How to Play Classical Guitar

The variety of guitar types in most musical genres means that the best playing position depends on the specific guitar being used. However, the classical guitar has a playing posture that has become standardized since the late eighteenth century. The following steps will show how to play classical guitar.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Place the left foot (for a right-handed player) on a stool and place the guitar on the left thigh. This raises the neck of the guitar so the left fingers can reach over the finger board for easy fretting. Some players accomplish this with a support placed between the thigh and the guitar.

2. Hold the fretting hand over the fingerboard to allow all of the strings to be fretted easily. Classical guitarists frequently play multiple lines simultaneously, requiring them to fret low and high strings at the same time.

3. Press the thumb of the fret hand against the back of the neck. This helps stabilize the fret hand to the proper playing position and is part of the reason that the neck of the classical guitar is less rounded than other types of guitars.

4. Rest the playing fingers on the three highest strings just behind the sound hole. The wrist should be slightly bent in a relaxed, natural posture.

5. Pluck the strings with both the nail and the finger. The finger rests on the string and slides off so that the final contact is made with the nail. This makes the shape of the nails extremely important to classical guitarists.