Performing Flamenco Guitar Exercises

Playing flamenco guitar requires that your hands have a lot of strength and dexterity. Just like any gymnast, you must train the muscles and tendons in your hand and forearm to cope with being asked to do unusual things such as stretching across long distances on the guitar fretboard or pressing down with considerable strength when performing certain kinds of barre chords high up the neck.

These kinds of requirements are not easy but just as with all things, if you practice it enough in your daily flamenco guitar lessons routine eventually it will come to you.

The two most important kinds of exercise for flamenco guitar are (for right handed players)

1. Coordination and cooperation between the fingers on the right hand
2. Strength and the ability to stretch in the left hand

There are many exercises designed for guitarists to overcome these obstacles but don't expect to be able to conquer everything overnight. The key phrase is consistency over time. If you push too hard you may end up actually injuring your hand. This in turn could put you out of action for weeks or even months depending upon the severity of the injury. The golden rule is "stop when it starts to hurt". Obey this at all times and you shouldn't have any problems.

Secondly it's important to maintain a solid consistency in your guitar exercise routine. An ideal place to do it at the start of every guitar practice session you do. Simply spend 10 - 15 minutes working with some exercises and over time you'll find that your hands will respond very well to this habit. It's also has a secondary benefit in that you will be warming up your hands really well before you actually start to practice.

A good routine would consist of performing stretching exercises between all the various finger combinations on your right hand, fingers 1 & 2, 1 & 3, 1 & 4, then fingers 2 & 3 and 2 & 4, finally stretching between fingers 3 & 4. This will certainly have dramatic effects on your guitar playing should you stick with it over the course of say 3 months