Exercise for fingers (Warm-up). Useful exercises for the guitarist

The pursuit of speed did not remain fruitless! Your velocity is already 120 VPM (8 notes per second). And this is not the limit. In this tutorial, I'm going to put together the most insidious drills I've been able to find, so make sure you can play at 120 GBM for a few minutes without any problems. If not, go back to the variable bar-sequence lesson.

In fact, this is the last lesson, which contains exercises aimed at developing a directly variable stroke. After that, you will need to develop legate technique, tapping, etc. Links will be given at the end of the lesson.

It's not for nothing that I called this lesson that way. Here I will mainly use the book, which is called Exercises from Hell. Japanese edition. I am currently looking for other books in the same series. The problem is that they are only available on the Japanese Internet, and I'm not very good with Japanese. Not so long ago I ordered the second part, you can download it. Well, for now...

Let's start with exercises from the Super Shred Guitar video school by Jeff Loomis.

Exercise 1. Perhaps the easiest exercise in this lesson. But! You must bringthe speed of this exercise is up to 160 UVM.

Exercise 2 This is a much more difficult exercise. Start at low speed. The purpose of the exercise is to develop the independence of the fingers. You must learn how to play this drill at 130 speed.

Well, now let's move on to the exercises from the book Exercises from Hell. In fact, I don't know if that's what it's called. But it is not important. The main thing is that it contains crazy exercises aimed at turning your fingers into a shadow fluttering over the neck of the guitar. Of course, speed should not be the goal, it is only a means, and you should never forget this. There are hundreds of examples of mega-fast guitarists achieving absolutely nothing. Go to YouTube and I'm sure you will find a lot of evidence of this. You will see hundreds and thousands of videos in which guys give out ten, fifteen, twenty notes per second. But they lack… I would call it musical flair. Since you can play fifteen notes per second, or you can play one, but with soul. And for those who do the second, people will be drawn. The first one will go unnoticed. How to develop this “musical flair” in yourself. Firstly naturally play! Play what you like. Play songs by Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. Try to achieve the same expression as theirs. And yes! It will be insanely difficult, but worth it. Secondly, teach music theory . AND, Thirdly, of course, remember about articulation. After all, this is what gives the guitar expressiveness and the same expression. If you let it, that's what makes the guitar talk. Perhaps someone will laugh at me now, but those who, like me, are devoted to the guitar, will agree with me. I hope I managed to convey to you what I wanted.

Now back to speed.

Exercise 3. In this exercise you will practice jumping over the strings using all four fingers. Play this exercise at a speed of 160 UPM.

Exercise 4. Similar to the previous exercise. Pay attention to the rhythmic pattern in the last measure and think about the sequence of strokes to play it. The speed of this exercise is similar to the previous one - 160 UVM.

Exercise 5. The next exercise is just terrible! So terrible that you have to bring the speed of its execution to only 100 UPM. Watch out don't break your fingers.

Exercise 6. Here, go up to 115 UVM.

Exercise 7. And triplets again. Yes, one more note per string. Play at 140 speed.

Exercise 8. And now sextoles. A pattern similar to triplets, with the only difference that it combines six notes instead of three, equal in sound to four notes of the same duration. Bring this exercise to a speed of 110 UPM, which will actually be equal to 165 UPM when playing with regular sixteenths.

Let's talk a little about how to quickly become successful in the guitar craft. In Speed ​​Mechanics For Lead Guitar, Troy Stetina shares some great tricks.

Definition of difficulty- at this stage, you must not only find a difficult phrase for yourself, but also determine what this very difficulty lies in. Next, you should separate the work of the right and left hands. Because from time to time the right hand helps to pass a difficult fragment with the left, and vice versa. Play difficult places only with your left, using pools and hammers. When you're done with that, pay attention to the right one and make sure you're using the correct sequence of strokes. Increase the amplitude of the strokes for a while to make sure that you play with a continuous variable stroke. Now put it all together, using the right stroke and gradually adding notes before and after the difficult moment.

Creating Variations. You identified the difficult moments and worked through them. Now start creating different variations that will surpass these moments in complexity. Create your own exercises. They should be aimed at eliminating your specific problems. Thus, you will achieve the desired result much faster.

Transition time. Transition time is directly related to how synchronized and coordinated your hands are.

You see four notes. The black areas are the transition time between them.

