Share your exercises!

[musicjohnny]

I thought it'd be interesting what some of you guys do for exercises.
This can be technique exercises, phrasing, improvising; Shoot even throw in your workouts if you'd like! :P

I like to do this exercise I kind of mixed from Steve Vai and Mark Tremonti.
I'll start at the first fret Low E, and do Downstroke, 1st finger Hammer on 2. Then on the A string same thing except upstroke. Down, up, down, up, etc
After you go all the way down, you then upstroke and pull off from 2 to 1, and you don't pick at all anymore until you get to the Low E, pulling off from 2 to 1 every string in between.

I run down this all the way until I reach the twelfth fret, I then repeat the process using these fingerings.
1-2
1-3
1-4
2-3
2-4
3-4


Good exercise for finger strength aswell as legato, try it out. And try not to let any open strings ring on your way up, especially using 3-4.

Tag you're it!

[franco6719]

Lately, I just work through "Joe Diorio Intervallic Designs". I take each "design" and play it in all keys. Starting slowly and accurately, I gradually work up the tempo a little bit. As a side-effect, the lines are quite hip and they may gradually work into my own playing style.

[fep]

I have a lick diary of 90% my own licks 10% licks I stole,

I put the metronome on the 2 & 4 beats and play thru my licks as 'technical' excercises, increasing the tempo as I go... until I fail, and then back the tempo off a bit so I can end on a good note. (Sometimes I'll use BIAB instead of a metronome)

I also do the same thing with Marshal Wolfs Jazz Lick book and Blues Lick book.

Like Franco, I'm trying to build my vocabulary at the same time as building my technique.

[musicjohnny]

Originally Posted by franco6719

Lately, I just work through "Joe Diorio Intervallic Designs". I take each "design" and play it in all keys. Starting slowly and accurately, I gradually work up the tempo a little bit. As a side-effect, the lines are quite hip and they may gradually work into my own playing style.

That sounds pretty cool, do you mind sharing some of the more hip patterns so that I can try them out myself?

[Reg]

I don't get much of a chance to work on technique, but when I was a young lad, one drill I used was; talking fingers on each string and then as arps
1234 2341 3412 4123
1342 2413 3124 4231
1423 2134 3241 4312
and then the retrograde version
4321 3214 2143 1432
4213 3142 2431 1324
4132 3421 2314 1243
I would start on low E string, then A etc.. all in 1st position and start with 1st ex. 1234, then go to 2nd position, then 3rd etc.
Then use 1234 pattern as arp. starting on 1 on 6th string, 2 on 5th st. 3 on 4th st. and 4 on 3rd. st. Then same thing starting on 5th - 2nd st. and once more on 4th st. - 1st st. Then up one fret and on and on... Then from 1st string down to 4th string, then 2nd. string - 5th string etc.
Would do 1 or 2 pattern a day as warm up... Reg

[Modalguru]

Hi,

there are two exercises I do everyday at the moment (indirect resolution, chromatic approach).

First is, with every downbeat has to be a note of the scale, eg for Eb-major (you have to strech fingers 1 and 4 of the left hand):

6-4-5-4-3--------------------------------------------------------------
-----------7-6-5-4-2-3-------------------------------------------------
------------------------6-5-4-3-1-2------------------------------------
-------------------------------------6-5-4-3---------------------------
----------------------------------------------7-6-4-5-4-3--------------
-----------------------------------------------------------7-6-4-5-4-3-

Second, play the scale-note one degree above your target note and then aproach the target note from a half-step below, eg in C-major

-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------7------9-6-7-10-8-9-etc--
--------7------8-6-7-10-7-8---9-10-------------------
10-7-8---9-10-----------------------------------------

These exercises improved my feeling for chromatic playing alot within short time.

Cheers,
Chris

[randalljazz]

Originally Posted by musicjohnny

That sounds pretty cool, do you mind sharing some of the more hip patterns so that I can try them out myself?

eight bucks new. the guy's trying to make a living.

Amazon.com: Intervallic Designs for Jazz Guitar: Ultramodern Sounds for Improvising (REH Pro Lessons) (0073999955651): Joe Diorio: Books

[Modalguru]

Hi randaljazz,

you might also be interested in the book "Talk jazz guitar" by Roni Ben-Hur. I own it, it's great!

