How to layout left hand fingers correctly?

Question

I practice Flamenco guitar. Basically all music sheets that I read indicates the left hand fingers (1, 2, 3 and 4).
This is amazingly helpful because you can complicate a lot of things if you are using unsuitable left hand fingers.

But there are a lot of music sheets that don't show the notion of the left hand, this makes me spend a lot of time trying to figure out and wondering if I'm using the best left hand fingers positioning.

How can I know if I'm laying out my left hand fingers correctly? How to develop this instinct to become natural like all guitar players?
(Just let me emphase that I read music sheets and I don't use tabs, not sure if this could affect the answers).

Answer 1

The general rule is "one finger per fret". When playing single-note passages you should be looking for positions that do not require a lot of hand movement. If you find yourself changing positions several times during the course of a single passage, chances are that you aren't using the most efficient fingering.

When playing chord forms, fingering is likely to be dictated by context. Look for notes to be played around the chord and consider how you can maximise finger independence to deal with this.

Also, even if fingering hasn't been set out in the score, the editor might have included positional indicators (usually in the form of roman numerals above the staff). These should give you an idea where a given passage is best played.

Finally, I would suggest that you don't get too hung up on trying to determine the "correct" fingerings, but rather look for those that work best for you. If at the same time as learning new music you are practicing the standard scale and chord forms, you should soon get the idea of how to use standard fingerings for maximum efficiency. "Fingering instinct" comes from positional awareness and that in turn comes from knowing patterns and how to use them.