If you increase the tempo, the notes become shorter, but the transition time does not.

Therefore, it is necessary to increase not only the speed, but also the transition time.

Play the notes slowly, but move from one note to the next very quickly. This way you can achieve a smooth sound at a fast pace. Don't play too fast! The faster you play, the more you concentrate on where to put your fingers. Try to think about quality, not quantity. Achieve a more meaningful game.

Dynamics. The ability to control dynamics allows for better control of the instrument. Learn to play from "very quiet" to "very loud" and the expressiveness of your playing will increase significantly.

Velocity group method. And last but not least effective. This method will only work if you have worked through all the previous ones. Start with a short sequence and work it up to maximum speed. Then add one note each time. Play as fast as you can without making mistakes.

That's all. If you complete all these exercises, you can consider yourself, if not a master of variable strokes, then definitely not a beginner or even an intermediate guitarist. But this is not the end! Then move on to the next lessons on leverage, legato in practice, from heavy to trash, and tapping and sweeping if you haven't already. You can check your progress on the famous composition of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov -

Greetings, dear friends:=) Well, the long-awaited spring has come, almost all the snow has already melted and the warmth and smell of the approaching summer wafted on the street:=) So I decided, in honor of the onset of spring, to please you dear friends, and prepared for you this article, in which I will tell and show useful exercises for guitarists on every day.

This set of exercises will help you develop the coordination and consistency of movements of the right and left hands, as well as develop the stretching of the fingers of the left hand, which is so necessary for all beginner guitarists.

For each exercise, I have prepared a detailed video tutorial in which I show and explain everything. There is more for each exercise. So it will not be difficult for you to learn and perform these exercises.

So, let's get down to the consideration of the exercises themselves for the guitarist.

"Ladder on one string"

The essence of this exercise is as follows: starting from the first fret of the 6th string, with all four fingers of your left hand, you alternately play the string at each fret. Then move the first finger of your left hand to the second fret, and play each fret in turn in the same way. Having reached the 12th fret, we repeat the same thing only in the opposite direction.

After completing the exercise on the 6th string, repeat it on all other strings.

Here is the tablature for the first exercise:

Exercise for guitarists #2
"Ladder on all strings"

This exercise is similar to the previous one, the only difference is that after playing four frets in turn, we do not move along the fretboard along one string, but go down one string.

Here is the tablature for the second exercise:

"Chromatic tonality scale A (la) for two octaves"

A rather scary and incomprehensible name, especially for beginners who are not friends and do not want to be friends with muses. theory:=)

Dear friends, there is nothing to be afraid of, everything is quite simple. This exercise is a bit similar to the previous one. The essence is the same, alternately playing four frets of each string, we just start playing from the fifth fret of the 6th string and with subsequent transitions down the string, the first finger moves to the fret.

This is how the tablature of this exercise looks like:

"Spider"

This exercise will be more difficult than the previous ones, as here you will need to stretch your fingers and a little dexterity.

The essence of the exercise is as follows: with the first finger of the left hand, we press the first fret of the 6th string, we lose. Then with the second finger of the left hand we press the second fret of the 5th string, we lose. Next, we put the third finger on the third fret of the 4th string, we lose. Fourth finger on the fourth fret of the 3rd string. Then we move the little finger of the left hand one fret forward and plays everything in reverse order. Thus, we move along the neck up to the 12th fret.

Here is the tablature:

Guitar Exercise #5
"Collect-Throw"

This exercise perfectly develops stretching of the fingers of the left hand. Its essence is quite simple, first we collect all the fingers together, then we throw them out as far as possible. I tell and show in more detail in the video tutorial.

Exercise for guitarists #6
"To Stretch Your Fingers"

Here is another exercise that will help improve the stretch in your fingers. I will not paint with text, watch the video tutorial and you will understand how it is done.

Exercise for guitarists number 7
"To Stretch Your Fingers"

The essence of this exercise is to alternately stretch each finger. Place your first finger on the seventh fret of the 6th string, play. Put the second finger on the eighth fret of the 6th string, lose. Next, remove the second finger and again play the seventh fret, pressed by the first finger. Now with your second finger, reach the ninth fret of the 6th string and play it, then remove it again and play the seventh fret. Likewise, play with the third finger from the 9th fret, and with the fourth from the 10th.

