in right hand technique. This is because the right hand is the
one to actually sound the note, and is often taught in a way that is not sustainable for the student, often
resulting in injury or premature plateauing of speed. The first task to have the absolute beginner carry
out is to place their right hand (p, i, m, and a on strings 6, 3, 2, and 1 respectively) on the guitar with a
straight wrist and bring their fingers all the way to the palm of their hand and their thumb all the way to
the side of their i finger as they play the strings. From this gesture we can set in place the remaining
three principles of efficient muscle function in the right hand: Muscular Alignment, Uniform Direction
of Joint Movement, and Follow-Through. The student's wrist should be straight, meaning that from the
forearm to the wrist forms a straight line which corresponds to the principle of Muscular Alignment,
stating that natural alignment provides the most direct pull of the muscles which control your back,
wrist, and finger joints (Shearer 10). The principle of Uniform Direction of Joint Movement states that
muscles function most efficiently only when the joints all three joints of a finger or thumb are flexed
or extended together (Shearer 10). According to this principle, the student's hands should be checked
for this basic movement of all three joints in the same direction, not collapsing any of their joints.
Though in more advanced playing the tip joint might be slightly loosened for tone purposes, the student

should first be trained by this principle for strengthening and coordination, and will eventually find that
a firm tip joint gives freedom for greater technical feats. The third and most obvious principle
displayed here is Follow-Through: Muscles function most efficiently only when there is sufficient
follow-through to avoid a build-up of counterproductive tension. Sufficient follow through means that,
once a movement has been initiated, no intentional restraint is applied to the movement (Shearer 10).
The fingers are being pulled into the palm of the hand deliberately

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