I'll do one better and subscribe as well. This particular video is going to help me so much as a 3 week beginner. Can't wait to see what other knowledge you have to share!
One time I was in Guitar Center. Some dude was playing and was so good a small crowd had gathered around him to listen. Somebody complimented him and said ‘You’re really talented’. He said ‘Yeah people say that all the time and I always tell them it isn’t talent…it’s hard work’
When I first moved to America in 1998, I had a basic knowledge of English (it was actually quite good for back then!). I was playing guitar in a local music shop when someone came up to me and said: “dude, you’re sick. Your playing is the shit, man.” I was shocked someone would walk up to a stranger and call them shit and sick! I mumbled something, turned it off and went home, quite depressed… when I told the guy at the store what happened, he told me what the guy actually meant!
@@willbluefield5776 No. There is no human on this planet that was born with the ability to play any instrument. Until we can plug a USB T cable (USB 17.0), into a port inserted in our heads that conveys the music we hear in our brains into audible sound, all musicians have to put in hard work to get to the point where they can use their musical talent/gifts. To be able to fully express what you hear in your head takes a lifetime of practice for many. After 40 years, I can still barely scratch the surface of what I hear in my head. Have I practiced like a fiend? No I have not. Maybe if that was my only responsibility in life, I could get there. But it doesn't just require musical ability and talent. I honestly think it also requires the ability to understand how chords work and to understand music theory to a very deep degree to be able to fully unleash all that a creative person hears in their head. Which is why I think it's so uncommon.
@willbluefield5776 agreed that there are extraordinary but rare examples like Mozart. But even he required repetition to get his body to do what his brain conjured up. Having played violin, piano (just barely) and guitar, my personal opinion is that piano is by far the least difficult to mechanically operate and to gain substantial physical proficience. Also, you can't play out of tune if you wanted to, unlike stringed instruments, so its easier. There is a reason people type on a "keyboard". Its the most natural interface. This takes nothibg away from Mozart's genius. We know his name, not because of his technical ability (crazy how Mozart could play 64th notes at 200 bpm!!!!). Nobody cares about that. Its his writing ability. There is, no way, in fact, to know just how technically proficient he was other than anecdotes. But we do have fairly detailed accounts of just how many hours a day he spent writing and playing the piano/harpsichord (8 hours!). And look how much our standards have changed with RUclips showing the world just how many impressive amazing guitarist exist. Far more than most realized. I'm stunned by some of the stuff I see/hear. But nobody is moved by that like they are by an amazing song, something that moves you deeply. THAT is what is innate. The ability to transcribe the music you hear in your head requires learning to read music, learning to play those notes on the piano in order to vet your ideas. I believe you are conflating instrumentalist and song writer. Impressive guitar playing ability heard in a music store is not about someone strumming an acoustic guitar and singing the latest song they've written, its blowing oeople away with instrumental virtuosity. I was born with musical ideas in my head. From my earliest memories, I could hum a solo with any kind if music due to that innate improv ability. An ability which I was just born with. Zero work involved. Zero practice. Trying to put those sounds in my head into audible reality requires lots of practice. It may have required less for mozart than many or most, but one does not simply walk up to an instrument they've never played and bust out a perfect scale.
I am pretty much a beginner and I started off not liking this exercise. However, in just a few days of playing every combination I am noticing a significant improvement in my playing, speed and accuracy. Thank You...
@@spacejockey4746 this is but one exercise. Also it's not intended to improve musicality. It is intended to improve technique which, in turn, allows one to express their misicality. You can have all the ideas you want but if you can't play the instrument, it doesnt matter.
Pushing 60 years old, finally decided to learn how to play, can't afford lessons. This exorcise is simple genius. Even with my untrained eyes and ears I understand the value. Thank you.
When I first picked up guitar 40 years ago my college roommate showed me exactly these exercises. I practiced for hours before learning any actual music. 5 years later when I first started playing with other musicians they heard me noodling and said “okay you play lead” even though I didn’t know shit.
