I've been playing for 50 years and teaching/playing for a living for over 30 years. At about 1:33 into the video you ask "why would you do that?" I learned the exercise way back in the 80's, if I recall correctly, it was from Rik Emmett, who taught it as a "finger independence" exercise. I've been teaching it that way (moving only one finger at a time and not allowing other fingers to follow or bounce around) with great success for myself and my students. That's "why" you would want to do that. Enjoy your vids. Thanks! 😎🎸👍
I learned that way also. Other reason for doing it is this: Positioned finger should always allow the next string to ring, so the excercise teaches you to hold fingers on fret the right way.
I know Kiko Loureiro recommends doing the first one (keeping fingers on the string) to get used to moving your fingers as little as possible to build up good economical movement habits, but not fretting them, just having them rest on the string. I personally used to have trouble keeping my fingers from moving too far outward as I changed strings, so I tried to at least keep some contact to get used to not just shooting hem out there
I have no idea why he completely dismissed this idea. By keeping the previous fingers touching the strings it helps to build finger independence and it also helps you be more economical as you said. If it's good enough for Kiko, it's good enough for everyone.
Keeping your fingers down is a neurological tactic to improve finger independence. Although moving your fingers is also a great technique, they are just different, neither is wrong, they’re just training different things.
I can see the benefit of keeping the fingers down, it's much like a piano exercise I do, however with guitar it's a bit different because it could inadvertently develop bad habits in another way. A way where you play across the strings and find yourself muting yourself or sounding more than one note.. I, as well as many guitarist, don't religiously keep my fingers a fraction of a millimeter from the strings when I play but still get the job done in a smooth way. I'd advise to lift your fingers but be aware of anytime they move too far from the strings.
I find that doing the exercise like this quickly helps you get used to using your pinky more regularly. Alot of beginner and intermediate players barely use their pinky if at all
@Yousef Mahfouz However if you play distortion you want to take your fingers off. You don't want the notes to blend together. At least, that's what my teacher told me.
The point of keeping the fingers on is to train the fingers not to flare out, that exercise is most useful for stopping the pinky flailing out, I've been doing it for a bit now and it's been great for it :)
Keeping your fingers on the strings moving one at a time helps developer isolated finger independence. It also helps train to keep your fingers down and minimize movements. It's an alternate version of the exercise. I didn't think much of it either after shredding for 27 years. Now I have a better fast graceful isolated movement from that exercise. It has it's benifiets....
I always try to do the "spider" exercise in different orders and do it forwards and backwards. It's all about muscle memory. if you just play 1,2,3,4 all the time, that's what your fingers will remember.
Thank God for this video, I was trying to do the spider exercise just as Myth #1 and that was a huge pain in the butt, really frustrating when going down the strings, as the fingers that were on the previous string would mute the string I was playing.
Mine did that, too. But I kept at it and they no longer do that. I did it the CORRECT way (fingers stay down) for a few months and my playing improved big time. The real myth is that you would develop a "habit" of muting strings by leaving all your fingers down all the time. Nothing could be more silly. There are true experts out there that teach the spider walk properly. This video creates more myths than it busts.
@@dannyarrington5175learning spider walk for the past few weeks. You’re right. Now I don’t know what I’m doing right or wrong. I thought I had a eureka moment when I had the muting issue. I guess not lol
Already a lot of questions about Myth #1. I think of it this way, if you train by keeping your fingers down every time you do the Spider Exercise you may begin to solidify that in your physiology in time. Now let's say you want to play an ascending 3 note-per-string scale. As you switch to the next string you'll leave your other fingers on the previous string causing huge problems. I believe you should practice the way you play so when doing an ascending scale you naturally want to come off the previous string as you ascend to the next to keep the flow happening. Now if you're just doing the "leave the fingers down" version part time to better finger independence that makes sense, but realize the danger in only doing that.
I do see what you’re saying but I’ll make an important distinction. Keeping your fingers down is not about training your fingers to stay down when you play, it’s about training one finger to move independently of the others when fretting. I would never expect anyone to keep their fingers down when playing for real. It’s a trick for he brain to move fingers smoothly and independently when playing anything. That’s my take. Hope what I write makes sense.
@@pennywise4843 Why not do both? I don't see that doing it this way is right and the other way wrong. I would think that alternating both techniques would result in a greater degree of dexterity.
Thanks so much for doing this. I just thought they had something about keeping all my fingers on the fret board constantly while moving one finger at a time. I'm so glad you made this video before I put months into doing this exercise. I got enough picking problems that I need to concentrate on that need more time. This is far better than the busting myth TV show.
It's a neurological exercise, you keep your fingers on the string so that your brain can develop a better way of working the ring and pinky fingers. Better for older students.
What I gleaned from this [and the comments] is that the spider exercise is simplistically powerful and the best way to “play it” is to both decide what you are trying to fix and trying to enhance at any point in time and play it in the way that does both. ie. economy, accuracy, speed, variability, feel, dexterity, etc. I’m going to utilize this not-so-simple trainer more often and more effectively for now on where I previously disregarded it as “too basic”.
The plain "spider" exercise that uses 1,2,3,4 back and forth across the neck before scooting up a half step and repeating, (until you run out of frets) has been good at subconsciously helping me know where to find notes I need to play by their sound. I do it at least once a day at a comfortable tempo as a casual warm -up on guitar and ukulele. After this I recently started to do 5 min. with a timer on my tablet, of "Find The Note." where I locate and play every instance of a particular single note on the fretboard, on each string covering the entire fretboard. I'm spending however many days I need to on a single note before moving onto another. (Long long way to go for me)
I bought a small tuner that attached on to the guitar so anytime I'm comfortable with the spider routine (for example re-doing it in the same session) I'll alter the object of my focus to the single notes their names and sounds. I mean, by learning the 2 low strings you've already covered half of the strings, and by learning the notes of all 6 up to fret 11 you know basically all the positions already. Imma not there yet at all and dont actually know how efficient way of learning the fretboard that is but I'll give it a try. At the same time I'm going through CAGED so after few months I should have some sort of knowledge bout the placing if the notes already. So exciting!