Here is the tablature:

Guitar Exercise #8
"Developing the Right Hand"

In this exercise, we will develop the coordination of the movements of the right hand. To be honest, I'm already tired of writing everything in text, so watch the video tutorial carefully and practice this exercise :=)

Here are the tablature charts of what should be played in this exercise:

Well, dear friends, that's all. Carefully study and put into practice all the exercises for guitarists, which I told you about in this article. These exercises can be performed every day as a warm-up, devoting 15 to 25 minutes to their implementation. Do not rush, practice and learn everything gradually, and I'm sure you will succeed: =)

Guys, be sure to leave your comments under this article, write what you liked, what you didn’t like. Feel free to express your opinion :=) And also put likes, click on the buttons I like from various social networks and repost.

Many consider mastering the guitar an overwhelming task that takes many years. This is partly true, but only if you want to own the instrument at a professional level.

Much more often, people want to learn how to play the guitar in order to perform their favorite songs in a company or just for fun. In this case, training will not take much effort and time: in two or three months, you can easily learn the basic chords and ways of playing.

Do not give up, even if you already had a bad experience. Talent is only a tenth of success. Much more important is determination and regular practice.

What you need

1. Guitar.
2. Wish. It is even more important than the instrument itself.
3. Time for practice. It's easy for you too if the desire is strong enough. Especially since 30 minutes a day is enough for you.
4. Teaching aids. There are no problems with them at all: you can buy a tutorial in a bookstore, watch video tutorials on YouTube, and find chords on the Internet.

As you can see, nothing supernatural.

Choosing and buying a guitar

We assume that you have the desire and time. It remains to acquire the tool. They say any guitar will do for a beginner, but that's not true. When the strings hit the frets and cut into the fingers, and the guitar does not hold the tuning, there can be no question of any progress.

A bad instrument will almost certainly discourage you from learning.

Therefore, it is better to find a good guitar. At first, you can borrow an instrument from one of your friends, and then, if things go well and you like it, get your own. Not necessarily expensive and branded, the main thing is more or less high quality.

There are two main types of acoustic guitars: classical and dreadnought (western). It is believed that classical guitars are more suitable for beginners because of the wide neck and nylon strings. The first feature reduces the chances of accidentally touching an unnecessary string with your fingers, because the distance between the strings is greater than that of a dreadnought. Yes, and the nylon strings themselves are softer than metal ones, so they don’t dig into the fingertips so much and fill corns less.

On the other hand, if the performance of classical compositions is not included in your plans, it is better to take a dreadnought right away. Such a guitar sounds louder and more sonorous due to metal strings, and it is more convenient to take chords on a narrower fretboard. Again, when playing on metal strings, the fingers will roughen faster and there will be no more calluses.

As a compromise, you can take a dreadnought and replace the metal strings with nylon ones, at least for the duration of the training.

When you go shopping for a guitar, take a friend with you who knows how to play: each instrument has a lot of little things that a beginner may simply not notice. Choose a guitar not only for its appearance, but also for its convenience. Pay attention to the possibility of adjusting the neck, the mechanism of the tuning pegs, the strings.

Acquaintance with the guitar

The tool is bought (or borrowed from friends), and you are one step closer to the goal. Take a close look at the guitar.

The larger part is called the deck. A neck is attached to it, ending with a head with pegs: with the help of them, the strings are pulled.

The fretboard is divided into frets by metal frets, against which the strings are pressed to extract the sound. The first fret is at the headstock, the last is at the soundboard.

There are only six strings. The countdown starts from the bottom, thinnest.

Guitar tuning

Before you try to play, the guitar needs to be tuned. Don't worry, even a beginner can do it. And without this skill, you won't be able to play.

By tuner

You will need a tuner in the form of a separate device (you can buy it at a music store or on the same AliExpress) or a smartphone application. In both cases, the tuning consists in alternately tightening or loosening all the strings in accordance with the tuner's prompts.

Fifth fret

This method does not require any additional equipment. Its essence is that the strings, clamped at certain frets, sound in unison and they can be adjusted relative to each other.

According to the rules, the first string should be tuned to the note E, using the tuner (for example, its online version) or another tuned instrument as a reference. However, this only makes sense when playing in a group, so that all instruments sound in the same key.