I always get "this doesn't work and it's a waste of time" but I'm hear to say it does work, it allows you to focus more on the technique than the notes, your focus is more directed to pick and hand sync , great lesson !!!
Thank you Andre. I am from the Netherlands and 63 years old. After playing for 2 years when I was 25 I stopped for 38 years. I bought myself a second hand guitar one month ago. Your video and lesson gave me the good spirit (again). God Bless you.
This guy needs to get up every day and thanks God for those fingers. I’ve been playing for 40 years with stubby digits, and it definitely makes things harder!
@cryptojoecoin5480 Yeah it is funny how the guys doing these exercises all have long fingers. It's like the piano guys who can stretch a tenth who all say "Oh it just takes a bit of time" as if sausage fingers eventually grow into swan neck fingers. 🤣
I was self-taught at around 10 years old. I played consistently until my late 20s. I played chords/rhythm with emphasis on my right hand for "flourish" (right-handed) After a 35 year hiatus I have begun trying to play again. Now 64 years old. I still remember each chord, but not the order they go in to play any of the large catalog I used to play. But I have started learning songs I never played before, primarily rock. I also am learning lead riffs and solos. The exercise you show in this video is helping immensely. This might help stave off the arthritis that is increasing in my fingers. Being new and clumsy to this I found picking each note 4 times helps. Then 3 times, then 2, then 1. Old dog relearning and old, and new, trick. Thank you.
With 26 years of guitar practicing under the belt I must say this video is hands down one of the most important I've ever seen. This really is going to take your guitar ability to the next level. Thank you.
You know, I have a very addictive personality. When I do something I try it to the absolute max, it used to be things that were not good for me, about 6 months ago I bought my first guitar, a squire tele. I playing about 3-4 hours a day, work on scales everyday, and in between work on songs that I’ve wanted to learn. I do hand stretching to work on my range of motion, and decided to look for something new to add, and by the end up doing this my hand was actually sore lol, those weird combos work awesome. So big thanks, I will definitely be adding this to my practice routine, and hopefully help me along on my guitar journey here.
@@MarceloPinto-fw5sw no, never got to big into mma stuff. It’s kinda funny though when I look back on comments from when a while ago, an seeing the things I was working on, an how much farther along I’ve come with the guitar.
Right on man!! I can relate to your story, except for one thing, I started playing guitar about 50 some years ago and if my first guitar was close to the quality of your squire tele, I would be a virtuoso by now!! I have around 45 guitars today and a couple are squire tele's that I play almost everyday!!
@@gregoryzischke1843 what is the basic difference of a Squier vs American Standards, made in Mexico, made outside US etc, ?? My husband is a professional guitar player. Between us we have over 30 guitars. I have been playing/fooling around with guitar since I was 15. I’m 63 now and have recently gotten fired up to seriously hunker down and get back to it. I never got past a basic beginner/very early intermediate Rhythm guitarist. I don’t care about being a lead guitarist. That is my husband’s forte. But at this age, I want to hit my goal of being a very decent rhythm guitarist, so I’m practicing again and learning things off of RUclips, etc. We have all these beautiful guitars. I am blessed to have my pic of the crop at any time to practice with. I have a made in Mexico Tele (Nashville player) and a made in Mexico Strat, too. I also own a vintage 1960 Gibson Les Paul Junior that was my uncles in studio sessions in the 60s and 70s. My husband has a lot of vintage and newer Fenders and Gibsons. I never understand what the difference is really between Squires, Americans, and all the others. Can anyone give me a solid basic breakdown about this? Thanks! ❤
I did this practice about 15 minutes yesterday and then about 10 minutes today. I then decided to test my newfound coordination by playing through Landslide, specifically where Buckingham solos over the travis picking. I couldn't believe it. I sailed through what is usually a very tricky part for me. Wow!
That exercise my teacher showed me 40 years ago but as a 12 years old I didn't understand the point but a few years later I incorporated it in my practice routine. Highly recommended!