Try the shifting 4s version: 1-2-3-4. 2-3-4-1. 3-4-1-2. 4-1-2-3 etc. Accent every first or fourth note in the group. Keep it chromatic by shifting down 1 fret every time you cross a string when ascending...except for the g to the b string where it doesn't shift. Try it both forwards and backwards as well as ascending and descending. Nice smooth alternate picking will get you good at string hopping too. Use a metronome which will allow you to keep score of your progress. It's a real burner and will really help with your finger dexterity, control and strength. You can also apply this pattern to any scale shape, for example A minor: A-B-C-D, B-C-D-E, C-D-E-F, D-E-F-G, E-F-G-A, etc. Always accent the first or fourth note in each group to keep yourself in check. Fantastic little pattern thing I was shown by my first guitar teacher, many many moons ago. Give it a whirl!! Less clickin', more pickin' as the mighty Ben Eller says.
Keeping the fingers down while doing the spider exercise helps you gain more control over your individual fingers, learned this from Kiko loureiro from I think a guitar exercise video not sure
Cool video Mike.... Thomas mcrocklin posted a spider exercise variant a few years ago where he's picking 1-3-4-3-2-3-4-3. It really helped me in developing wider indepent movement between my third and fourth fingers so my little finger doesn't fly away from the fretboard all the time
I noticed how when you pick a string , your pick goes and rest on the string under it , that looks so efficient i'm gonna practice this technique i loved it !
I''m pretty much a total noob at guitar. This answered a lot of questions for me about this exercise. Keeping my fingers on the strings makes my wrist feel like it's exploding after a couple of ups and downs. Also, thumb placement. The bane of my existence. It goes for a walk to look over the top even when I'm actively trying to keep it where my fingers can reach all 6 strings comfortably. I'm going to tattoo a smiley face on it if it keeps doing it. At least I've been trying to hold it in the right place so far. Thanks for explaining some things to us beginners that was probably obvious to many others who watched this.
I know for the first exercise it may seem dumb to leave your fingers in place. But I've heard that leaving you finger in place allows you to develop a good hand angle. So it helps keeping your hand straight instead of at an angle when picking notes.
7:40 I also do it without picking when I am looking something on my phone and my left hand is just empty. By doing this I realised that including picking in it should improve your timing and speed because I can go much faster on each note without picking.
OMG! Thank you! I've been scouring youtube for this information! No one talks about muting other strings. I started with the 6th string and couldn't do anything about touch other string with my pinky. And if i tried to avoid it my hand woulkd have to wrap around so far forward, and i haven't seen anyone get in that position
I usually start practicing doing spider exercise moving one finger at time but without playing few times starting from the first fret and the fifth fret. Then I start do the exercise playing. I feel I move less my fingers away from guitar. But I always felt guilt about it. You made my mind easy. Thanks!
but the spider walk is supposed to help you not mute the strings below the one you are already pressing? If you play a chort for example, you cant mute other strings cuz it will muffle the sound of it, so the spider walk helps you know how you should angle ur fingers so every string can resonate withour being muffled
Regarding myth 1. Unless you are a beginner, I agree with Mike and say do not keep your fingers on the fret board when doing this exercise. I did for years and now I have carpal tunnel syndrome and cubital tunnel syndrome in my left arm and wrist. My Dr said it is common in musicians from putting the wrist into extreme positions. I always had to bend my wrist to get the notes to ring out clean. Now I do have smaller hands so YMMV but better safe than sorry like I am now.
Ive seen keeping the fingers on the string as an exercise for better technique so you fingers dont fly off after fretting a note. It also helps when trying to not mute other strings which can be challenging.
Looking at how I fret, which isn't the fastest but it's pretty fluid, my index kind of anticipates the string change or position change and kind of just gravitates towards the next note before you finish playing whatever note you're hitting with your pinky. I think part of the training for this is learning that anticipation, which a lot of beginners can't do, and I'm more concerned with teaching that anticipation whenever I recommend this exercise to someone.
I guess that the idea of keeping the string fretted while changing each individual finder is to practice fretting technique. You need to be perpendicular to the fret.
Hey! I been wanting this for a long time and do know that ppl have seen this b4: songs to play when a guitar is handed out to you. Both acoustic and electric. P.S: no backing tracks available.
Myth no.1. There is another RUclips channel where they insist on keeping fingers on strings and remove them only one at a time when going to next string. Glad you cleared that and other questions I also had.
The ability to move fingers and their joints independently is a function of how they are connected anatomically, how their nerves are wired, what brain regions are responsible for controlling those nerves, and how those regions 'may' be trainable to work differently. Understandably therefore, music teachers are not really best placed to say what are the best ways to do finger exercises. Some anatomical (tendon) and nerve connections are shared across fingers/joints; therefore their ability to work independently is limited. No matter how hard you practice some exercises, you cannot overcome that. There are even some individual anatomical variations (albeit rare) - so some people may be able to do certain finger movements that others cannot. Finally, even if you get better at a difficult finger exercise, it doesn't necessarily mean that will carry over to general playing. The best exercises are likely to be those that mimic normal playing movements. We know those independent movements are possible, because good players can do them. And we can expect improvements in those exercises will carry over to normal playing, because they involve the same movements as normal playing.
The spider exercise with fingers on the string is the “whole point”. Why would you do it like this? Because it strengthens finger independence of your left hand. Doing the spider exercise while lifting your fingers is ALSO valid. This is much easier on the fretting hand and ultimately great for synchronizing your picking hand with your fretting hand at higher speeds. Spider w fingers down = left hand work out Spider w fingers relaxed/up = high speed picking in synch workout.