If you play alone, and even more so if you just study, then the first string can be tuned arbitrarily, approximately picking up its tension. All others are configured like this:

1. Press the second string at the fifth fret and loosen or tighten until it sounds the same as the open first string.
2. Press the third string at the fourth fret and tune in unison with the open second string.
3. Press the fourth string at the fifth fret and adjust to the open third string.
4. Press the fifth at the fifth fret and adjust to the open fourth.
5. The sixth is clamped in the same way on the fifth fret and tuned in unison with the open heel.

It sounds complicated, but it's actually quite simple. Each string, pressed at the fifth fret, should sound in unison with the previous, lower string. The only exception is the third string: it must be clamped not on the fifth, but on the fourth fret.

The setup process itself is also extremely simple. For example, to tune the second string, you need to weaken it, and then pull the open first one and gradually rotate the second peg until the sound of both strings merges into one tone. That's all.

Trying to play

Finally, we got to the most interesting - the actual game. It seems that there is nothing complicated. Know yourself to press the strings with your left hand and hit them with your right: you have seen it a million times and probably tried it yourself. Why doesn't it work then? Strings rattle, fingertips burn, and joints get tired and numb.

It's all about the experience that comes with practice.

Take your guitar and sit on the edge of a chair or sofa with your legs crossed or your left foot on a low stand, such as a stack of books. So the tool will not rest against the chair and move off the leg.

The right hand should be relaxed, and the hand should not be crooked. The left grip covers the neck, but the thumb is always parallel to the frets. It is also not necessary to squeeze the bar that there is strength, otherwise the brush will quickly get tired.

You already know that fret numbering starts at the headstock, and strings start at the thinnest, bottom. Try playing random notes by pressing the first string with your index finger at different frets. Try to press the string all the way down to keep it clear. It will not be easy, but over time the technique will work out.

Try playing other strings, and also connect other fingers, letting them get used to it.

Playing melodies on one string

Just making sounds is boring. Therefore, to make it more interesting, you can learn simple melodies on one string and practice on them. Here are some example tunes.

The classic "Grasshopper sat in the grass":

"Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple:

Intro to "Iron Man" Black Sabbath:

Melody from the movie "Boomer":

The Imperial March from Star Wars:

Take some time to play one string. Bring your actions to automatism and achieve the coordinated work of both hands. Practice until the melodies sound smooth and clear, without stops or hesitation.

During this time, the fingers will get used to the loads, which means that it will be possible to move on to more complex things.

Playing chords

The next step you have to climb is playing chords. It's much more difficult than single-string melodies, but don't get discouraged. By learning the chords, you can already play full-fledged songs.

The principle here is the same, but it will be necessary to press not one string, but several at once: usually three, less often two or four. There are many chords. However, for the performance of most songs, only five or seven are enough. To begin with, let's learn three main, so-called thieves' chords: Am, Dm, E.

All chords are indicated by Latin letters depending on the main note:

• C - before;
• D - re;
• E - mi;
• F - fa;
• G - salt;
• A - la;
• H - si.

If there is a small letter m next to the chord designation, this means that the chord is minor. If there is no such prefix - major. Chords are read either by letter designation or by name. For example, "a-em" (Am) or "G major" (G).

Chord diagrams are called fingerings. They draw a neck with strings. The frets are signed with Roman numerals. Arabic designate the strings and - in circles - the fingers with which you should press the strings (1 - index, 2 - middle, and so on). A zero opposite the string means an open sound (unpressed string), and a cross means that the string should not sound.

Let's get back to our thieves' chords. Here are their applications:

To play the Am chord, you need to press the second string on the first fret with your index finger, the fourth string on the second fret with your middle finger, and the third string on the second fret with your ring finger.

The rest of the chords are taken according to the same principle: we look at which frets and which strings need to be pressed.

On these three chords, you can already play simple yard or army songs. But it is better to learn three more chords, with which the repertoire will expand significantly. Here they are:

With the first two difficulties should not arise, but the third is slightly different from the previous ones. It uses barre - a technique when all the strings on one fret are clamped with the index finger. Barre chords are a little more difficult than open chords, but with practice you'll get the hang of them.

As always, to make learning more interesting, you can practice right away on some song. For example, on the canonical "Pack of Cigarettes" of the "Kino" group or "Watchmen" from "Boombox".

