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Introduction to the Right Hand

The thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers are the playing fingers of the right  hand.

They are named with the Castillano (the Spanish spoken in Spain) word for each finger and labeled in standard music notation with the first letter of each word as follows:


FINGER        NAME            LETTER

thumb            pulgar                  p
index              indice                    i
middle            medio                  m
ring                 anular                  a

 
The right hand little finger is not a playing finger.

To bring the right hand to standard playing position, place the tip of "p" on the 6th string near the middle of the soundhole.  Now place "i" on any one of the first three strings.  It is important to remember that "p" should always be in advance of "i" (to your left).  To check this, visualize an imaginary line perpendicular to the strings.  "p" should be to the left of it and "i" should be to the right of it.  Neither finger should be more than a centimeter or so away from the imaginary line.


From here there are three paths to study the right hand further.  If you are interested in strumming, see Introduction To Strumming.  If you'd like to begin studying how to play melodies, see Rest Stroke Alternation.  And, if you are interested in playing arpeggios, see Block Chords first, and then Introduction To Arpeggios.

 


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