RH: I and M Alternation for Classical Guitar 

11 practical tips for moving ahead beginning classical guitar. These lessons are good for anyone, but beginners especially. www.classicalguitarshed.com/classical-guitar-lessons-beginners/

I've been playing acoustic guitar for 7 years and just started learning the classical one by watching your videos, and I realized that I've been playing guitar in a wrong way. This video really helps me to fix my right hand. Thank you!

I love you, Allen, I feel like I am getting private lessons. Brilliant. I listened to a few videos before this of your playing, very talented man. Joined Classical Guitar Shed. Learning this instrument is an exciting journey because of you!

If there's one thing to master in my life, is to achieve this nature of excitement this guy has

this by far the most complete video on the subject i came across, thumb up.

Absolutely great lesson, your explanations (and camera work) really effectively drive home how to avoid bad form and habits. Thanks!

Best right hand guitar video on RU-vid!

Thank you. This video really broke the movements down so I could really understand what I’ve been doing wrong. Thanks again

Extremely useful .Very well demonstrated and explained.

Dear Allen, Thank you so much. I have been practicing the classical for years now. And seeing how long it takes me to learn pieces and especially how I realized mistakes were always coming from the same place mostly, the right hand. This has just opened my eyes so much. I wish I had seen your class years later. But just after a session of practice, I can really see a difference. A big thank you!!

A great lesson complete with off-guitar exercises. Top job, thank you, Alan

This was the best video about right hand technique I have seen so far. Thanks!

This is a master class why aren’t people who teach guitar using this primordial methods. Thank you so much

Now I can fine tune my technique to where I want it !! I've been struggling with it for a long time, and now I see where my mistakes are as well as what was getting in my way !!! It's like finding some very important pieces to a puzzle that were missing !!!! You are a fantastic instructor !!! Where have you been my whole life !!??? Thank you again for another great lesson......I'm subscribed indefinitely!

this is such a useful video. It really simplifies things when you demonstrate the hand motion without the guitar.

I like how you explain things so well. I watched this video over and over like 5 times this week, lol.

Thanks for this great video. Very clear and detailed information.

I have had a problem for years with sticking my pinky finger out, and practicing this off guitar while holding my pinky in with my other hand has really helped change my muscle memory. My pinky is starting to be looser when I play. Thanks!

And btw...this video is excellent. So much covered. For all you nubes...watch this every few months, so much nuance to apply and endlessly tweak and improve!

Thanks inspirational and simple. Taking it to the next level means deconstruction. I will send all my friends here.

I love your videos man, keep em coming

Superb teacher with great explanation

Have just bought my first classical guitar and am revisiting this video I stumbled across a couple months ago. This is gold! Thank you explaining and demonstrating so clearly!

I am new to the art of acoustic classical guitar (one year) ( born in 47) and grow more passionate each and every day. Your description and instruction is thorough and easy to understand, thank you for doing this. I would love to hear, and it would be useful if you would include a short piece of music where this technique is used.

I'm going to have to start paying more attention to your channel. You really do a good job of explaining things.

I practised your system for three days, it solved the I-M alternation problem I had been struggling with since I undertook classical guitar three years ago. Thank you VERY much, I subscribed.

excellent intro for a beginner! i just started playing and i'm happy i found this early on

Very helpful lesson. Well explained, with effective teaching style.

This is absolutely phenomenal. Thank you.

You're a great teacher!! Best I've seen in my classical journey.. I'm subscribed.. I appreciate the info shared

I wish I had learned this many years ago. But I will certainly apply it now.

Really useful video and explanation, thanks!

Allen thanks for a nice detailed look at i m alternation together with your scissors video which complements this nicely. Looking forward to trying this out. Cheers!

Hi Mathew..Hope all is well.. Thanks for the i,m scissors action video and this classical guitar lesson as well.. Makes a whole lotta difference dude.. Appreciate your video focus in do's and don'ts angles, and an efficient angle of holding the guitar, makes a practical clarification.. Warm cheers.. Please keep up the job..God bless..siva..gtr.. India..(Guitsiva)..👍😊🎶🎸

Thanks for a great tutorial

Pure gold. Thank you.

Great video and explanation, thanks very much.

I've been playing guitar now for roughly 35 years, mostly electric, and segued into acoustic playing in the 90's. I started developing my 5 finger technique, for me its the left hand, until I had an accident and lost part of my middle finger. That moment destroyed me; I never thought I play guitar ever again. After a very frustrating summer I did start to play again but had to adapt my finger technique significantly. Now I have to rely on my ring finger to compensate for that loss. It's been a challenge coordinating between the index and ring finger but the end result reminds me how much I love to play and how much I love music.

