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→Petrucci Chords
i m r p
So each finger is assigned a fret, and will always be on that fret throughout the exercise. Then play the inversemirror, 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- Here's the complete list or chords and mirrors:
{|
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! InverseMirror<br>w pinky<br>as root
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! InverseMirror<br>w middlering<br>as root
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Many of these are NOT easy to finger. And alternating between a chord and its mirror will be difficult at first. That's kind of the point of this exercise. It forces the muscles in your hands to make not only difficult shapes but also difficult transitions. You shouldn't have any real focus on speed - the point is to get your hand comfortable in making the shapes and being able to make the ''transitions'' clean. If you want John Petrucci do it, you'll want to give up playing guitar altogether. But we don't get to see his early years, where this was (probably) difficult even for him.
The best way to start on this isn't to try to go through each shape (and its mirror), but pick a shape and alternate between it and the mirror several times, even moving across strings. For example if we pick the first shape, we'd play like this:
E--------------7--4--------------------7--4--
B--------7--4--6--5--7--4--------7--4--6--5--
G--7--4--6--5--5--6--6--5--7--4--6--5--5--6--
D--6--5--5--6--4--7--5--6--6--5--5--6--4--7--
A--5--6--4--7--------4--7--5--6--4--7--------
E--4--7--------------------4--7--------------
Then move onto the next easiest shape for you and repeat. At first, this is its own technique exercise. Once you're more comfortable and can make advanced chord shapes, this becomes a warm up; but it doesn't mean you'll play through all 12 examples (w/ their 12 mirrors). You may only play through 2-4 of them at first. Only a very advanced player that's going to be playing an intense gig would want to do the complete set.
If you play the example tab for all 12 sets of chords and mirrors, you'd be playing 12 sets of 14 chords = 168 chords. That's one ''hell'' of a warm up!
== Chromatic Scale ==