5 Simple Exercises to Help Center Your Mind and Hands Before You Play Guitar
Illustration: Bill EvansMindfulness meditation has been in practice since Buddha himself taught private lessons and classes. Vipassana, the Pali word for this Buddhist technique of meditation, roughly translates to clear-seeing or insightâto see something as it is. Guitarists can tap into the mental resource of mindfulness in their own practice, especially as a centering warm-up exercise.
Before beginning our exercises, consider players of wind instruments for some perspective. They are known to warm up their chops by playing long tones. It is an essential practice for them to gently ramp up by sustaining one long tone before speeding through a congested neighborhood of notes.Â
You, too, can combine and incorporate these healthy practices of mindfulness and slow warm-ups before playing anything on your guitar, whether you are preparing for a practice session or a performance.
1. Get WarmerWarm-ups require literally warming up our hands before doing anything stretchy or strenuous. Running them under warm water feels good if you have access to that. Rubbing your hands together briskly also does the trick, as does wearing gloves if getting to your practice space or stage means being out in the cold. Pay attention to how the muscles in your hands feel as you open your fingers wide and then close them into a deliberately soft fist a few times. Come back to the warmth if thereâs any discomfort, and then try again. This is how to begin putting your awareness on your fingers, your hands, your wrists, and how they all connect to your forearms and the rest of your body. You can have your guitar in position on your lap when you do this, even before you touch the neck or the strings.
2. Hold the ToneBegin your hands-on practice by placing the first finger of your fretting hand on string 1, fret 5. Check to see that it is close behind the fifth fret without being on top of it, leaving space between the tip of your finger and the fourth fret as you press the string firmly enough to get a clean tone. Play the string with either a pick or your middle finger. Listen. Keep listening until you cannot hear the sound of the string anymore. You might hear other ambient sounds that you hadnât noticed before. Keep bringing your attention back to the one note you played. Donât let go. Donât play it again. Just hold on and listen.
3. Layer the SoundAdd your second finger to the same string on the sixth fret while still holding your first finger down. Again, ensure that your finger is as close as it can be to the sixth fret without being on it, and leave space between your finger and the fifth fret. Play the string as you prefer with a pick or your fingers. You can close your eyes if youâre comfortable with that as you listen to the sound of the string vibrating for as long as you can discern the note. Other sounds in the room will come and go; just let them exist without assigning any judgment to them. They are simply sounds that exist as you hold on and pay attention to your one note. This is your point of focus, like paying attention to your breathing in meditation. Ifâthat is to say, whenâyou get distracted by anything, begin to listen again to your note.
This is a good time to notice your breathing in relation to your playing. How many in-and-out breaths did you take during the sound of one note? It will likely be different every time you do this. There is no right or wrong here; just breathe naturally. The only thing that matters is the quality of the tone, and even that is not to be judged positively or negatively. Just listen and wait.
4. Stretch and NoticeThe pattern of adding your next finger to the next fret will add the extra challenge of stretching. As you position each finger close behind its fret, notice the space that is left between each finger. Pluck the string and continue the listening practice while now adding the visual recognition of your fingers separating, your hand and wrist position holding the neck, the curve of your fingers, and the reaction of the muscles as you press the string. Now is the time to notice your technique and make a connection between how your hand and fingers feel, what they look like, and how the note sounds. That could be useful information to you going forward, but for now, youâre just noticing.
As you add your fourth finger to the eighth fret, imagine what would happen if you extended your fingers all the way across the fretboard to the sixth string. Are they slanting, or are they parallel to the frets? What will make the notes more accessible to you? Dropping your fingers down straight onto the string will save the muscle that runs along the pinky side of your hand from straining. Notice what it feels likeâand looks likeâto arrange your hand so that your fingers are parallel to the frets.
5. Repeat with IntentionRepeat the cycle of putting each finger down one at a time, playing fret 5 on string 2 now, and letting it hit the air for as long as it lasts while you listen. By now, you realize that this is not a speed drill, nor is it particularly musical. Notice weâre not even naming the notes. The benefit of this warmup comes from the patience you have in not letting go before itâs time. It comes from noticing your sound, your finger strength, the sustain of your guitar, and your breathing as you interact with the strings. Do this for all six strings, noticing the sep- aration of your fingers and listening to the long tone. Are you still hearing other sounds in the room? Acknowledge them, as they are all part of the experience.
Sitting with other people doing this practice together can be interesting. It is not unusual to sync up as you go through the repetition of each string. Waiting for the last sustain of one guitarâno matter who is playing itâbefore moving on can bring about a natural rhythm within the group, albeit a very slow rhythm.
The more you commit to this practice, the more centered and relaxed you will be when playing your guitar. You can turn this into a speed drill later. You can adjust your technique based on your observations later. I will be curious to hear how mindfulness affects your playing.
This article originally appeared in the May/June 2025 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine.