Ugh. I knew I was getting sloppy. After watching this I immediately played a scale with a lot less tension. Thank you for simplifying this technique. I'll be applying it to Aaron Shearer's scale studies.

Great lesson!

I Finally feel I can get a good grip and positioning plucking the strings. I really appreciate you sharing this! :)

My hand is so screwed up, I can't clap with one hand, my fingers don't go all the way to the palm, but I get the idea. lol You're an excellent teacher. I wish youtube existed 30 years ago.

Great lesson! Thank you a lot

Great lesson. Appreciated!

Working on getting the right hand working correctly. Thanks for the pro instruction Mr. Mathews. I'm a member of CGS and I attend your Zoom calls. Great idea for a public platform to be using Zoom. I really like that. I just have and play acoustic guitar, but I guess the same rules apply for fingerstyle to a steel string guitar as it does for a classical guitar. My aspiration is to own one fine classical guitar of the medium to higher price range. There are some very fine Guitar Luthiers who create Awesome Sounds from their guitars.

Thank you, wonderful!

Great teaching, very helpful.

when i try the exercise like you demonstrated in the first part of the video (the exercise without guitar ) after bringing my index out of the closed position, it doesn't return in its initial position but a little bit on top of the middle finger which affects my middle finger movement so i can't bring my middle finger out without messing up the index position , also when i close my hand , the middle knuckles of my fingers are not completely aligned , is it a matter of time or i should practice without guitar until there is some space between my fingers so they don't end up of top of each other ? and btw thank you so much for all your efforts, you helped me so much in getting better .

fantastic information.................thanks

this really helped me thank you teacher

Thank you I’m 55 started playing 2021 thanks for the video

Oh horrors! Decades of "doing it wrong" to undo. Honestly don't know if I have the fortitude. - The Bicyclist

Excellent lesson and very glad to learn this before developing bad habits.

helped me improve a lot! :) thank you

Very informative video. In your opinion, is it ok to keep the tip joint of your right hand fingers loose? it seems to be working very well for me except for arpeggios. in arpeggios it gets hard to speed up.

Super helpful lesson Allen! Who cut the two holes in your Ramirez? I have been to their shop in Madrid. You must like how it changes the sound?!! Thanks again for your generous instructions! I am learning a lot.

this is good, can you explain how to do dyads without hitting adjacent strings? thank you!

really enjoy the lesson. excellent

I had a dream just now I was running with a guitar, not just running but goose stepping very fast from rock to rock across rivers. I used to do that as a runner now I just do music, this dream assures me that I have the proper ambition

Hi, again, excellent video and channel, big fan here. Question, whenever I do a free stroke the bottom joint of the finger (the nearest one to the fingertip) bends towards the palm of the hand. It's not completely wrong, it's useful when playing soft and slow passages. But when playing something faster and louder, the concept is that the bottom joint of the right hand fingers should not bend. I think it's hipermobility. My doctor says my body is very flexible, somehow similar to a gymnast. He also states that mostly, the index finger of the right hand is the most flexible one. I don't know if any of your students had this problem, and/or if you know how to solve this. I'm currently finishing my Major in classical guitar, met a lot of teachers, none of them could solve it completely, they suggested me using techniques such as planting, speed bursts, anticipations (or quick-preps as you call them), etc... which I routinary do a lot. Although it enhanced my precision, the bending-joint issue of the right hand persists. I also tried using tape as another teacher suggested for two months, but no luck. Again, the problem is one I'm performing a free stroke, not a rest stroke, I have no interest in the second technique as I rarely use it. Well, I'm kind of in an inner crisis now, sorry for the long message.

Very informative Thank u

Great stuff!

Thank you!!!

Hi Allen I have a question regarding the RH thumb: my teacher told me to let it rest on the sixth string while doing the I/M alternation, thus “reaching” for the strings. Now I tried your method and it feels much more “right” but it slows me down a lot. Would you recommend even for a beginner to move the whole hand across the strings? If yes, only for scales or also when playing melodies? Thanks a lot, you are an amazing teacher, I am so glad I found your incredibly precious teachings!

thanks so much! great video

Could you make a video regarding hand/finger injuries from practicing incorrectly?

Great teaching, Allen. My problem is touching the adjacent string with the nail while preparing for the next strike of the string. On the backswing as it were. Any advice of just concentrate more during the preparation. Your teachings generate a lot of enthusiasm. Kudos and thanks.

Great video :D greetings from méxico.

Hi there ! Great teaching! can I ask you if those two holes 🕳 on the top of the guitar body are for better instrument earring?

