Finger Exercises & Speed Drills

"The reason that concert violinists are sooo good is that no one sees them at home doing finger exercises and practicing scales for hours and hours every day." -Mitch DuGuay

...The same principle holds true for guitarists. We're still playing a stringed instrument and our skills, just as a concert violinist's, are equally perishable. Practice, practice, practice. Grab your metronome, fire it up, and let's get started.

If pain or cramps set in, STOP and relax your hand. Take a short break. Start playing again a few minutes later. Don't try to play through the pain -- you risk a repetative stress injury.
Your emphasis should be on accuracy: fingers just behind frets, eveness of tone, connected notes, rhythmic timing, and strict down/up alternate picking.
These exercises done accurately and patiently will develop speed and dexterity. Done quickly and carelessly they will simply waste time.
Keep at it. If you're a beginner guitar player these exercises may take time to master. Don't give up.

For reference: How to Read & Write Guitar Tablature

EXERCISE #1 We start with the basics... 1-2-3's. User your index finger, middle, and ring finger. Take your time, play as slow or fast as you want.

----------------------------------------------1--2--3---2--3--4----------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------1--2--3---------------------2--3--4-------------------------------------------------
----------------------------1--2--3---------------------------------------2--3--4----------------------------------------
-------------------1--2--3----------------------------------------------------------2--3--4------------------------------
----------1--2--3----------------------------------------------------------------------------2--3--4-------------------3-
-1--2--3----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2--3--4--3--4--5---

EXERCISE #2 Next we move to 1-2-3-4's. Now we're going to get the pinky finger involved. Use all four fingers with an alternating down/up picking motion.

-----------------------------------------1-2-3-4-2-3-4-5-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------2-3-4-5---------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------1-2-3-4---------------------------------2-3-4-5-------------------------------------------------
-----------------1-2-3-4-------------------------------------------------2-3-4-5---------------------------------3-4-5-6-
---------1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------------------------------2-3-4-5-----------------3-4-5-6---------
-1-2-3-4---------------------------------------------------------------------------------2-3-4-5-3-4-5-6-----------------
D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U

EXERCISE #3 Now the fun begins... 1-2-3-4-3-2's. All four fingers again. Remember your alternating pick motion. In this exercise once you've played the first four notes, you'll lift your pinky, then your ring finger for the final two notes of each run. In the 1-2-3-4 exercise above you were putting all four fingers down to play. Now you're working on lifting fingers to play notes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9-10-11-12-11-10-8-9-10-11-10-9----
---------------------------------------------------------------------9-10-11-12-11-10------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------9-10-11-12-11-10-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------9-10-11-12-11-10----------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------9-10-11-12-11-10---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-9-10-11-12-11-10--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U D U

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-8-9-10-11-10-9---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------8-9-10-11-10-9-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7-8-9
-------------------------------8-9-10-11-10-9---------------------------------------------------------7-8-9-10-9-8------
----------------------------------------------8-9-10-11-10-9-----------------------------7-8-9-10-9-8-------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------8-9-10-11-10-9-7-8-9-10-9-8--------------------------------

EXERCISE #4 Still hanging in there? Let's work on finger dexterity and independence now. Previously you used your fingers one after the other. In this exercise you'll pick a string (any string will do) and play the patterns below. The numbers in this exercise represent your fingers, not the notes. 1 is your index finger, 2 is your middle finger, 3 is your ring finger, and 4 is your pinky finger. For instance, if you begin on the low E string at the A note, you'll play the first grouping like this:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-5-6-7-8---5-6-8-7---5-7-6-8---5-7-8-6---5-8-6-7---5-8-7-6--------------------------------------------------------------

1-2-3-4 1-2-4-3 1-3-2-4 1-3-4-2 1-4-2-3 1-4-3-2 <--from the finger patterns below

