Interesting guitarist exercises, courtesy of Matt Blackett

[d halfnote]

These were rediscovered when I recently cleaned out a collection of Electronic Musician copies from the 1990s.

Specifically they're from April 1998 & I've taken the liberty of some slight re-editing, for concision, as well as adding some parenthetic comments of my own.

After posting this idea at the Ed.'s Office & getting no response for over 2 weeks I'm going ahead & offering them here b/c I think they deserve fresh exposure.

I hope no one minds...

They relate to 2 types of stretching; overall hand/wrist muscles & fingers while playing...but there's also an element of rethinking chord forms & using the pinky that's unique.

I've put an asterisk beside those that I found most insightful but thy're all good ideas.

 

A

1: When warming up before practices or shows, begin with slow exercises, just as you would for any physical activity.

When performing or practicing in any environment that might require it, warm your hands, both initially & as needed, using a hot water bottle, etc.

*2: Start higher on the fretboard & work your way down the neck; that reduces the initial stretch on your fingers.

*3: Begin with chords, not scales, etc.; this allows fingers an easier entry into an activity that's really quite strenuous.

[it also gives one a better sense of harmonic settings for scale/melody exercises that might follow.]

B

*4: After a few minutes switch to exercises using only the 2nd, 3rd & 4th fingers. This forces us to use our 4th finger, rather than allowing us to do so as a choice, & not just strengthens that finger but increases its flexibility & accuracy.

[it also gives us a different mindset on the voicing of chords, allowing the index finger a potential that few might otherwise consider.]

C

Some specific non-index finger exercises:

(Play all these slowly at first.)

5: Play a C chord at 12th fret on strings 1,2 & 3, using a form like an open D. Use only 2nd, 3rd & 4th fingers.

Walk down a C chord scale to open position (play chords at 8th, 5th & open positions).

6: Play a B dim. triad at the 10th fret (again using only 2nd, 3rd & 4th fingers); follow that with A min. at 8th fret; G7 at 7th fret; working down to C first position.

Ascend that same pattern.

7: Try other chord patterns, arpeggios, scales, favorite riffs, etc., of your own selection.

D

8: Keep these exercises brief enough that you'll actually do several of them. Ten minutes will be better than not warming up at all.

Avoid speeding through them; that defeats the entire purpose. If pressed for time choose a couple that seem most helpful & do them properly.

 

 

Again, these were devised by GPlayer contributing editor Matt Blackett & I think he hit on a method of exercising the 4th finger that I've never seen advocated elsewhere.

Big round of applause for MB!

[Caevan O’Shite]

Good points, good call, good post, good article to begin with...

[d halfnote]

More action here during the week than weekend, so I thought I'd bump this just once...

[Guitarzan]

good stuff.

[d halfnote]

bumped for relevance to another thread