Difference between revisions of "Warm-Up Exercises"

Revision as of 21:50, 1 August 2014

Petrucci Chords

The goal here is to make chord shapes that involve each of the four fingers on each of 4 adjacent frets, like you are playing a chromatic scale on a single string:

-3-4-5-6-
 i m r p

Then play the inverse, where the fingers that were on low strings are now on the high strings and vice versa. For example:

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

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Chromatic Scale

This exercise is great for many reasons. First, it gets your left and right hands to sync up. It warms up the right hand with alternate picking. It warms up the left with equal emphasis on all the fingers, small stretches, and small position shifts.

E------------------------------------------1-2-3-4-
B----------------------------------2-3-4-6---------
G--------------------------2-3-4-5-----------------
D------------------3-4-5-6-------------------------
A----------4-5-6-7---------------------------------
E--5-6-7-8-----------------------------------------

E--4-3-2-1-----------------------------------------
B----------5-4-3-2---------------------------------
G------------------5-4-3-2-------------------------
D--------------------------6-5-4-3-----------------
A----------------------------------7-6-5-4---------
E------------------------------------------8-7-6-5-

E--------------------------------------------------4-5-6-7/8-
B----------------------------------------4-5-6-7/8-----------
G--------------------------------4-5-6-7---------------------
D----------------------4-5-6-7/8-----------------------------
A------------4-5-6-7/8---------------------------------------
E--4-5-6-7/8-------------------------------------------------

E--8-7-6-5\4-------------------------------------------------
B------------8-7-6-5\4---------------------------------------
G----------------------7-6-5-4-------------------------------
D------------------------------8-7-6-5\4---------------------
A----------------------------------------8-7-6-5\4-----------
E--------------------------------------------------8-7-6-5\4-

When moving between strings, be sure to retain strict alternate picking. In the first set, there's always an even number of notes per string. So if we start the first note on a downstroke, each string should all start similarly on a downstroke. Practice the exercise starting on a downstroke as well as on an upstroke.

In the second exercise, there are usually 5 notes per string, meaning we will alternate starting each string on down and upstrokes. This helps us practice both "inside" and "outside" picking.

The main thing to watch in both sets is to try to get a consistent note duration and tone as you play across strings. You have to make sure not to pick up your pinky too quickly, but you also have to curl it enough not to prevent touching it against the next string to prevent muting that note. You also have to make sure you always fretting right behind the fret to get a clean sound. If you are fretting those pinky notes in the middle of the frets instead, you will notice the tone is off.

Similarly, when you are doing positional shifts on the same string, you have to make the shifts quick and land it right behind the fret.

Rhythm

Finger-Stretching

-12-11-11-11-11-10-10-10-10-...2-1-1-1-1-
-13-13-12-12-12-12-11-11-11-...3-3-2-2-2-
-14-14-14-13-13-13-13-12-12-...4-4-4-3-3-
-15-15-15-15-14-14-14-14-13-...5-5-5-5-4-

This exercise is great, because as you descend down each fret at a time, the exercise gets more and more difficult. It forces you to stretch between each pair of adjacent fingers.

This will get insanely difficult quickly. Don't push yourself into injury - if you feel intense pain, stop immediately. Don't try to get through it quickly either. Hold each chord and let your fingers muscles accept the stretch.

-17-12-16-11-15-10-...-10-5-9-4-8-3
 p  i  p  i  p  i      p  i p i p i

This follows the same premise of getting more and more difficult as you descend, but is focused on more traditional stretches between index and pinky. The same guidelines apply as above.