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January 2001

Finger Exercises, Part 1

Welcome back to another issue of GuitarLife, the e-newsletter sponsored by StringLife Treatment System, focusing on guitar maintenance, guitar protection, amplifiers, processors, playing tips and techniques, and a lot more. We hope you enjoy every issue.

Everyone who plays guitar wants to play better. Two of the keys to playing guitar well are hand strength and dexterity. This issue contains the first in a series of hand and finger exercises that will help you play faster and more easily.

We will start with a few simple finger exercises. I say "simple" because it isn't rocket science. You can exercise your fingers by playing your guitar while watching TV. It really doesn't matter too much what you are doing as long as you are moving your fingers and picking hand in a concerted effort.

One of the first exercises I learned (and I still use it as a warm-up technique) is to play starting on the low E string (the big one) on the first fret, with your first finger. Then the second fret with your second finger. And so on. Once you have moved to the fourth fret with your fourth finger on the E string, move down to the A string and do the same thing. Continue moving down the strings until you have finished on the small E string.

Imagine that the diagram below is a picture of the fretboard, with the top line being the highest (thinnest) string:

E F-F#-G-G#
B C-C#-D-D#
G Ab-A-Bb-B
D Eb-E-F-F#
A Bb-B-C-C#
E F-F#-G-G#

Once you have reached the G# on the small E string, reverse and go backwards, starting with the G#. When you finish that, you can move up and start on the second fret, repeating the entire process. Make sure that your picking technique for this exercise is an alternating down-and-up motion. This will help you to have increased speed and control over your picking the more you work at it.

Begin slowly and try to keep a steady tempo. As you practice this exercise you can begin increasing your picking speed. But remember, a consistent tempo is very important. Metronomes are a great help.

Next time we will introduce another finger exercise to improve your dexterity. Until then - "Fret Less - Play More…with StringLife"

Stay Tuned,
Steve



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