You can also search the Internet for any other songs that you like (for example, by searching for "louboutin chords"). If unfamiliar chords come across in the selection, you can try to find another one or just learn something new.

Fight and bust

There are two ways of sound extraction: busting and fighting. Some songs are played only by strumming or only by fighting, others by both ways. The chords used are the same, the only difference is whether you finger the strings or hit them.

There are a huge number of busts, as well as fights. And in different songs they are, of course, different. Usually, in the analysis, along with the chords, it is indicated which sorting or fight should be played.

Let's take a look at some of the most common examples. The rest you will learn along the way.

What's next

Now that you've learned the basics, learned the chords, and got your hands dirty, the main thing is to keep practicing. Fingers will hurt and tangle when transposing chords, and strings won't always sound.

Never stop and just keep playing. Every day you will get better and better, and in the end you will achieve your goal.

Finally, a few tips that will help you learn to play the guitar on your own and not let you despair:

1. Always use multiple sources of information to fill in possible gaps and inaccuracies from one teacher to another.
2. Play every day: Regular exercise will give you confidence. Remember that talent is only a tenth of success, everything else is practice.
3. Once you learn a couple of songs and can sing them with ease, be sure to invite your friends over and play for them. Listeners will help develop and point out shortcomings.

The classic 1234 exercises have already been mentioned. Today, let's discuss how they can help, not only during training, but also after long breaks in classes. This is exactly what happened to me recently and now, being on vacation with a guitar, I have a lot of time to try to get back in shape.

So, we have, and some amount of time (still I want to relax).

All the exercises that we will look at today will not have any theoretical value, they will be pure mechanics.

Remember that each exercise should be played all over the fretboard, and an alternating stroke should be used, except where the stroke is discussed separately.

If you feel pain or severe fatigue in your hands, you should stop and rest. If you play a series of exercises frequently, your hands will get used to it and even after long breaks you will not need to stop, it will be enough just to reduce the tempo of the metronome.

Let's start with the first exercise, which is shown by absolutely all teachers to absolutely all beginner guitarists.

Exercise #1

Turn on the metronome at a tempo of 88, if this pace is difficult, you can start from 50. You should play from the first fret to the last available one, I have 24 frets on the guitar, so the last one will be the 20th fret.

After you have finished with the first exercise, without stopping, move on to exercise number 2.

Exercise #2

The second exercise also does not really bother the brain, but it trains work using various combinations of fingers of the left hand. The downward movement from the 6th to the 1st string uses one pattern, while the reverse movement from the 1st to the 6th string uses a mirror pattern. Here we work out a bunch of fingers 1.3 and 2.4. Such "bundles" will come in handy in the future, at least for playing fifth chords, which, of course, will be supported by all lovers of playing with overdrive.

Exercise #3

In the next exercise, we will continue to train in practicing the use of various combinations of fingers of the left hand. this time the main group of fingers to which exercise 1,2,3 and 2,3,4 is oriented.

Exercise #4

In the 4th exercise, we are working on the ligament of fingers 3.4 and 1.2.

We already considered these 4 exercises a few months ago, let's supplement our arsenal with new ones.

Exercise #5

Exercise number 5 - moving in the opposite direction

The fifth exercise will simultaneously combine exercise 1 and partially exercise 3. One movement from the 6th string to the 1st takes quite a lot of time, so with exercise 5 you can work not across the entire fretboard, but, for example, only up to the 12th fret .

When playing exercise number 5 for the first time, you may often get confused in your fingers, this is normal, just give it some time.

In all the exercises above, the fret number corresponds to the finger of the left hand, use this fingering to move all over the fretboard.

Exercise #6

In the final exercise for today, an alternating stroke is also used, changing the string does not affect the movement of the pick. That is, for the first triplet, a down/up/down movement is used, the next triplet on the 5th string will be played with a stroke up/down/up. By grouping notes into 2 triplets, we get a complete cycle of down / up picking. If the metronome tempo 88 in this exercise is too slow for you, you can increase it by 15-20 beats.

All of the above exercises should be played as a warm-up, sometimes alternating with the warm-up offered. The total time depends on the speed of the metronome, usually at 88 beats all exercises are played in less than half an hour.

PS: many, when playing these exercises, mistakenly say that they are playing a chromatic scale. This is wrong. Try to guess why yourself or wait for the next part.