How to Conquer Impossible Finger Stretches on Guitar
When it comes to us actually doing things that have to do with scales or solos or whatever we might be playing, difficult finger stretches can be a huge roadblock. There are a lot of things that I want to teach you, and we’ll focus on really four mistakes that we’re going to correct or issues that we’ll correct. The first one is a big one.
The Hidden Tool You’re Ignoring
First of all, one of them is us being oblivious to a tool on the guitar that exists 100% of the time that we very rarely notice or take attention to or actually use to benefit our practice routine.
I want you to take a look at the guitar. I want you to look at the spacing of frets here near the headstock. And then I want you to look at the spacing of frets all the way up here toward the body of the guitar. You can notice that we have much smaller spaces between frets for the intonation and then they grow and they expand as you move down the neck. This is one of the reasons a lot of people say that they can’t stand that F major bar chord, because it’s so spread out here.
But that works to our benefit when we’re starting to try to stretch our hand and get some of that mobility and fluid movement in our fretting hand.
The Gradual Stretch Method
Something I’m going to teach you is something that I teach a lot of people who are just starting and they’re struggling to play things all the way lower here. I want you to realize that you can cook in all of your scales, your patterns, your exercises, everything higher up on the neck and slowly shift down. This lets your hand get used to the pattern in a comfortable position before gradually increasing the stretch.
The Core Exercise: A Major Scale Octave
Let’s act like we’re starting right here on the 12th fret of the low E string. We’ll use a simple one-octave major scale pattern.
- The 12th fret is our first note on the low E. And then it’s the 14th fret. And then it’s the 16th fret.
- Then we’re going to do the 12th fret of the A string, the 14th fret of the A, the 16th fret of the A.
- And then we’re going to play the 13th fret of the D, and the 14th fret of the D string.
And this is just one octave of your major scale. And I want you to ascend and descend. That’s it. That’s what it looks like.
How to Practice for Maximum Results
But why the heck does that help us with our mobility in our hands? Well, I want you to practice there, starting at that 12th fret. And once you complete that and you feel good about being able to move there, I want you to shift one fret toward the head of the guitar. So down to the 11th. Same spacing, same exact thing.
Once you feel good there, shift down. Once you feel good there, shift down. And you keep this process going. I highly recommend doing this as a way to warm up your hands for practice because it gradually starts to spread out your fingers until you get all the way to full reach all the way down here.
You can see the difference, right? My reach here at the 12th fret is so minimal compared to when I complete that exercise and I am completely stretched out at the first fret. This is just a really good gradual way to stretch that hand and get more mobility.
This Applies to Everything
And this doesn’t just apply to that major scale. This applies to anything that you want to do. We can do our minor pentatonic starting right there and just go down further through the minor pentatonic the entire way. Just going through and just shifting down one fret at a time. And it really widens your ability.
So, I recommend at least starting with that major scale, starting it at the 12th fret, and slowly getting to a point of going, you know what? I think I’ve mastered it in this position. Let’s shift down, and working through mastering it in all of these different starting zones until you feel comfortable enough to come down here and play.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- What is a common mistake guitarists make when trying to improve their stretch?
One of them is us being oblivious to a tool on the guitar that exists 100% of the time… the spacing of the frets. - How does the guitar’s design help with stretching?
You can notice that we have much smaller spaces between frets for the intonation [higher up the neck] and then they grow and they expand. But that works to our benefit when we’re starting to try to stretch our hand. - What is the core method for practicing stretches?
I want you to realize that you can cook in all of your scales, your patterns, your exercises, everything higher up and slowly shift down. - When should I move an exercise down the neck?
Once you complete that and you feel good about being able to move there, I want you to shift one fret toward the head of the guitar. - Why is this a good warm-up?
It gradually starts to spread out your fingers until you get all the way to full reach all the way down here. - Can I use this method for things other than the major scale?
This applies to anything that you want to do. We can do our minor pentatonic starting right there and just go down further.