I have been using this exercise on my students for 20 years, my guitar teacher showed it to me over 35 years ago, great dexterity exercise and so many variations on the theme.
Michael Toth in Vancouver was the teacher who showed me this in 1978. After career and kids “paused” my guitar playing for 35 years, I picked up guitar again and this was my first step back. Thank you both.
same here - feels great, doesn't it? I'm amazed that some things you never lose. When I was nine, getting my ring finger to play the basic D chord was a real challenge. So were fretted chords. And I never lost being able to do fingerpicking patterns, even a tremelo.
as a teacher and player for more than 30 years (flamenco, fusion rock) this is the most important exercise for guitar...just play the chromatic scale for a month and with these variations even better...up and down, fastening the tempo and after a month go learn the proper scales...this exercise will "marry" the left and and right hand in perfect sync...that all you need to begin, after that everything will be just butter..believe me and believe Andre, Ciao de Portugal
For those of us who were less fortunate not being able to take lessons, (very expensive) this is such good information and I hope you will continue to pass on these great tips and exercises on to us. Thank you for sharing.
Not planning to stop posting videos. anytime soon… Though RUclips’s mysterious choices when it comes to showing my videos or not is MADDENING! 😀 thanks for the kind words.
I don't quite understand, YT works perfectly 😂 I have posted over 1000 help/type practice what I call video tabs (chord stuff) as I thought people would me like, oh this is awesome an easy way to practice and its free. I know I can't collect a dime from it because it's all copyright stuff and I certainly wouldn't continue after this many uploads and not even 150 subscribers. Man I can hardly, get a like or a comment. Sometimes I think they are hoping I will just go away and give it up. I don't mind as I started all this as a online backup for myself, but a had shown a friend and he was like "man you have to make these public" so I did and managed to connect to a few people but I thought I'd have 1000'a by now because it's all done for you. Just click and play. I'm not schooled in music, it has all been done on my own. I never started playing until I was 40, learning the most basic stuff from J. Sandercoe. I used to post on guitar sites but rather be on my own. If you ever bored drop by and check it out. Some are better than others, I know that, but I don't claim to be the worlds best or anything. I hate typing all the lyrics, I will try to find what I think are the best until tabs and just tweak them if I can. It's not against the law, but some people who submit transcriptions my not like me say that I just regurgitate stuff. If I just did that I would be cheating myself. I do enjoy the challenge and the reward of playing along and it sounds pretty good I think. I'm not into lead playing, and I guess for the subs I have right now are happy about that or I might stop what I'm doing.
Something that I kind of had intuited, but never really considered is that because I was a guitar autodidact, if I saw a Barre chord that seemed to throw off the rhythm while I gradually positioned my fingers and then... usually get maybe 3 notes to ring out with the occasional fret buzz
I tried to teach these to my young niece years ago, suggesting they would help her fingers get stronger and familiar with positions in prep for other stuff. The commitment for practice always changes the plan. I found when applied to modes, and using string skipping and adjacent string plucking it was possible to open up this idea to soloing and jamming in really cool ways. Thanks for the post Andre, I now feel I should revisit my practice sessions like I used to in the old days.
I’ve been warming up with this exercises every time I practice. I’ve incorporated my picking strokes to coordinate with the first finger of the set. Example: 4213= 4 strokes per note. 3142= 3 strokes per note etc. This is yielding both fretting and picking dexterity. A great exercise for all levels of player. Thanks for tutorial AND for posting the chart!
I wish I would have done this years ago when I first started playing. I'm old now, and have been a decent player (off and on) but never did develop the finger strength in my pinky to be able to run around on the fretboard freely. I tend to use only 3 fingers and skip the pinky. Not always, but more times than not.
Yeah, these types of exercises are great. I hope you don't mind me adding that I think it's helpful to also use a metronome and then try quarter, eighths, triplets and sixteenths (when you can do them evenly) always start slow and don't move up the speed until you can play the spacings evenly . Doing that with the metronome really helped my sense of time that carried over into other playing situations. You also can do all of these exercises legato -just pick the first note. Stop if you feel any pain. Nice video!
