Finger Exercises



Finger Exercises are boring!

But... they are extremely beneficial to your playing. They are to your playing as weight training and running are to an athlete.

There are several goals, which can be met simultaneously with a regular regimen of finger exercises:

1. Strength: The muscles in your fingers are like the muscles you use for lifting and running. They become stronger, faster and will show increased stamina if they are exercised regularly. These attributes become more essential as you tackle more complex pieces of music and aim to master more difficult skills.

2. Flexibility: Again like any muscle the muscles in your fingers will become more flexible as you practice exercises that stretch them beyond their normal limits. I would recommend a regular and gentle approach to improving your finger flexibility. There’s no point injuring yourself by pushing your hands to far to soon.

3. Dexterity: This is part where the brain becomes involved. To perform almost any piece of music on the guitar will involve making movements with your fingers that feel complete unnatural to a non-guitarist. The only way to overcome this obstacle is through repetition.

Anyway here’s an exercise (Ex 1) that’s about the most basic you’re going to get and many of you may have seen it before (I’ve tabbed it in standard tuning, but since its just a finger exercise it will work equally well in other tunings):

Ex 1

E|-----------------------------------------1-2-3-4-
B|---------------------------------1-2-3-4---------
G|-------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------
D|-----------------1-2-3-4-------------------------
A|---------1-2-3-4---------------------------------
E|-1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------

If you are practicing with a pick you can use alternately up and down strokes beginning on either an up or down stroke. Remember to focus on getting these alternations right. Avoid playing to up strokes in a row for example.
NOTE: Each time you perform an awkward movement on the guitar your brain is subtly rewiring itself to make that movement slightly easier the next time. The trick here is to practice the movement slowly enough so that you can get it right and practice it over and over. Speed will come later on if you get the exercise right at a slow pace!

Once you’ve managed to get the hang of this first exercise (Ex 1) there are several variations on this basic theme:

Ex 2

E|-1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------
B|---------1-2-3-4---------------------------------
G|-----------------1-2-3-4-------------------------
D|-------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------
A|---------------------------------1-2-3-4---------
E|-----------------------------------------1-2-3-4-

Ex 3

E|-----------------------------------------4-3-2-1-
B|---------------------------------4-3-2-1---------
G|-------------------------4-3-2-1-----------------
D|-----------------4-3-2-1-------------------------
A|---------4-3-2-1---------------------------------
E|-4-3-2-1-----------------------------------------

Ex 4

E|-4-3-2-1-----------------------------------------
B|---------4-3-2-1---------------------------------
G|-----------------4-3-2-1-------------------------
D|-------------------------4-3-2-1-----------------
A|---------------------------------4-3-2-1---------
E|-----------------------------------------4-3-2-1-

Once you have the hang of these try practicing them in different positions on the neck:

Ex 5

E|-----------------------------------------2-3-4-5-
B|---------------------------------2-3-4-5---------
G|-------------------------2-3-4-5-----------------
D|-----------------2-3-4-5-------------------------
A|---------2-3-4-5---------------------------------
E|-2-3-4-5-----------------------------------------

On a 22-fret neck with a cut-away body you should be able to play Ex 6.

E|-------------------------------------------------------------19-20-21-22-
B|-------------------------------------------------19-20-21-22-------------
G|-------------------------------------19-20-21-22-------------------------
D|-------------------------19-20-21-22-------------------------------------
A|-------------19-20-21-22-------------------------------------------------
E|-19-20-21-22-------------------------------------------------------------

Practice all four variations in all the available positions of your guitar neck. I.e. starting on frets 1,2,3,...,17,18,19. Play each these beginning with a down stroke and then again beginning with an upstroke.

Remember to practice at a speed that is slow enough so that you can perform the exercises correctly.

Concentrate on the following points:
- Play each note at the same volume as the last.
- Make each note ring clearly and cleanly.
- Play each note for the same length of time so that the notes come out in a regular sequence you can tap your foot to.
- If you have learnt how to use a metronome and you have one, use it for these exercises.