Would love to see a vid on Indians by Anthrax. There’s a little bit between the harmonized intro transitioning into the main riff. It’s something along the lines of 0-2-0-2-0-3-0-4-0-5 and the transitions into the main riff
Woooooow, in my first bass class, I was taught to keep the fingers on the spider variations!!!!!!! Very difficult and did not feel natural at all.... Does it apply on the bass Mike????
In my personal opinion, no you don't need to have your fingers stay on the same frets before moving to the next string because I believe that whatever is natural to you, you should do, as to not have any barriers in your growth of bass playing. Hope this helps 😊✌
@8un3zz I don't know. I think if someone has it harder learning things, then they could keep using the first way they've learned instead of the other, and it's also a nuisance to try to learn two similar but very different exercises at the same time. I'd just give them another exercise that also forces you to move fingers independently of each other
Thx for the tips! I'm playing guitar for about 2 months now started doing the spider walk three or four days ago, and I was really struggling to do the spider walk descending from the E chord because I was trying to keep my other fingers on the strings. Also about the thumb, I was positioning wrong.
Always a good exercise, but keeping your fingers on the strings as you go up or down also has some great advantages for finger control. So yes... you would, or _should_ do that as part of the exercise.
I was told keeping the fingers on the strings while doing a spider exercise would help me stop my pinky from flying away. It doesn't really seem to help. Would you have any tips to help me with that Mr. Guitar?
*(this is much more rambling than I intended, but there's a REALLY good tip for players who have difficulty with thicker necks: if you want to see it just go to the **) I have to say that regardless of what you're supposed to do, the fixed finger spider walk has hands down been one of the, if not THE most beneficial exercise that I've done. It literally corrected decades of sloppy technique. I haven't played in a few years, but not really my choice. I had an injury that kept me from playing, and working as much so I slowly sold one piece of gear after another, then a couple years went where I just couldn't afford to replace it. EVERY day I thought about how much I wanted to play, in the same way that I miss my father everyday after he died. I still watched guitar videos almost daily, not just gear reviews, but lessons too. Whenever I saw one that looked particularly good, I'd save it. One of them was the spider walk. When I was able but a guitar and gear it was the first exercise I did. I couldn't remember where I saw it, and the lesson was a bunch of different things, like this one, but the one I remembered was the fixed finger: fretting the Low E @ 5/6/7/8 fret and walking them one by one to the next string. I played each note as I did (later when I found the video I realized he had said that wasn't necessary but something to try later). I had bought an Eric Johnson Strat, which I had owned a couple over the years, and handled scores (I repaired guitars for over a decade, now mostly amps). Those who aren't aware of them, they're a hefty neck. It's a soft V, and I think may actually be the thickest necks Fender have done, at least measuring at the first fret. They're a full 1", the 65s are definitely the biggest necks, but that's due to the deep C shape, they're actually thinner than the 57. I've always been partial the chunkier necks. I find they have a better tone (especially set necks like Les Pauls), and I prefer traditional models of guitars: Strats, Teles, Les Paul, ES335,etc) and for some reason the models, the finishes and specs that I like for some reason are always on the chunkier necks. This exercise resulted in fat necks not only aren't difficult anymore, but I prefer the feel of them considerably more than slim (as opposed to liking them for tone and aesthetic reasons). ** Tip: I don't have the longest fingers and while playing fatter necks aren't a huge issue with everything, I did have problems with time to time. There were 2 things that almost immediately made playing them easier: 1) when you play make sure you're playing notes and chords ON TOP of the fretboard, NOT THROUGH it. I heard that somewhere and remember my buddy saying "WTF does that mean?" I knew immediately. Instead if pressing the string down to fret it, I tended to squeeze the string and neck together. I'm not exaggerating when I say that when I picked up the guitar and played keeping that "on top of the board," in mind, it was instantly easier. It not only helped with that, it helped with all my playing. It took a while for it to become a habit; just what I do, but I'm talking about weeks for that, not months or anything like that. 2) the second was the fixed finger spider walk. I used to end up fretting with the pads of my fingers instead of the tips. Doing that makes playing the notes doing the fixed finger impossible, you just kill the vibrating string. Getting to the point where I could play it flawlessly, forward and back resulted in completely ending the bad technique I had done for years. Honestly it worked so well that when I first tried it I thought it was impossible. There was 1 finger that I just couldn't raise up and move to the next string without another finger lifting. Now, I can't even remember exactly which finger the issue was with, I believe it was the ring but I'm not sure. It's the 1 exercise that I make sure to do daily, even if I only pick the guitar up for a few minutes, it's to do this. I do the other variations on it, and developed my own as well. To make it harder I start at the Low E, but move 2 strings to the D string instead of the A. Then I move 1 back to the A, then 2 down to the G, etc. All the variations like one in this video are just as beneficial, but the fixed finger was especially good for me and the issues I was trying to address. Cheers, great video👍
I thought this was going to be about Spider chords at first, not sure why. Awesome video as usual brotha! ( can you do a video about spider chords? Dave Mustaine uses/d this technique a lot. Which he used a lot when he was in Metallica.)
Wow I’ve just watched a video about this a week ago, and the person told me to keep my fingers on the strings, been doing that ever since, glad to see it was doing me nothing haha
This is a great instructional video, but with all the things to practice, I wouldn't put "Spider" all that high. The really useful exercise you kind of minimized, which would be practicing picking tempo while the fretting hand "spiders". 1/4, 1/8, triplets whatever, keep both hands practicing. And don't get me wrong, a lot of what you were doing is great, but it's beyond "spider".
Hello, thank you for this great video. One question : if I don’t move my thumb up, I have literally no possibility to reach the 6th cord. It feel super frustrating, and makes my other fingers move away from the cords. Is it okay for any kind of hands ? I got a lot of tensions in the top of the hands now 😕
I contradict, when you move to another string, your right hand side should not mute strings except you explicitly want it. Take some songs by Chet Atkins etc. you will constantly need it.
