Position-Shifting Exercises

Lessons Exercises Reference Gear Gig Prep Recording SoundSkills Glossary Wiki

 

Technical Techniques Songs/Licks

 

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

 

Note on Tab Slide Markings

The '/' and '\' characters in tab generally represent either

• a legato slide between two notes
• a picked slide into a note

In each case, the slide is audible. In all examples below, the '/' and '\' are intended to simply show when to shift positions. To prevent confusion I am only placing these markings in the fingering patterns below the tab and not in the tab.

Shift on every finger

--1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--7--6--5--4--3--2--1--
  i /i  m /m /r /r  p /p \p  r \r  m \m  i \i

--12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-
  i /i  m /m  r /r  p /p \p  r \r  m \m  i \i

Invisible Shifts

Here you are shifting to a note that is already being played. You should focus on making the shift virtually inaudible, so it sounds like you are simply playing each note twice. Below each line of tab are 1 or more fingering patterns. For each pattern, repeat the exercise on every string.

--1--2--2--3--3--4--4--5--5--6--5--4--4--3--3--2--2--1--
  i  m /i  m /i  m /i  m /i  m \m  i \m  i \m  i \m  i
  m  r /m  r /m  r /m  r /m  r \r  m \r  m \r  m \r  m  
  r  p /r  p /r  p /r  p /r  p \p  r \p  r \p  r \p  r

--1--3--3--5--5--7--7--9--9--11-9--7--7--5--5--3--3--1--
  i  m /i  m /i  m /i  m /i  m \m  i \m  i \m  i \m  i
  i  r /i  r /i  r /i  r /i  r \r  i \r  i \r  i \r  i
  m  p /m  p /m  p /m  p /m  p \p  m \p  m \p  m \p  m

--1--4--4--7--7--10-10-13-13-16-13-10-10-7--7--4--4--1--
  i  p /i  p /i  p /i  p /i  p \p  i \p  i \p  i \p  i

Shift Positions w/o Overlap

--1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10-9--8--7--6--5--4--3--2--1--
  i  m  r  p /i  m  r  p /i  m  i \p  r  m  i \p  r  m  i  

--10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-
  i  m  r  p /i  m  r  p /i  m  i \p  r  m  i \p  r  m  i

--1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10-11-12-11-10-9--8--7--6--5--4--3--2--1--
  i  m  r /i  m  r /i  m  r /i  m  r  m  i \r  m  i \r  m  i \r  m  i
  m  r  p /m  r  p /m  r  p /m  r  p  r  m \p  r  m \p  r  m \p  r  m 

--10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-
  i  m  r /i  m  r /i  m  r /i  m  r  m  i \r  m  i \r  m  i \r  m  i
  m  r  p /m  r  p /m  r  p /m  r  p  r  m \p  r  m \p  r  m \p  r  m 

--1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10-9--8--7--6--5--4--3--2--1--
  i  m /i  m /i  m /i  m /i  m  i \m  i \m  i \m  i \m  i
  m  r /m  r /m  r /m  r /m  r  m \r  m \r  m \r  m \r  m
  r  p /r  p /r  p /r  p /r  p  r \p  r \p  r \p  r \p  r

--10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-
  i  m /i  m /i  m /i  m /i  m  i \m  i \m  i \m  i \m  i
  m  r /m  r /m  r /m  r /m  r  m \r  m \r  m \r  m \r  m
  r  p /r  p /r  p /r  p /r  p  r \p  r \p  r \p  r \p  r

Targetting Octaves

This exercise helps you target notes for long-distance slides, which helps immensely when shifting positions by a large number of frets. The idea is to get from the note to its octave as quickly and cleanly as possible. Try not to undershoot or overshoot your mark - start with slower slides and make sure you don't stop or ease up your slide until you hit the target note. Once your accuracy is improved, then work on speed.

--1-/13-13\1--2-/14-14\2--3-/15-15\3--4-/16-16\4--
  i  i  i  i  m  m  m  m  r  r  r  r  p  p  p  p