Great exercises, but what makes them even better is playing the symmetrical scale rather than just arbitrary consecutive frets - because then you have to think about it musically as well. Harder to get right but very worthwhile. And when that’s not too hard, try counting aloud and playing two notes per count, then three…
No explanation of tempo, precision, incremental development, common challenges, pushing past sticky points, time requirements and so on and so on. Too much missing to really be very useful. Especially for an exercise that is extremely common.
@@theoriginalheartstrummer You are obviously a competent musician but your reading skills suck! I clearly praised what I regard as a vital first step! What you mention certainly follows.
This is a random video suggestion but it’s great. I have done those excercises for years and think they’re great. I think players should also experiment with with varying time signatures. Play the notes in 3/4 or 5/8 groupings. And if you want to make it worse, emphasise individual notes in each group. Say you play the easiest one: 1234. Put an emphasis on one. Then on 2 , then on 3 , etc etc …. Change dynamics, etc.. it’s endless … this is a great and helpful video. Thank you :)
These are very good exercises and have been part of my routine for something like 50 years. One way to play those exercises that is very good for finger independence is to play them and keep your finger down as long as possible while moving from string to string. It does not work with all permutations but it works for most of them and will really develop your finger strength and independence.
Thanks for reminding me to do this today. I started doing this exercise a couple years or so so ago after playing for 15 years. I started with a quite a quick pace of 16ths at 90bpm (I had been playing for a long time so this was pretty straightforward, players with less experience would probably start with half this speed) I would do 3 of these rows a day from fret 1 to 12 up and down then move on to the next 3 overlapping with the last two I did the day before (day 1 row 1+2+3, day 2 row 2+3+4, etc) This cycle takes 6 days 1 2 3 4 2 3 4 1 3 4 1 2 4 1 2 3 1 2 4 3 2 3 1 4 3 4 1 2 4 1 3 2 1 3 2 4 2 1 3 4 3 2 1 4 4 2 3 1 1 3 4 2 2 4 3 1 3 2 4 1 4 2 3 1 1 4 2 3 2 1 3 4 3 4 1 2 4 3 1 2 1 4 3 2 2 1 4 3 3 4 2 1 4 3 2 1 It took 5 weeks of bumping up the tempo 10bpm a week to get this up to 140bpm That's when it starts getting very difficult to progress much further. And I would separate things into one row I would do faster, say 160bpm and the other rows I would do at an established speed. Eventually there's a point where you have to mentally group the notes differently, instead of thinking of 4 separate notes at 180bpm once I got to that it was just a sequence. It took a few months to get to 185-200bpm which is where I decided to stop because I was getting diminishing returns in affecting other parts of my guitar playing and it was just becoming about doing the exercise. Now I just do a column or two a few times a week or whenever I feel my chops getting rusty. This whole process was very beneficial in ways that I didn't anticipate it would be. I was able to whip my fingers around for single note lines a lot better for sure. However the most improvement I got from this was the ability to play independent lines on the guitar much better and with fantastic legato because I was able to get my fingers where I wanted them much faster and more accurately. Overall the most important thing here is using the metronome to force yourself to solve the movements required and strip away anything that is superfluous to movements which you will be forced to do in transitioning between strings once you get past 120bpm
Good! I learned this elsewhere and did this for a couple of months but had stopped and forgotten about it- this got me started again. The "4 times on each" is helpful as is the thoughtfulness about the differences of each one. I will re-start doing this now every day!
BTW, this pattern is easy to remember as it is in "dictionary order " (called in mathematics "lexicographic order", that is, all possible words with letters abcd are ordered in the dictionary, abcd abdc adbc adcb, then starting with "b" and so on. The number of patterns is (# ways to choose 1st letter) x (# ways to choose 2nd given that)x( # ways to choose 3rd given that )x( # ways to choose 4nd given that)= 4x3x2x1 = 24 as he said. This is called "4 factorial" and is written 4! Cheers!