I wish I had watched this video when I started. I am still a beginner but i really struggling to keep up with these myths. I started figuring these out when I played standing up. All that BS don’t work when you play standing. I have a request please. Could you please make a video for playing standing up with low strap. I am sure you will have some useful tips like this one.
About #myth1 it doesn’t have to make sense, it’s an exercise. why do you think it doesn’t make any sens? Holding the fingers Is an exercise to work on controling fingers independently (three holding vs one moving)
"They say you should go slow and keep both your hands on the steering wheel while learning to drive. Why would you do that? Don't do that. You won't be able to watch reels on your phone (=boring) and you're gonna arrive really late every time. Be relaxed, incline your seat to your liking, put on some music and swerve with your left hand, see those speed limit signs - just add 10 and maintain that speed." What I'm saying is - I'm sure you are a good guitar player but why would you 'mythbust' an exercise which proved itself crazy good decades ago? It helps with finger independence and teaches how to position them so that they don't touch other strings - as simple as that. For people like me, who started learning guitar just by playing power chords and simple riffs, it turns the learning process towards the right direction: to independent finger control. Your take on this exercise is good too, but pls don't say that the original spider walk is bad. Everything helps.
Hey Mike, I see you're kind of back to what was your channel's main direction (or at least for this video!) before the Metallica enigmas. Could you tell me what guitar is that, a Dinky or maybe a Soloist (or perhaps a completely different model)? Thanks for making great videos.
i have a question：whenever i play ascending spider walk exercise in 1-2-3-4 order, my pinky lift up and there always will be open string ringing, how to fix this? Any exercise that specifically focusing on this issue? Much appreciated!
I thought you had to lift your first finger before you put down the second one. For example on the first string i would fret the first fret, pick it then lift my index finger before putting down my middle to pick the second fret.
Question for you - when I’m playing a chromatic scale - and I go from 8 on the B string with my pinky to the next note which would be 3 on the E string - is proper technique to Stretch my pointer finger back to hit 3 and then subsequently all my fingers shift after, instead of moving my whole hand position at once?
If you're doing Chromatic you shouldn't have to reach to the 3rd fret, but the 4th fret on the E String. Either way, I shift everything as I move my hand back. No stretching to hit that note and then moving. Another good example of why you don't have to keep your other fingers down until the last second.
The-Art-of-Guitar yeah, you’re right, 4th fret, my bad! Okay, gotcha! Thanks for the reply. That helps! And thanks for all the great videos too. Appreciate them!
@@TheArtofGuitar Okay, yeah I figured it would be smarter to do variations at a decent speed than to do crazy tempos with the same shape all of the time. Thanks!
2 Questions- firstly, when i get towards the thicker strings, my thumb(on the neck) goes down and when i go to the thinner ones it is hanging over. Is that okay? Secondly, Paul Davids made a video on exercises and he said to keep the fingers on the fret board when moving to another string so I'm not sure which one is correct. Here look its the first exercise he mentions i think ruclips.net/video/b2XXzcQhPvc/видео.html
Sir my i can do all exercises you showed But my pinky is always came straight after the first curl It's not like c shape It becames L shape from the top if we reverse Does it make any problems????
Hello Mike. Please accept my 'Pranaam.' You are my Guru. I am facing difficulty in playing 16th note on 95 RPM. I can do it somehow at 65-70 RPM. Am I doing it right? May you advice please?
I have a question! Does anyone else's middle finger stick too close with their ring finger doing this exercise? Will my finger start to go apart after doing this exercise or my fingers kinda meessed up?
It is often the case that teaching in absolutes even with good intentions can create bad results. Good teachers will often precede a lesson with “For this exercise” or “To instill the basics” because the inference of “Never” has a strong impact on an impressionable student as you pointed out and there are almost always exceptions to everything.
I've been playing for 50 years and teaching/playing for a living for over 30 years. At about 1:33 into the video you ask "why would you do that?" I learned the exercise way back in the 80's, if I recall correctly, it was from Rik Emmett, who taught it as a "finger independence" exercise. I've been teaching it that way (moving only one finger at a time and not allowing other fingers to follow or bounce around) with great success for myself and my students. That's "why" you would want to do that. Enjoy your vids. Thanks! 😎🎸👍
I learned that way also. Other reason for doing it is this: Positioned finger should always allow the next string to ring, so the excercise teaches you to hold fingers on fret the right way.
I know Kiko Loureiro recommends doing the first one (keeping fingers on the string) to get used to moving your fingers as little as possible to build up good economical movement habits, but not fretting them, just having them rest on the string. I personally used to have trouble keeping my fingers from moving too far outward as I changed strings, so I tried to at least keep some contact to get used to not just shooting hem out there
I have no idea why he completely dismissed this idea. By keeping the previous fingers touching the strings it helps to build finger independence and it also helps you be more economical as you said. If it's good enough for Kiko, it's good enough for everyone.
@@Cms7899 he's written a response to that, check it out
@@CruciatusVXS who? Where?😮
Keeping your fingers down is a neurological tactic to improve finger independence. Although moving your fingers is also a great technique, they are just different, neither is wrong, they’re just training different things.
I can see the benefit of keeping the fingers down, it's much like a piano exercise I do, however with guitar it's a bit different because it could inadvertently develop bad habits in another way. A way where you play across the strings and find yourself muting yourself or sounding more than one note.. I, as well as many guitarist, don't religiously keep my fingers a fraction of a millimeter from the strings when I play but still get the job done in a smooth way. I'd advise to lift your fingers but be aware of anytime they move too far from the strings.
I find that doing the exercise like this quickly helps you get used to using your pinky more regularly. Alot of beginner and intermediate players barely use their pinky if at all
@Yousef Mahfouz However if you play distortion you want to take your fingers off. You don't want the notes to blend together. At least, that's what my teacher told me.
@@TheArtofGuitar it's a 'guitar Czerny'...
@@MICHAELJD6 'blend the notes', not 'blend the notes together'...
Something's wrong, this is not about Metallica...
