🎶 Start your 14-day free trial & unlock the full course today. Start Free Trial →
tonebase Guitar Course

Intro to Left Hand Preparation

Taught by renowned guitarist 

Mircea Gogoncea

In this course, tonebase head of guitar Mircea Gogoncea introduces the lesser known but nonetheless crucial concept of left hand preparation. Excerpts from standard guitar repertoire at various levels of complexity are used to exemplify proper application of this technique. These include bringing fingers to specific frets before they are needed, maintaining fingers beyond their note-producing needs to facilitate shifts, and even using the elusive "ghost finger" technique to create stability and balance.

  • checkmark icon
    Category: 
    skills
  • checkmark icon
    Difficulty: 
    all-levels
  • checkmark icon
    Duration: 
    c. 
    1
     hours
     hour

Course Syllabus

Introduction
In this course, tonebase head of guitar Mircea Gogoncea introduces the lesser-known but nonetheless crucial concept of left-hand preparation. Excerpts from standard guitar repertoire at various levels of complexity are used to exemplify proper application of this technique. These include bringing fingers to specific frets before they are needed, maintaining fingers beyond their note-producing needs to facilitate shifts, and even using the elusive "ghost finger" technique to create stability and balance.
Preparing Fingers Before They Are Needed
In the first part of this course, Mircea Gogoncea introduces the topics that will be covered and knowledge that will be presupposed from the right-hand technique course.
Shifting
In this section, Gogoncea is going over the most basic kind of left-hand preparation: adding fingers to the strings before they are needed, for added security and stability.
Common Fingers
This section discusses shifts and the many advantages of preparing your left hand during the shifting process. This includes anticipating fingers before the shift, leaving fingers on after a shift, and even adding "ghost fingers" to both chords for ease of movement.
Combinations
In this last section of our course, Gogoncea goes over situations where fingers can be maintained on the strings for longer passages and exemplify the use of preparation principles in several more complex repertoire excerpts.
Click here to download the course workbook PDF and see the full syllabus →
Access this course and hundreds more.

Click below to access hundreds of exclusive classical guitar courses, available only on tonebase.

Unlock Course →
Mircea Gogoncea
meet YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Mircea Gogoncea

Mircea Gogoncea is Head of Guitar at tonebase. He has been awarded over 100 prizes in competitions and has performed in over 400 concerts on 5 continents. He holds a doctorate in guitar performance from USC Thornton School Of Music.

read full bio →
Mircea Gogoncea
explore our courses

Join tonebase today to unlock this course plus 500+ more!

Preview our curated selection of courses below. With lessons covering fundamentals, technical training, style and interpretation, you won't find a more thorough and enriching learning experience anywhere else.

preview
play-button-icon
Asturias (Albéniz)

with Ana Vidovic

preview
play-button-icon
Complete Guide to Virtuosity

with Marco Tamayo

preview
play-button-icon
Capricho Arabe (Tárrega)

with Zoran Dukic

preview
play-button-icon
How to Play Bach

with Nigel North

preview
play-button-icon
On Stretching

with Mircea Gogoncea

preview
play-button-icon
Sons de Carrilhões
(Pernambuco)

with Stephanie Jones

preview
play-button-icon
Recuerdos de la Alhambra (Tárrega)

with Xuefei Yang

preview
play-button-icon
Etudes (Pujol)

with Rene Izquierdo

preview
play-button-icon
Music Theory Basics

with Ben Laude & Mircea Gogoncea

preview
play-button-icon
Frog Galliard (Dowland)

with Scott Tennant

preview
play-button-icon
Vals Op. 8 No. 4 (Barrios)

with Laura Snowden

preview
play-button-icon
Suite in E major, BWV 1006 (Bach)

with Eliot Fisk

Listen to a few tonebase stories. Ready to start yours?

Ready to begin learning?

Start your 14-day free trial today!

All plans include:
  • checkmark icon
    Unlimited access for 14-day free trial
  • checkmark icon
    Full 90-day satisfaction guarantee
  • checkmark icon
    Access to 500+ video lessons & courses
  • checkmark icon
    Structured & guided course content
  • checkmark icon
    Free PDF workbooks & annotated scores
  • checkmark icon
    Feedback from our active Community
  • checkmark icon
    Bonus: The Ultimate Practice Toolkit

Monthly

$
49.95
/mo
Billed monthly
Give tonebase a try with our Monthly plan. Cancel anytime or upgrade your plan later when you find it’s a good fit.
Select Monthly →
Best Value - Save 50%

Yearly

$
24.95
/mo
Billed at $299 yearly
Make music your priority for the next 365 days and save BIG with our most popular plan. You’ll be amazed what a year with tonebase can do…
Select Yearly →

Lifetime

$
695
/once
Billed just once
Ready to invest in your future education? Get our Lifetime plan and gain full, unlimited access to tonebase for life!
Select Lifetime →

"I don't regret for a minute having spent the money on the membership. There's something for every musician on tonebase – I recommend you give it a try."

Photo of Dave
Dave McLellan

Concert & Chamber Guitarist

Join over 10,000 fellow musicians improving every day on tonebase.