1-2-3-4
1-2-4-3
1-3-2-4
1-3-4-2
1-4-2-3
1-4-3-2

2-1-3-4
2-1-4-3
2-3-1-4
2-3-4-1
2-4-1-3
2-4-3-1

3-1-2-4
3-1-4-2
3-2-1-4
3-2-4-1
3-4-1-2
3-4-2-1

4-1-2-3
4-1-3-2
4-2-1-3
4-2-3-1
4-3-1-2
4-3-2-1

OTHER EXERCISES Use the Major Scale as a finger exercise

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

Use a pentatonic scale for a finger exercise. Pick any position to begin. Let's take the 1st position of the Am for example:

---------------------5-8-5---------------------------------------------8-10-8---------------------------------------------
-----------------5-8-------8-5------------------------------------8-10--------10-8----------------------------------------
-------------5-7---------------7-5----------------------------7-9------------------9-7----------------------------------9-
---------5-7-----------------------7-5-------------------7-10--------------------------10-7-----------------------10-12---
-----5-7-------------------------------7-5----------7-10------------------------------------10-7------------10-12---------
-5-8---------------------------------------8-5-8-10----------------------------------------------10-8-10-12---------------

Use the Extended Am Pentatonic Scale. This exercise promotes lateral movement along the neck.

-------------------------------------8--10--12--10--8--------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------8--10--------------------10--8-----------------------------------------------------------8-
---------------------5--7--9----------------------------------9--7--5-----------------------------------------5--7--9----
---------------5--7----------------------------------------------------7--5-----------------------------5--7-------------
------3--5--7----------------------------------------------------------------7--5--3-----------3--5--7-------------------
-3--5---------------------------------------------------------------------------------5--3--5----------------------------

We call this next series of scale runs, The Long and Winding Scales. Each is an exercise to itself. Once again, we're getting out of the pentatonic mode (playing up and down frets) and promoting lateral movement up and down the neck.

---------------------------------3--5/7--7\5--3----------------------------------0----
---------------------------3--5------------------5--3----------------------------0----
-------------------0--2/4------------------------------4\2--0--------------------0----
-------------0--2----------------------------------------------2--0-------------------
-------0--2----------------------------------------------------------2--0-------------
-0--3----------------------------------------------------------------------3--0-------

--------------------------------6--8/10--10\8--6--------------------------------------
--------------------------6--8--------------------8--6--------------------------------
------------------3--5/7--------------------------------7\5--3------------------------
------------3--5------------------------------------------------5--3------------------
----1--3/5------------------------------------------------------------5\3--1----------
-3----------------------------------------------------------------------------3-------

---------------------------------------10--12--15------------------------------------
-----------------------------8--10/12------------------------------------------------
-----------------------7--9----------------------------------------------------------
---------------5--7/9----------------------------------------------------------------
---------5--7------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3--5/7------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------10--12--12--10-------------------------------------------
------------------8--10/12------------------12\10--8---------------------------------
------------7--9--------------------------------------9--7---------------------------
----5--7/9--------------------------------------------------9\7--5-------------------
-7------------------------------------------------------------------7----------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-12--9---------9---------------------------------------------------------------------
--------12--9-----12--9------9-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------11-----11--9------9-----------------------------------------
---------------------------------------11-----11--9------9---------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------11-----11\9--7------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This run is called The Back-Track Scale. Aptly named becuase you back-track your way through it all.

-------------5--5--8--5--8--5--------5----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------5--7--------------------8--5-----8--5-----8--5--------5----------------------------------------------------------
-5--6-----------------------------------------7--------7--5-----7--5-----7--5-------5-----------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------7-------7--5-----7--5-----7--5--------5-----------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7--------7--5-----7\5--3---
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------5---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------5-----8--5---------------------------------------------------5-----7/8--7--5---------
--------------------------5--7--8--------------8--7--5-----5------------------------------------5--6--7/9--7--5--6------
----------------/7--7--7--------------------------------7-----7--5--------------------------/7----------------------7--7
-5--6--5--3--0------------------------------------------------------6--5--3--5--6--5--3--0------------------------------
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