Fernando Rosati and yet it is... the spider exercise is almost mandatory to be able to learn to shred
For whom the bell tolls can be practiced this way
Then shut the lights
@@mikesmit9770 plus Master of Puppets spider riff
The point of keeping the fingers on is to train the fingers not to flare out, that exercise is most useful for stopping the pinky flailing out, I've been doing it for a bit now and it's been great for it :)
Keeping your fingers on the strings moving one at a time helps developer isolated finger independence. It also helps train to keep your fingers down and minimize movements. It's an alternate version of the exercise. I didn't think much of it either after shredding for 27 years. Now I have a better fast graceful isolated movement from that exercise. It has it's benifiets....
I always try to do the "spider" exercise in different orders and do it forwards and backwards. It's all about muscle memory. if you just play 1,2,3,4 all the time, that's what your fingers will remember.
Thank God for this video, I was trying to do the spider exercise just as Myth #1 and that was a huge pain in the butt, really frustrating when going down the strings, as the fingers that were on the previous string would mute the string I was playing.
Mine did that, too. But I kept at it and they no longer do that. I did it the CORRECT way (fingers stay down) for a few months and my playing improved big time. The real myth is that you would develop a "habit" of muting strings by leaving all your fingers down all the time. Nothing could be more silly. There are true experts out there that teach the spider walk properly. This video creates more myths than it busts.
@@dannyarrington5175learning spider walk for the past few weeks. You’re right. Now I don’t know what I’m doing right or wrong. I thought I had a eureka moment when I had the muting issue. I guess not lol
Already a lot of questions about Myth #1. I think of it this way, if you train by keeping your fingers down every time you do the Spider Exercise you may begin to solidify that in your physiology in time. Now let's say you want to play an ascending 3 note-per-string scale. As you switch to the next string you'll leave your other fingers on the previous string causing huge problems. I believe you should practice the way you play so when doing an ascending scale you naturally want to come off the previous string as you ascend to the next to keep the flow happening. Now if you're just doing the "leave the fingers down" version part time to better finger independence that makes sense, but realize the danger in only doing that.
I do see what you’re saying but I’ll make an important distinction. Keeping your fingers down is not about training your fingers to stay down when you play, it’s about training one finger to move independently of the others when fretting. I would never expect anyone to keep their fingers down when playing for real. It’s a trick for he brain to move fingers smoothly and independently when playing anything. That’s my take. Hope what I write makes sense.
@@pennywise4843 Why not do both? I don't see that doing it this way is right and the other way wrong. I would think that alternating both techniques would result in a greater degree of dexterity.
Thanks so much for doing this. I just thought they had something about keeping all my fingers on the fret board constantly while moving one finger at a time. I'm so glad you made this video before I put months into doing this exercise. I got enough picking problems that I need to concentrate on that need more time. This is far better than the busting myth TV show.
It's a neurological exercise, you keep your fingers on the string so that your brain can develop a better way of working the ring and pinky fingers. Better for older students.
What I gleaned from this [and the comments] is that the spider exercise is simplistically powerful and the best way to “play it” is to both decide what you are trying to fix and trying to enhance at any point in time and play it in the way that does both. ie. economy, accuracy, speed, variability, feel, dexterity, etc. I’m going to utilize this not-so-simple trainer more often and more effectively for now on where I previously disregarded it as “too basic”.
The plain "spider" exercise that uses 1,2,3,4 back and forth across the neck before scooting up a half step and repeating, (until you run out of frets) has been good at subconsciously helping me know where to find notes I need to play by their sound. I do it at least once a day at a comfortable tempo as a casual warm -up on guitar and ukulele.
After this I recently started to do 5 min. with a timer on my tablet, of "Find The Note." where I locate and play every instance of a particular single note on the fretboard, on each string covering the entire fretboard. I'm spending however many days I need to on a single note before moving onto another. (Long long way to go for me)
I bought a small tuner that attached on to the guitar so anytime I'm comfortable with the spider routine (for example re-doing it in the same session) I'll alter the object of my focus to the single notes their names and sounds. I mean, by learning the 2 low strings you've already covered half of the strings, and by learning the notes of all 6 up to fret 11 you know basically all the positions already.
Imma not there yet at all and dont actually know how efficient way of learning the fretboard that is but I'll give it a try. At the same time I'm going through CAGED so after few months I should have some sort of knowledge bout the placing if the notes already.
So exciting!
Try the shifting 4s version: 1-2-3-4. 2-3-4-1. 3-4-1-2. 4-1-2-3 etc. Accent every first or fourth note in the group. Keep it chromatic by shifting down 1 fret every time you cross a string when ascending...except for the g to the b string where it doesn't shift.
Try it both forwards and backwards as well as ascending and descending. Nice smooth alternate picking will get you good at string hopping too. Use a metronome which will allow you to keep score of your progress. It's a real burner and will really help with your finger dexterity, control and strength. You can also apply this pattern to any scale shape, for example A minor: A-B-C-D, B-C-D-E, C-D-E-F, D-E-F-G, E-F-G-A, etc. Always accent the first or fourth note in each group to keep yourself in check.
Fantastic little pattern thing I was shown by my first guitar teacher, many many moons ago.
Give it a whirl!! Less clickin', more pickin' as the mighty Ben Eller says.
I really needed this. I kept muting strings as I thought that all my fingers should be on strings. Great video. Super helpful.
Keeping the fingers down while doing the spider exercise helps you gain more control over your individual fingers, learned this from Kiko loureiro from I think a guitar exercise video not sure
Kiko Loureiro did a lesson that says exactly the oppossite what you said in the first point
Cool video Mike....
Thomas mcrocklin posted a spider exercise variant a few years ago where he's picking 1-3-4-3-2-3-4-3. It really helped me in developing wider indepent movement between my third and fourth fingers so my little finger doesn't fly away from the fretboard all the time
I noticed how when you pick a string , your pick goes and rest on the string under it , that looks so efficient i'm gonna practice this technique i loved it !
