Regarding Eric V's Stretch It! article

[loveguitar]

hi Eric V and all,

after reading the Stretch it! article, I try the exercise but
found the ones at the high neck is very hard to carry out.

My hand curl in an awkward position to fret eg 12h15h17,
and when I play it standing, it was almost impossible.
I found it very very tough to reach the lower strings when
I play standing.

Just wonder you can give some advise on this?

[metaljustice83]

sounds like you need to raise your guitar up, shorten the length of the strap

[EricV]

Make sure your thumb is behind the neck, parallel to it. That usually allows you to do bigger stretches.

Some of the licks in there are hard to pull off because of the stretches. It took me a while to learn how to play them standing up while being relaxed.
At first, I either sat down ( with the guitar on my thigh, and I was kinda hunching over the guitar... ), or I had the neck point upwards, which for some reason made it easier to execute those stretches.

Also, the important part about the article is the CONCEPT of three note per string pentatonics. You could also TAP the highest note on each string, if that´s easier for you.

Warm regards
Eric

[loveguitar]

Thanks for the answers. :)

[The Bash]

If your having some problems, it really does help to point your guitar in the air (Think Eddie Van Halen) to assist with the reaches. My hands aren't that big so all the little tricks help :)

If you can find a spot where you can one of them, then do it there and once your comfortable begin moving it around (up a string/down a string/up or down a fret ect.)
I think the key to anything is often just being able to do it period.
No matter where on the neck you are. Once you can do it someplace work on doing it as many places as possible.

[EricV]

Also, make sure you´re properly warmed up so you won´t hurt yourself.
I´ve got pretty big hands, but I had problems with those kinda licks myself. I had to start out in the upper regions of the fretboard, like i.e. above the 12th or 15 th fret.

Then, just like I do with my add9-arp-warmups, I worked my way down the fretboard, increasing the stretches.
It takes a while, and you gotta be careful not to hurt yourself, but it is possible to stretch quite a bit even with small hands.
And again, none of my examples have to be played the way described in the article. You can also use tapping to make it easier...
Eric