Guitar Technique & Warm Up

Here are some technique and warm up exercises that can help you to gain fluency, speed and accuracy on the guitar neck. It's a good idea to do some of these exercises every day. Don't do them too long at a time, it's better to exercise regularly (daily) for a short time.

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You gain the most out of these exercises if you use a metronome. Start slow and built up the speed. Don't force yourself into a tempo that you're not ready for. Make sure your arms and wrists are relaxed. Failing to do so may result in a RSI like tendinitis (wrist inflammation).

Just to make sure we understand eachother in terms of finger naming:

Warm Up Exercises

This first exercise helps to develop your fluency, speed and left hand-right hand coordination. Start slow and build up the speed. Use fingers 1, 2, 3 and 4 of your left hand, don't skip the little finger. Use a pick and do alternate picking. The exercise doesn't stop at the end of the tabs, continue for the rest of the neck. Be RELAXED!

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The next exercise trains your individual fingers. First do the exercise with fingers 1 and 2. Next round use fingers 2 and 3. Then use fingers 3 and 4. Do the exercise up to the 12th fret and for those of you who can't get enough of it, back from the 12th to the first. And remember: RELAX!

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String Skipping Exercises

The following set of exercises train your picking abilities.

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This is one of bass player John Patitucci (if I remember it well). Happy skipping!

The next exercise uses the G major scale. It speaks for itself that you can use all guitar scales. Oh, when you reached the last note on the tab, don't stop, but go back (I admit I was a bit lazy).

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Intervalic Guitar Scales

The next set of exercises run through the G Ionian scale in different intervals. Try this exercise with all guitar scales you can think of.

In thirds:

In fourths:

In fifths:

In sixths:

In sevenths:

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