Left Hand

• Place thumb opposite the second finger, on the center of the neck, parallel with frets. Use flat part of thumb, not side or tips.
• Keep hand off the bottom of the neck, or fingers will be cramped.
• Place fingers just before the frets, not on or too far behind them.
• Place tip, not flat part of finger, on strings. Fingers one and four are often on the sides of their tips.
• Keep fingers apart, not pressed together.
• Press only hard enough; too lightly and it buzzes, too hard and you injure the hand. Press against the frets, not against the fretboard.
• Don't bend the strings out of pitch, unless you mean to.
• Don't collapse the knuckle that's near the nail.
• No finger should ever be more than 1" from the strings.
• Use a pivot finger when changing between chords, or see what's in common between the two chords. Repeatedly change between them, before practicing the next chord change.
• Run finger into the next string and fingerboard, on pull-offs.
• Hammer-on with speed, not by dive-bombing.
• Practice placing each note or chord, just before striking it. First visualize where the finger is going, before placing it. Practice without the guitar, sometimes, by reading the music and visualizing finger placement.

Strumming

• Hold pick loosely, between thumb and index finger. Point pick from side of thumb, making a right angle. Place index nail behind thumb; it doesn't extend beyond the pick. Leave a gap between thumb and index; don't press them together.
• Only a bit of the pick extends from the fingers, for better control.
• Strum with a loose wrist, not from the elbow. Thumb press down on downstroke, index presses up on upstroke.
• Right hand is parallel with strings, ready to dampen or palm-mute.
• Pinky periodically touches down on soundboard, for stability.
• Normally, strum stings evenly, as one note, not broken up.
• Usually, don't allow strings to buzz against frets; get a clear, nice sound.
• For chord-melody, strum down to (not beyond) melody note. Strike melody note a little harder than the previous chord notes. Rest the pick on the next string that you don't strike.

Picking Melody

• One finger to a fret, e.g., if the note is in fret two, use finger two.
• Plant pinky on soundboard.
• Don't allow pick to strike soundboard.
• Plant wrist on lower strings (except when playing lower strings), for stability and to eliminate unwanted background noise. Use left hand to help dampen background noise, when needed.
• Alternate the pick, up, down. Use all downstrokes only where you desire a heavy sound.
• Pick over the soundhole; pick near the bridge only when you want twang.
• Let notes sustain, unless it doesn't sound nice. Often, notes of less duration are treated as having a longer duration (a quarter note often sustains as a whole note). This sounds smoother and richer. But mute notes that don't serve the melody.

Fingerpicking

• Press string into the soundhole; don't pull it up or across.
• Press with nail and flesh, together. Using only the nail is thin sounding. Using only flesh is less clear and loud (unless your fingers are calloused).
• First plant finger on string, then press in, then release; don't swing at string.
• Fingers move mostly from joints at hand.
• The forehand is about even with arm, relaxed.
• Fingers are gently curled, as they are while you're walking.
• Keep fingers close to strings, for economy.
• Nail extends just a little from fingertip. File each nail in a straight line, lower at left sinde of finger, higher at right of center point of finger. Nail meets string on left side of nail and slides across, until string leaves right end of nail line (the point to right of center point).
• When alternating fingers, just after striking one note, place next finger on following note, before striking it.
• Briefly plant P,I,M,A, before plucking chord.
• When arpeggiating, I,M,A are planted before P strikes; M,A are planted before I strikes; A is planted before M strinkes; P is then planted before A strinkes.

Other

• Tap foot as you play.
• Practice with a metronome or CD.
• Use a footrest.
• Place guitar on left leg, with upper bout at center of chest.
• Listen carefully to your sound; be aware of what each finger is doing.
• Play expressively, as though you're singing; use a wide variety of tonal techniques.
• Practice one phrase of a song, repeatedly, until it's smooth and up to tempo; then practice the next phrase.