Finger Exercises

 

- You may ask whether you really need to do finger exercises.  The answer is and always will be YES!  They help with your finger mobility, flexibility, move ability, and agility.  With finger exercises, you'll be able to play more precisely, faster, consistently, and longer.  Do you see all the positives?  If so, then read on............  -

 

 

  You'll notice that the first example is an 'Emaj' scale.  How exciting!  Go slowly at first, remember, the idea is to loosen up your fingers.  Loosening up will help you in the long run.  You've heard about athletes warming up haven't you?  Well do you think that their leg muscles are more important than your finger muscles?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!  You have no idea how important it is to the health of your hands to warm up, and sadly it is one of the overlooked aspects of guitar playing.  You can hear it at 80bpm, 100bpm, and 120bpm.  After you've worked through those three, try it with triplet notes.  That is designed to give you timing and coordination on top of precision and speed.  I think you'll like it!

FIGURE 1  LISTEN TO IT at 80bpm    100bpm    120bpm    Triplets

e||--------------------------|-----------------------2--|
B||--------------------------|--------------2--4--5-----|
G||--------------------------|-----1--2--4--------------|
D||--------------------1--2--|--4-----------------------|
A||-----------0--2--4--------|--------------------------|
E||--0--2--4-----------------|--------------------------|



--4--5--4--2--------------|--------------------------|-------------||
--------------5--4--2-----|--------------------------|-------------||
-----------------------4--|--2--1--------------------|-------------||
--------------------------|--------4--2--1-----------|-------------||
--------------------------|-----------------4--2--0--|-------------||
--------------------------|--------------------------|--4--2--0----||

  The next example deals with pull-offs in the open position.  You see, not only do you want to concentrate on your fretting hand, but you cannot forget your picking hand!  You'll pick the fretted notes, but not the open ones.  Then try it without picking any notes!  Take it slowly and build up speed.  

  FIGURE 2  LISTEN TO IT

 

e||--3p-0--------------------|----------------------||
B||--------3p-0--------------|----------------------||
G||--------------2p-0--------|----------------------||
D||--------------------2p-0--|----------------------||
A||--------------------------|--2p-0----------------||
E||--------------------------|--------3p-0----------||
  

  The next example is nothing but Pull-offs!  They can really be awesome, especially since the ones I've put in are triplets!

** NOTE** Take it slowly at first!

  I've included the MIDI files for 100bpm and 120 bpm.  Accuracy is the goal here.  Speed will come in time.  

FIGURE 3  LISTEN TO IT   100bpm    120bpm

e||---5p-3p-0--5p-3p-0--5p-3p-0--5p-3p-0---||
B||----------------------------------------||
G||*--------------------------------------*||
D||*--------------------------------------*||
A||----------------------------------------||
E||----------------------------------------||



----------------------------------------||
---5p-3p-0--5p-3p-0--5p-3p-0--5p-3p-0---||
*--------------------------------------*||
*--------------------------------------*||
----------------------------------------||
----------------------------------------||



---5p-3p-0--5p-3p-0---------------------||
---------------------5p-3p-0--5p-3p-0---||
*--------------------------------------*||
*--------------------------------------*||
----------------------------------------||
----------------------------------------||



---5p-3p-0--8p-5p-0--5p-3p-0--8p-5p-0---||
----------------------------------------||
*--------------------------------------*||
*--------------------------------------*||
----------------------------------------||
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---5p-3p-0--8p-5p-3--5p-3p-0--8p-5p-3---||
----------------------------------------||
*--------------------------------------*||
*--------------------------------------*||
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---5p-3p-0--8p-5p-0---------------------||
---------------------5p-3p-0--8p-5p-0---||
*--------------------------------------*||
*--------------------------------------*||
----------------------------------------||
----------------------------------------||



---5p-3p-0--8p-5p-3---------------------||
---------------------5p-3p-0--8p-5p-3---||
*--------------------------------------*||
*--------------------------------------*||
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  Take a look at the beginning of FIG 4.  It starts off with the high e string fretted at the 10th fret.  For this exercise, keep your index finger anchored here throughout the exercise.  You will gain stretching, agility, and accuracy with this one.

FIGURE 4  LISTEN TO IT

 

e||--10--14-15-14-15-14-15-14-15-14-15-14-15-14-15-|
B||------------------------------------------------|
G||------------------------------------------------|
D||------------------------------------------------|
A||------------------------------------------------|
E||------------------------------------------------|



--13-15-13-15-13-15-13-15-13-15-13-15-13-15-13-15-|
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--12-15-12-15-12-15-12-15-12-15-12-15-12-15-12-15-|
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--11-15-11-15-12-15-12-15-13-15-13-15-14-15-14-15-||
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  I hope you've gained something helpful out of all this.  I recommend you do these exercise three times a week, and before you play for over an hour.  I know it seems like a lot of practice, but you'll be better for it, and your hands will thank-you for it.  Suggestions or comments?  Tips that I should know about, send them to meSend this lesson to friend.

 

 

 

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