Learning how to play the guitar with two working hands is not always easy, but most people can manage it with the right motivation.
By dint of training, exercises, motivation and support, you can reach a good level in a few months of regular practice. But can you play with only five fingers?
If you only have one working hand, there are various challenges: you will have to find a way to hold the guitar, and to play the notes, either with a pick or your fingers.
Playing chords is a whole other issue, and you may welcome some outside help (ex: guitar lessons).
Holding a Guitar With One Hand
To play the guitar with one hand it is essential that you rest the guitar on a stable support. This can be on your knees, like the outstanding musician and guitarist Ben Harper (although he uses both hands), or on another support. For example, you could rest your guitar on a bottleneck and play the notes with one hand. A bottle neck is a small tube of glass or metal that the guitarist wears on one of his fingers of the left hand (if they are right handed) and use to make a characteristic metallic sound.
Country and blues musicians are very fond of this type of accessory.
A pick is cheap and any music store or website will have dozens of kinds.
To hold your pick, pinch it between your thumb and the side of your index finger as you make a loose fist, and be sure to hold it perpendicular to the strings, leaving about half a centimeter with which to strum.
The back and forth technique
To play the guitar with one hand, you can start with the back and forth technique, which does not require you to hold the neck.
You will play the strings open, that is, without holding any down.
The back and forth technique is used in many styles of music.
The idea is very simple: using your pick, you strike the strings from aboveand then from below to play the notes.
This exercise is not as simple as it seems.
It requires a lot of practice, flexibility of the wrist, and attention to the sound of each string.
The more you practice this technique, the more you will gain in fluidity, precision and endurance.
The string skipping technique with one hand
Still using the back and forth technique, you can play one-handed while skipping some strings to make different sounds.
You will need to work with precision.
This technique aims to increase your comfort in transitioning between strings (find out how to choose the right strings), especially those that are not immediately next to them.
It sounds simple at first, but requires a good deal of dexterity.
Hacks for the back and forth technique
Here are some tips to help you master the back and forth technique:
• Respect the back and forth: one downwards stroke followed by one upwards.
• Do not go too fast, start slowly and then increase the tempo according to your comfort.
• Try a series of downwards strokes followed by an upwards series.
• Make sure your pick is no thinner than 3mm.• Control the pick with your wrist and not your elbow.
• If possible, work with a metronome to get used to strumming in rhythm.• Practice every day.