I''m pretty much a total noob at guitar. This answered a lot of questions for me about this exercise. Keeping my fingers on the strings makes my wrist feel like it's exploding after a couple of ups and downs.
Also, thumb placement. The bane of my existence. It goes for a walk to look over the top even when I'm actively trying to keep it where my fingers can reach all 6 strings comfortably. I'm going to tattoo a smiley face on it if it keeps doing it. At least I've been trying to hold it in the right place so far.
Thanks for explaining some things to us beginners that was probably obvious to many others who watched this.
I know for the first exercise it may seem dumb to leave your fingers in place. But I've heard that leaving you finger in place allows you to develop a good hand angle. So it helps keeping your hand straight instead of at an angle when picking notes.
Your fingers should not be straight parallel with the fretboard, if angling them is more comfortable do so
This was a solid video. just that myth busted in the thumbnail helped me so much. Thank you
This was my long term question,but the answer was beautiful..thank you for the glimpse of relief 😅..God bless, kind people like you man..
7:40 I also do it without picking when I am looking something on my phone and my left hand is just empty. By doing this I realised that including picking in it should improve your timing and speed because I can go much faster on each note without picking.
OMG! Thank you! I've been scouring youtube for this information! No one talks about muting other strings. I started with the 6th string and couldn't do anything about touch other string with my pinky. And if i tried to avoid it my hand woulkd have to wrap around so far forward, and i haven't seen anyone get in that position
Damn Mike, so many videos lately. Love it
I usually start practicing doing spider exercise moving one finger at time but without playing few times starting from the first fret and the fifth fret. Then I start do the exercise playing. I feel I move less my fingers away from guitar. But I always felt guilt about it. You made my mind easy. Thanks!
but the spider walk is supposed to help you not mute the strings below the one you are already pressing? If you play a chort for example, you cant mute other strings cuz it will muffle the sound of it, so the spider walk helps you know how you should angle ur fingers so every string can resonate withour being muffled
Regarding myth 1. Unless you are a beginner, I agree with Mike and say do not keep your fingers on the fret board when doing this exercise. I did for years and now I have carpal tunnel syndrome and cubital tunnel syndrome in my left arm and wrist. My Dr said it is common in musicians from putting the wrist into extreme positions. I always had to bend my wrist to get the notes to ring out clean. Now I do have smaller hands so YMMV but better safe than sorry like I am now.
Bro im getting my first guitar soon but ive played my friends guitar and i can already play some easy riffs like crazy train, thunderstruck and so on
thanks, buddy, your lesson is easy to learn! I do appreciate the way you simplify stuff!
Ive seen keeping the fingers on the string as an exercise for better technique so you fingers dont fly off after fretting a note. It also helps when trying to not mute other strings which can be challenging.
Looking at how I fret, which isn't the fastest but it's pretty fluid, my index kind of anticipates the string change or position change and kind of just gravitates towards the next note before you finish playing whatever note you're hitting with your pinky. I think part of the training for this is learning that anticipation, which a lot of beginners can't do, and I'm more concerned with teaching that anticipation whenever I recommend this exercise to someone.
It is an awesome exercise for accuracy, plus it makes your calyces form real fast.
I guess that the idea of keeping the string fretted while changing each individual finder is to practice fretting technique. You need to be perpendicular to the fret.
Hey! I been wanting this for a long time and do know that ppl have seen this b4: songs to play when a guitar is handed out to you. Both acoustic and electric.
P.S: no backing tracks available.
Wonderwall :-)
Thank you for the insight
This vid sold me on learning guitar with your program. Bit late rn but ill check the site out tomorrow! Cheers from Uruguay, keep safe.
did you learn?
Myth no.1. There is another RUclips channel where they insist on keeping fingers on strings and remove them only one at a time when going to next string. Glad you cleared that and other questions I also had.
Both are great exercises but don't let anyone tell you you HAVE to do it a certain way.
The ability to move fingers and their joints independently is a function of how they are connected anatomically, how their nerves are wired, what brain regions are responsible for controlling those nerves, and how those regions 'may' be trainable to work differently. Understandably therefore, music teachers are not really best placed to say what are the best ways to do finger exercises. Some anatomical (tendon) and nerve connections are shared across fingers/joints; therefore their ability to work independently is limited. No matter how hard you practice some exercises, you cannot overcome that. There are even some individual anatomical variations (albeit rare) - so some people may be able to do certain finger movements that others cannot. Finally, even if you get better at a difficult finger exercise, it doesn't necessarily mean that will carry over to general playing. The best exercises are likely to be those that mimic normal playing movements. We know those independent movements are possible, because good players can do them. And we can expect improvements in those exercises will carry over to normal playing, because they involve the same movements as normal playing.
This is the best video I ever seen. My fingers thank you.
The spider exercise with fingers on the string is the “whole point”. Why would you do it like this? Because it strengthens finger independence of your left hand.
Doing the spider exercise while lifting your fingers is ALSO valid. This is much easier on the fretting hand and ultimately great for synchronizing your picking hand with your fretting hand at higher speeds.
Spider w fingers down = left hand work out
Spider w fingers relaxed/up = high speed picking in synch workout.
Seems to have worked out.
Would love to see a vid on Indians by Anthrax. There’s a little bit between the harmonized intro transitioning into the main riff. It’s something along the lines of 0-2-0-2-0-3-0-4-0-5 and the transitions into the main riff
Woooooow, in my first bass class, I was taught to keep the fingers on the spider variations!!!!!!! Very difficult and did not feel natural at all.... Does it apply on the bass Mike????
In my personal opinion, no you don't need to have your fingers stay on the same frets before moving to the next string because I believe that whatever is natural to you, you should do, as to not have any barriers in your growth of bass playing. Hope this helps 😊✌
@8un3zz I don't know. I think if someone has it harder learning things, then they could keep using the first way they've learned instead of the other, and it's also a nuisance to try to learn two similar but very different exercises at the same time. I'd just give them another exercise that also forces you to move fingers independently of each other
@8un3zz "The dude in the video is clueless.", says a random clueless dude in the comment section.
