I asked the Yahoo Jazz Guitar Group on how to swing on the guitar and got some very interesting and useful tips that I would like to share in this post.

Dave Woods is the author of the following tips, which comes in three installments.

The first installment is found below and is extracted almost entirely from the original post here.

On my website www.jazzguitarstartingright.com there’s a PDF article called “Life and Music”. A lot of what I’ve struggled to learn over the years by trial and error, and from my philosophical association with some great natural players is worth reading.

All successful guitar playing depends on the coordination between the two hands. One hand out of coordination with the other can throw both of them off. so it’s best to study each of them one at a time. This can’t be done in one post. When you truly achieve anything in music it becomes a feeling,and you know it by that feeling. Feelings are the hardest thing in the world to convey in words.

The Left Hand

The Thumb and Fingers are not opposing jaws of a vise. The Thumb is a sensor that touches the back of the neck to sense the balance of the arm, and it only presses when it’s absolutely necessary. When the necessity is over, it goes right back to it’s function of being a sensor again.

The weight of the arm is what holds a string down. Make a hook with your first finger, place it on any fret, keep your thumb off the back of the neck. a little tension in the finger alone, just enough to hold the shape of the “hook” is all you should need.

Next, sense the tip of your elbow, and let it gently swing back and forth like the pendelum on a clock. This should enable you to feel the weight of your arm on the tip of your 1st finger. If it dosen’t, then you’re holding your arm up in the air with muscular tension. Relax your shoulder and your arm until you feel the full weight of the arm on the end of the 1st finger.

Once you do, try curling your first finger like you’re doing chin ups with the finger, and sense that you’re lifting the weight of your arm with it. This will put you in touch with the right feeling. Next, do the same thing with the 2nd finger, the 3rd, and the 4th finger. Do this slowly, and sense yourself from the inside out as you do. This is how you become inwardly aware of the right feelings.

While you’re on any finger you should be able to wiggle the other fingers that aren’t holding down a string freely in the air. If their still tied up, it means you still have no balance. When you have balance, the rest of your body is always relaxed and ready for the next move. Without a sense of gravity there can be no balance.

What happens when you’re walking a balance bar, and you’re fighting to keep your balance. Your whole body spasms up, right? How can any graceful movement be generated when the body is in this condition. And yet, players practice for hours, trying to achieve a functional result while they shoot themselves in the head at the same time.