Over the years I’ve had the great privilege of teaching many beginner guitarists. It’s great to see someone progress from complete novice to accomplished guitarist. But the path the mastery never runs smoothly. There are a number of common mistakes most guitarists make on their road to becoming a good musician.

I’ve compiled a list of the most common right hand mistakes most guitarists make when they learn to play the guitar. I’ve also provided some handy tips alongside each to help you avoid the same pitfalls.

Read on to discover the most common mistakes guitarists make with the right hand when learning to play the guitar.

By far one of the most common mistakes I see when teaching is regarding the position of the hand. The student will often begin by positioning their knuckles approximately above the 5^th/6^th strings of the guitar. I believe this is simply because it feels natural to someone who has not yet achieved a high level of mastery and does not fully understand how the hand should be set up.

In reality, it’s much better to position the knuckles further forward, particularly for Tirando.

To avoid making this mistake, take care to position your knuckles directly above the treble strings of the guitar.

Use the slider on the photo below to see good/bad knuckle position:

Another common issue I see on a regular basis is that the student uses the wrong joint to drive the movement when playing the string. In the initial stages, it feels more comfortable to freeze the knuckle joint in position and use the PIP joint (middle finger joint) to drive the movement. It provides a good level of control for the movement and it is easier to avoid contacting other strings by accident when playing.

The problem with this is that it causes the player the pull the strings away from the guitar. This produces poor tone compared to playing “through” the string. Playing through the string requires the movement to come from the MCP joint (the knuckle joint).

To avoid making this mistake, imagine you are trying to touch the palm of the hand when you play. Try touching as close to the wrist as you possibly can, this will promote movement from the MCP joint and will get you to produce impressive, full sounding notes.

Not only do some students try to play from the PIP joint, it’s also a common mistake for some to play using the hand. Moving the whole hand to play individual notes is a very inefficient method of playing. It also tends to produce thin sounding notes compared to playing from the MCP joint as described above.

To avoid this mistake, try keeping your right hand completely still when playing. Move only from the fingers (starting with the MCP joint).

In the early stages, it’s common for the right hand to feel quite unstable. Some students try to offset this instability by anchoring the little finger on the body of the guitar. Unfortunately, this means the player has to stretch further to reach the strings and can create an inefficient right hand technique. Long-term, this slows the player down and makes their movements more laboured than they need to be.

To avoid making this mistake, allow your little finger to relax when playing. Let it move along with your ‘a’ finger if it wants. The less tension you hold in this finger, the better.

See how the fingers are planted on the soundboard? This will restrict free movement of the fingers.

Similar to anchoring the little finger, some players make the mistake of anchoring the thumb on the 6^th string and pushing into the body of the guitar. While anchoring the thumb on the 6^th string is not much of a problem, it does become problematic if you allow your thumb to apply pressure to the string. The result is that you become accustomed to leaning on the thumb to stay in the correct position. When the time comes to use the thumb, you’ll find life is much more difficult than it should be.

To avoid making this mistake, spend time considering the pressure of your thumb during your warm up. Anchor the thumb on the 6^th string by all means if you like, but practice keeping it ‘empty’ when you use the fingers. If it helps, use a mirror to check whether the string is bending or not. If you apply pressure, you’ll see the string bend. If the string remains straight, you’re doing it right.

See how the thumb is bending the 6th string as it leans on it? Don’t do that!

One of my all time favourite mistakes! We all have a dominant finger (one that likes to play more than the others). It’s usually the index or middle finger. When playing scalic or melodic passages on the classical guitar, it’s usually a good idea to alternate fingers. In the initial stages, the student often simplifies this process and uses a single finger to play scales/melodies. This may work for a while, but when the music becomes more challenging, you will need to rely on more than one finger, and you’ll find yourself having to relearn your approach to right hand technique. It’s advisable to spend time getting it right now, rather than relearning later.

To avoid this issue, make sure you practice alternating fingers in your warm up. It can be a simple single string exercise or a handful of scales. Just make sure you alternate fingers. You could also try writing in specific right hand fingering into a piece of music. Record a video of yourself playing the piece and see how often you ‘double’ a finger. You may surprise yourself!

I hope you’ve found these little pieces of advice to be useful. Remember to check out the other lessons on our website for more helpful hints and tips.