Thx for the tips! I'm playing guitar for about 2 months now started doing the spider walk three or four days ago, and I was really struggling to do the spider walk descending from the E chord because I was trying to keep my other fingers on the strings. Also about the thumb, I was positioning wrong.
Thank you. Really good info for a newbie. Appreciate it.
Myth Buster no. 4, I just learnt to play riff of a favourite classic Ojays Song, Family Reunion.
Always a good exercise, but keeping your fingers on the strings as you go up or down also has some great advantages for finger control. So yes... you would, or _should_ do that as part of the exercise.
Thank you so much🙏! Extremely helpful!!🙂👍
It was very useful for me. Thanks a lot..!!
I was told keeping the fingers on the strings while doing a spider exercise would help me stop my pinky from flying away. It doesn't really seem to help. Would you have any tips to help me with that Mr. Guitar?
For me, the fewer fingers I have on the fretboard, the less tension I feel. I try to use the minimum amount needed to play anything.
Generous and thoughtful
I really enjoy your videos. They have helped me tremendously! Also, love the Frank sticker!
1:33 For me- I do that because I want to be able to play the G and C forms up the neck. (But I'm a blues player. )
THANK YOU for making his video!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great Tips! Thanks!
*(this is much more rambling than I intended, but there's a REALLY good tip for players who have difficulty with thicker necks: if you want to see it just go to the **)
I have to say that regardless of what you're supposed to do, the fixed finger spider walk has hands down been one of the, if not THE most beneficial exercise that I've done. It literally corrected decades of sloppy technique. I haven't played in a few years, but not really my choice. I had an injury that kept me from playing, and working as much so I slowly sold one piece of gear after another, then a couple years went where I just couldn't afford to replace it.
EVERY day I thought about how much I wanted to play, in the same way that I miss my father everyday after he died. I still watched guitar videos almost daily, not just gear reviews, but lessons too. Whenever I saw one that looked particularly good, I'd save it. One of them was the spider walk.
When I was able but a guitar and gear it was the first exercise I did. I couldn't remember where I saw it, and the lesson was a bunch of different things, like this one, but the one I remembered was the fixed finger: fretting the Low E @ 5/6/7/8 fret and walking them one by one to the next string. I played each note as I did (later when I found the video I realized he had said that wasn't necessary but something to try later). I had bought an Eric Johnson Strat, which I had owned a couple over the years, and handled scores (I repaired guitars for over a decade, now mostly amps). Those who aren't aware of them, they're a hefty neck. It's a soft V, and I think may actually be the thickest necks Fender have done, at least measuring at the first fret. They're a full 1", the 65s are definitely the biggest necks, but that's due to the deep C shape, they're actually thinner than the 57.
I've always been partial the chunkier necks. I find they have a better tone (especially set necks like Les Pauls), and I prefer traditional models of guitars: Strats, Teles, Les Paul, ES335,etc) and for some reason the models, the finishes and specs that I like for some reason are always on the chunkier necks.
This exercise resulted in fat necks not only aren't difficult anymore, but I prefer the feel of them considerably more than slim (as opposed to liking them for tone and aesthetic reasons).
** Tip: I don't have the longest fingers and while playing fatter necks aren't a huge issue with everything, I did have problems with time to time. There were 2 things that almost immediately made playing them easier:
1) when you play make sure you're playing notes and chords ON TOP of the fretboard, NOT THROUGH it.
I heard that somewhere and remember my buddy saying "WTF does that mean?" I knew immediately. Instead if pressing the string down to fret it, I tended to squeeze the string and neck together. I'm not exaggerating when I say that when I picked up the guitar and played keeping that "on top of the board," in mind, it was instantly easier. It not only helped with that, it helped with all my playing. It took a while for it to become a habit; just what I do, but I'm talking about weeks for that, not months or anything like that.
2) the second was the fixed finger spider walk. I used to end up fretting with the pads of my fingers instead of the tips. Doing that makes playing the notes doing the fixed finger impossible, you just kill the vibrating string. Getting to the point where I could play it flawlessly, forward and back resulted in completely ending the bad technique I had done for years.
Honestly it worked so well that when I first tried it I thought it was impossible. There was 1 finger that I just couldn't raise up and move to the next string without another finger lifting. Now, I can't even remember exactly which finger the issue was with, I believe it was the ring but I'm not sure.
It's the 1 exercise that I make sure to do daily, even if I only pick the guitar up for a few minutes, it's to do this. I do the other variations on it, and developed my own as well. To make it harder I start at the Low E, but move 2 strings to the D string instead of the A. Then I move 1 back to the A, then 2 down to the G, etc.
All the variations like one in this video are just as beneficial, but the fixed finger was especially good for me and the issues I was trying to address.
Cheers, great video👍
I just recently began practicing the fixed finger spider walk and so far am finding it helpful. 👍
I am subscribing to your channel right away..
I thought this was going to be about Spider chords at first, not sure why. Awesome video as usual brotha! ( can you do a video about spider chords? Dave Mustaine uses/d this technique a lot. Which he used a lot when he was in Metallica.)
Wow I’ve just watched a video about this a week ago, and the person told me to keep my fingers on the strings, been doing that ever since, glad to see it was doing me nothing haha
This is a great instructional video, but with all the things to practice, I wouldn't put "Spider" all that high. The really useful exercise you kind of minimized, which would be practicing picking tempo while the fretting hand "spiders". 1/4, 1/8, triplets whatever, keep both hands practicing. And don't get me wrong, a lot of what you were doing is great, but it's beyond "spider".
Hello, thank you for this great video. One question : if I don’t move my thumb up, I have literally no possibility to reach the 6th cord. It feel super frustrating, and makes my other fingers move away from the cords. Is it okay for any kind of hands ? I got a lot of tensions in the top of the hands now 😕
I contradict, when you move to another string, your right hand side should not mute strings except you explicitly want it. Take some songs by Chet Atkins etc. you will constantly need it.