Cheers,
Chris

[bako]

I like practicing against pedal tones.
Below is my most recent game variation.

These 4 scale types and 28 scales all have an F note in them. The Roman Numeral indicates which degree is F.
(F is just an arbitrary note for this exercise)


Major

I- F Major
II- Eb Major
III- Db Major
IV- C Major
V- Bb Major
VI- Ab Major
VII- Gb Major

Melodic Minor

I- F Melodic Minor
II- Eb Melodic Minor
III- D Melodic Minor
IV- C Melodic Minor
V- Bb Melodic Minor
VI- Ab Melodic Minor
VII- Gb Melodic Minor

Harmonic Minor

I- F Harmonic Minor
II- Eb Harmonic Minor
III- D Harmonic Minor
IV- C Harmonic Minor
V- Bb Harmonic Minor
VI- A Harmonic Minor
VII- Gb Harmonic Minor

Harmonic Major

I- F Harmonic Major
II- Eb Harmonic Major
III- Db Harmonic Major
IV- C Harmonic Major
V- Bb Harmonic Major
VI- A Harmonic Major
VII- Gb Harmonic Major

I play against a looped F pedal tone vamp all the melodic and harmonic material I can create from a set of notes.
1. within one scale
2. with one chord type in all these keys
3. chord sequences drawn from one key or several
4. relating to all 28 modes as if they are just variations against the unifying F pedal that can treated individually or in any combination.

My purpose in this exercise is language expansion and ear training. If the fingers and additional musical aspects improve then that's a bonus.

[timscarey]

I just count myself off and start playing.... as soon as I start playing bullshit, I stop and try again. I've gotten to where I can play for about 2-3 minutes straight without losing a beat or playing somthing I didn't mean too. It works pretty well, I often times end up playing blues though.

[randalljazz]

Originally Posted by Modalguru

Hi randaljazz,

you might also be interested in the book "Talk jazz guitar" by Roni Ben-Hur. I own it, it's great!

Cheers,
Chris

yeah, excellent book, full of useful ideas.

fwiw, friends, i used to spend countless hours on all kinds of exercises to develop technique, etc. not time wasted exactly...but most of the technical goals can be achieved with well-designed musical motifs and phrases that will actually be something one would play in performance.

life is short. fill your practice time with music, not finger exercises.

[franco6719]

Originally Posted by musicjohnny

That sounds pretty cool, do you mind sharing some of the more hip patterns so that I can try them out myself?

Buy the book if you can, for pete's sake. You start printing stuff from the Net and you will end up paying so much for ink that you may well as well buy a PRINTING HOUSE!

[franco6719]

Printing Press, I mean.

[wizard3739]

Hey Randalljazz, I like your your thoughts about practising with songs. Like you, I spent many years working on scales, intervals & arpeggios to build technique. But, there was something missing in my approach to learning to play, I couldn't connect my improvised lines! I really didn't start to connect the lines and feel the music until I was was told by a very practical and smart guitar teacher to STOP practising scales etc... and start practising songs, more specifacally the old standards. He was right, and when I think about his good advice, the old standards, (Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Gershwin, etc,etc...) composed songs with great melodic and harmonic content and the learning process of practicing these songs is probably good on many different levels, IE, ear training, chord progressions, melodic content, etc...). For me, this approach to practising gave me what I needed to move on.

wiz

[musicjohnny]

Originally Posted by franco6719

Buy the book if you can, for pete's sake. You start printing stuff from the Net and you will end up paying so much for ink that you may well as well buy a PRINTING HOUSE!

Relax cool guy, I was only asking to share; Nothing more, nothing less.

Some cool ideas here, I normally affiliate technicalities when I think of the term exercises, but I'm definitely going to be giving the other things a try.
Of course, never straying from my technique methods either, because I would like to reach a level of maximum efficiency; No limits.

[kaige]

Running scales endlessly takes discipline and my fun factor fades.
As an antidote to scales I use the tune "Danny Boy." It's beautiful melody
that contains every note of the major scale. I play the song all over the neck
using the CAGED system. The benefits are that you are making music, that
your ear is learning intervals and that sooner or later you will start to improvise
and make the song your own.
After this little time out I go back to the scales feeling refreshed.