An introductory overview of classical guitar technique is given in the article Classical guitar (Section: Performance).
For items such as accessories and construction, see the Classical guitar portal.
The classical guitar is generally held on the left leg which is supported by a foot stool or the guitar is raised by some other device to bring it to a position central to the player's body. Basic considerations in determining a chosen playing position include:
Since it is the thumb and fingers that pluck the string and every person has different fingers, there are great differences in playing between guitarists, who often spend a lot of time finding their own way of playing that suits them best in terms of specific objectives: tone-production ("beauty"quality of tone), minimum noise (e.g. clicking), large dynamic range (from soft to controlled loud), minimum (muscle) effort, fast "motion-recovery" (fast plucking when desired), and healthy movement in fingers, wrist, hand and arm.
There is not one definite way of reaching these goals (there is not a single definite optimal guitar technique): rather there are different ways of reaching these goals, due to differences in the hands and fingers (including nails) of guitarists.
When guitarists are performing music (while playing), they continually search (by actively moving/changing their plucking hand, fingers) for a good sound in terms of tone/timbre, to enhance the musical interpretation.
Most guitarists focus their eyes on the left hand, since it is often difficult to place the left hand fingers on the correct fret and string. But, ironically, in terms of producing the note, it is the right hand that is more important; it is perhaps sometimes given too little consideration.[citation needed]
The thumb and three largest fingers of the right hand pluck the strings. The normal position is for the hand to be shaped as if it were loosely holding an apple with the wrist slightly bent, the forearm resting on the upper large bout of the guitar, and the fingers near the strings.
The thumb is held at the side of the other fingers, so that it can work independently of them. The height of the wrist and hand depends on thumb: It is such that the fingers can comfortably move - the wrist is normally not too low, but bent.
Plucking the strings usually involves making contact first with the (usually lefthand side) fleshy part of the fingertip (and often also left part of the nail, or only the left part of the nail given very long nails) and then letting the string glide smoothly along the curvature of the fingernail until the string is released at the fingernails tip: the string is plucked. The two primary plucking techniques are:
Rest-stroke produces a more "deliberate" sound and may be used for bringing the melody out in music where the harmony competes for attention. Free-stroke sounds "lighter" and makes it possible to play fast passages more easily, though some guitarists (esp. with long nails) use the free-stroke exclusively and are able to produce a strong sound with it.
Some guitarists with rather long nails avoid the rest-stroke altogether; others commonly avoid it when they feel they have more control over the free-stroke. The free-stroke is the more natural stroke, since it can always be used. When two neighbouring strings are to be plucked simultaneously, the rest-stroke cannot be used. Also, arpeggios are usually played free-stroke, except possibly for the thumb or if appropriate (effective and possible due to nail-length / hand position) the annular finger if it plucks a melodic line. In the free-stroke, a finger's motion is not brought to an abrupt stop on the following string, as is the case in the rest-stroke.
Guitarists that use both free-stroke and rest-stroke require nails of the correct length: if the nails are too long, a well-sounding rest-stroke is no longer possible. Many guitarists who prefer using quite long nails do not use the rest-stroke.
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