Never in over 30 years have a seen this described as "Spider Exercise".
Het the benefits of both methods by keeping your fingers fretted if starting on the high e and not keeping them fretted when starting at the low e.
Get*
I wish I had watched this video when I started. I am still a beginner but i really struggling to keep up with these myths. I started figuring these out when I played standing up. All that BS don’t work when you play standing. I have a request please. Could you please make a video for playing standing up with low strap. I am sure you will have some useful tips like this one.
About #myth1 it doesn’t have to make sense, it’s an exercise.
why do you think it doesn’t make any sens? Holding the fingers Is an exercise to work on controling fingers independently (three holding vs one moving)
Love that Donnie Darko guitar Mr artofguitar! (I assume that is your name)
For the first one, doesn't keeping your fingers on the strings build dexterity?
"They say you should go slow and keep both your hands on the steering wheel while learning to drive. Why would you do that? Don't do that. You won't be able to watch reels on your phone (=boring) and you're gonna arrive really late every time. Be relaxed, incline your seat to your liking, put on some music and swerve with your left hand, see those speed limit signs - just add 10 and maintain that speed."
What I'm saying is - I'm sure you are a good guitar player but why would you 'mythbust' an exercise which proved itself crazy good decades ago? It helps with finger independence and teaches how to position them so that they don't touch other strings - as simple as that. For people like me, who started learning guitar just by playing power chords and simple riffs, it turns the learning process towards the right direction: to independent finger control. Your take on this exercise is good too, but pls don't say that the original spider walk is bad. Everything helps.
What about alternate picking? Is that an acceptible method, or are all down (or up) strokes the preferred way?
You are a legend
Itsy-bitsy movements...
Underrated comment 🧚🏽♀️✨ deserves more likes 💞
Hey Mike, I see you're kind of back to what was your channel's main direction (or at least for this video!) before the Metallica enigmas. Could you tell me what guitar is that, a Dinky or maybe a Soloist (or perhaps a completely different model)? Thanks for making great videos.
"You have to keep your fingers on the strings"
Lil wayne: ha
Hi there what model is your Jackson? Beautiful axe
Yes curious myself.
Which Jackson is that sir? Thanks for the video btw
This might be off topic but where’d you get that tree decal on your guitar id like to get it
i have a question：whenever i play ascending spider walk exercise in 1-2-3-4 order, my pinky lift up and there always will be open string ringing, how to fix this? Any exercise that specifically focusing on this issue? Much appreciated!
I thought you had to lift your first finger before you put down the second one. For example on the first string i would fret the first fret, pick it then lift my index finger before putting down my middle to pick the second fret.
No, if you play a higher fret you don't need to life the previous finger, especially on a riff this fast.
Damn man! You’re on an uploading spree!
Question for you - when I’m playing a chromatic scale - and I go from 8 on the B string with my pinky to the next note which would be 3 on the E string - is proper technique to Stretch my pointer finger back to hit 3 and then subsequently all my fingers shift after, instead of moving my whole hand position at once?
If you're doing Chromatic you shouldn't have to reach to the 3rd fret, but the 4th fret on the E String. Either way, I shift everything as I move my hand back. No stretching to hit that note and then moving. Another good example of why you don't have to keep your other fingers down until the last second.
The-Art-of-Guitar yeah, you’re right, 4th fret, my bad! Okay, gotcha! Thanks for the reply. That helps! And thanks for all the great videos too. Appreciate them!
Should I focus on increasing speed as I'm progressing or should I first get down some other variations of the exercise on a set pace?
Be able to do 4 on each not in order at a decent speed. Then 2's, then singles. Then variations. :)
@@TheArtofGuitar Okay, yeah I figured it would be smarter to do variations at a decent speed than to do crazy tempos with the same shape all of the time. Thanks!
Thought he was going to say the 'fight fire with fire' spider chord riff was really 2-2-2-2
love your humor lol
2 Questions- firstly, when i get towards the thicker strings, my thumb(on the neck) goes down and when i go to the thinner ones it is hanging over. Is that okay?
Secondly, Paul Davids made a video on exercises and he said to keep the fingers on the fret board when moving to another string so I'm not sure which one is correct. Here look its the first exercise he mentions i think ruclips.net/video/b2XXzcQhPvc/видео.html
An exercise as old as spiders and we still have to answer questions about it
Sir my i can do all exercises you showed
But my pinky is always came straight after the first curl
It's not like c shape
It becames L shape from the top if we reverse
Does it make any problems????
Instead of playing 5678 can you play 8765?
Play it backward instead of forward I guess?
Hello Mike. Please accept my 'Pranaam.' You are my Guru.
I am facing difficulty in playing 16th note on 95 RPM. I can do it somehow at 65-70 RPM. Am I doing it right?
May you advice please?
I have a question! Does anyone else's middle finger stick too close with their ring finger doing this exercise? Will my finger start to go apart after doing this exercise or my fingers kinda meessed up?
This is really for the real beginner
ayy i am used to start with the pink but then it sound different.. and i am beginner in this
Q. How much should your fingers move while doing the Spider? A. An Itsy Bitsy amount
This only true when it doesn't rain.
I count this exercise as 2-3-2
To sum it up: Just be natural. Don't try to make your fingers do something that seem unnatural. If it is unnatural it is likely wrong.
I used to play classical before and my teacher told me not to touch the other strings, and now muting is kinda hard for me. :(
It is often the case that teaching in absolutes even with good intentions can create bad results. Good teachers will often precede a lesson with “For this exercise” or “To instill the basics” because the inference of “Never” has a strong impact on an impressionable student as you pointed out and there are almost always exceptions to everything.
I thought this was about the spider-chords by Dave Mustaine hahaha
My only question is what kind of Jackson is that?