Chromatic Scale Exercises

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Technical Techniques Songs/Licks

 

Basic Technique Advanced Technique Alt. Picking Scales Rhythm Position-Shifting String Skipping Arpeggios

 

Fixed Pos. Maj/Min 3nps Maj/Min Pentatonic Blues Harm/Mel Minor Octatonic Whole-Tone Chromatic

 

These 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.

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 fixed position 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.

Four Notes Per String

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-

Fixed Position

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-

8 Notes per String

E-------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------6--7--8--9--10-11-12-13-
A-------------------------3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10-------------------------
E-0--1--2--3--4--5--6--7--------------------------------------------------
  o  i  m  r  i  m  r  p  i  m  r  p  i  m  r  p  i  m  r  p  i  m  r  p  

E-------------------------------------------------16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-
B-------------------------13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-------------------------
G-9--10-11-12-13-14-15-16-------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------

E-23-22-21-20-19-18-17-16------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9--
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  p  r  m  i  p  r  m  i  p  r  m  i  p  r  m  i  p  r  m  i  p  r  m  i  

E-------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-13-12-11-10-9--8--7--6--------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------10-9--8--7--6--5--4--3--------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------7--6--5--4--3--2--1--0--