My fingers overlap abit and get stuck in each other when I alternate. Is that normal or? Should I just push through?

Great advice......will work on it. Is it the same when using finger picks ? as I use one thumb and two fingers. Or should I chuck the picks.

I can't do that because as my fingers close in to the palm, they bend in towards each other creating a lot of pressure and friction between each finger :( they are perfectly straight, it must be the knuckle joint. They guide the fingers in to each other.

Great lesson man, Can you put a video of you putting it together with scales working both hands? Like a basic scale, I would like to see how you transition from string to string. Thanks :)

is there any examples of acoustic style players who finger pick diagonally and prefer a more upright guitar.? Thanks!

I watched a Pepe Romero videos where he does the exact bicycling movement that Alan mentions not doing here. How would someone know whose advice to follow?

My fingers are touching other strings and making a buzz as I move up and down. What am I supposed to do? Thanks in advance 😊

My Travis style is solid. But for too many years I've used a pick for scale work. How the hell do you get the "i m" alteration so fast?! Any books or more comprehensive techniques to recommend?

Thanks, that was cool in slo-mo. Can I ask another question? My A finger is weak, so I've been running my scales using both I/A and M/A, its slower and way weaker but I think it's helping. Is that helpful?

thanks alot ......... that's really helpful. .... love and gratitude all the way from syria . keep it up

I wonder that, if anything changes in tremolo? Bcz i do it in short bicycle style

Thank you.

Excelente teaching

should you play high speed with that technique?

I noticed that you can HEAR when you're exchanging fingers correctly - i.e.pulling one finger in causes the other to go out at the same time. When you do it correctly each note is immediately muted by the next finger resting on the string ("loading the string"). If your notes continue ringing, you're not doing it the way Allen teaches.

Hi ! I saw many famous players that not exactly use this kind of right hand picking & even sometimes do it "wrong", as you suggested. What do you think ? Thanks for the info anyway !

Dear Allen! My m is much longer than my i, more than what seems usual. My a is a full nail length longer than my i, and my m is a full nail length longer than my a. Thus, in order for my m to pass clear of the string, there is still some bicycling or hand movement (away from and again towards the guitar top) necessary. But when I turn my hand slightly inwards (so that my thumb joint points slightly towards me), all my fingers can touch the string at the same point of their tips. But then the hand position seems kinda weird or unorthodox. Any thoughts? Thanks a lot! Edit: I think I will stick to doing that. The sound is suddenly better, everything comes easier and more accurately, and it feels like I am on another level all of a sudden. Hopefully I won’t hit a wall at some point 😊 (your lesson still helped a lot though)

Hey Allen, This question may seem out of context, but I play a little jazz these days and I have ditched the pick in favor of grabbing the 7 chords with my fingers PIMA. I think this I and M Alternation method will work for me to play bebop lines, etc. when not comping don't you think? Michael

Is the skill applied to tremolo exercise?

Thank you so much, the bycicle thing is really hard to overcome after a year of training in a no proper form :(

Hi Allan :-) Quick questions pls, what is the made & model of the guitar you playing? & why those two holes in the body? & for sure thank you so much for the wonderful video :-)

At what point or area does your finger tip contact the string, and when/how does the nail come in? When I do this style of play on the E A D strings, I hear my fingers slide and there's kind of a squeak that happens? IDK if it's the strings, or me or what though (they are new strings too).

I like to ( try) to play some classical pieces on electric guitar...If I were to put an electric into your hands would you still use these right hand techniques?...do they still apply?

I think I'm beginning to develop a problem when I alternate, as when I'm playing a stroke I throw my non-playing finger out and it hits the string on its way back out as the other plays its stroke on the same string. Any suggestions on how to work on/avoid this?

I only have 9 nails. My RH index fingernail was torn off in an accident. Plus I'm right handed. But I have been able to play some of the more familiar classical pieces.

Thanks so much for this Im just starting what do you do with your thumb when your playing the sixth string leave it in the air or rest it on the face of the guitar?

Hi I'm a beginner level acoustic guitarist switching from pick to finger style guitar. Should the technique i employ be different given that acoustic guitarist hold the guitar in a much more horizontal position?

Allen, great lesson. What kind of guitar are you playing? Are those two extra sound holes flanking the neck? That is a beautiful guitar.

How do you prevent the tip joint from collapsing when attacking the string (free stroke)?

Hi Allan. I ve got an (important) question Do you play every finger at the left corner.. (even pinky).. I mean the left side of your nails Excuse my language mistakes I m French Your channel is gold

My thumb is always stiff and raised when I want to play fast. It feels like the part of my palm near the thumb is in tension. Any advice on that?