@@florasalvatierra2632 even a lesson or too with a very good instructor can save you innumerable wasted hours and prevent you from developing habits that hinder your development. Don’t be afraid to find a teacher. With guitar, good technique often makes difficult things seem a lot easier, as well as making the process a more enjoyable experience.
It has also occurred to me not long ago that you don't always need the guitar in your hands to practice the guitar - a table or even your thumb will do. A very powerful realization. But to these exercises I would also add pressing more than one finger at a time (e.g. 1+3 together, then 2+4 together, or: 1+3+4 together then 2, and so forth. Quite a few permutations.). In real life playing this helps with combining melodic lines with chords during improvisation or just regular playing.
Yeah, I noticed this a number of years ago with a foot ruler--the kind from grade school w/ the brass edge. You can practice all sorts of single "string" licks and exercises with that. Finger combinations, hammer-ons, pull-offs, tapping, etc.
Great video Andre - for anyone serious about using 100% of their capabilities. I remember doing these exercises on the piano as a child, both hands at the same time - rub your belly and pat your head while tap dancing kind of stuff. There is an inherent weakness in the link between your third and fourth fingers that many people will ignore for their whole playing life. I agree with you completely about how much this will improve your chops. The thing that got to be a "problem" for me (as a kid) was, once I could do this smoothly (at even a slow tempo) it was so hypnotic I would lose myself in the exercise. If I had the discipline now, I had back then - I would have been doing this with the strings a long time ago. It seems impossible at first but you get it down quicker than you think if you do it every day - make a game of it. If you can't get through a section without errors, slow the metronome down and go until you can get it right. It gets to be very satisfying when you can build up even a little speed, just don't faster than you do it clean.
Bass player Gary Willis has a similar exercise which is to play 1-2-3-4 on one string but keeping each finger on the fretboard after it's played, so all four fingers are on the fretboard, then do the same on an adjacent string but only moving one finger from the first string at a time. It's hugely illuminating in how little control you have, especially with independence of third finger.
I used to not see the point of this when I could do something more musical, but now I use a combat sport training analogy; this is strength and conditioning, whereas theory or learning repertoire is acquiring/drilling techniques and improv is sparring.
I played guitar between 17 and 21 and these exercises always where our warm-up exercises before we went on. I want to play again and this is what I start with now, just get strength and mobility in my fingers again, the rest comes later. Awesome stuff.
In the same boat, I wanna rebuild my strength and technique because I already learned a lot about playing guitar and still have a lot of the muscle memory but my fingers won't cooperate
These combinations are great exercises for the left hand when played on a single string. If you play them of four adjacent strings and maintain alternate picking, they are great right hand exercises.
I literally had to stop this before even two minutes! Why? Because I experienced enough to show gratitude when a truly good person shares their wisdom. Now I shall really enjoy the rest of the video. But first I like and sub. With Blessings and thanks hermano.
Really helpful. I just started out (again) and came across your channel. 2 years ago I gave up, mostly due to myself. Now I watched several videos and some say ‘don’t give up’. Those simple words really help. These excercices look simple, but there is a lot to them. I found your tips really helpful And wrote them down, definitely gonna watch more of your videos and hold on to playing. I found it really essential to monitor my progress, getting better every day little by little but also accepting that sometimes you are allowed to have a bad day. Then it is important to come back to your guitar the next day and do your routines. Thank Andre!
Some words of encouragement...Every guitarist has been there, and they will all tell you the same thing - it's worth it. When I first played Wish You Were Here accousitc and Shine On You Crazy Diamond electric properly for the first time (Floyd fan, abviously) I felt like a guitar god! I'm not much good, but just knocking out the odd blues riff now and then is pure therapy. Whatever or whoever inspires you, keep at it. It will improve your life in ways you least expect - musical people tend to be more 'rounded individuals' - philisophically speaking. Even the most tortured souls are exorcised through their playing! Make them fingers bleed...!!!
I have a hand injury, cut the Ulnar nerve just under little finger while diving. It really slowed me up and I thought seeing as I'm not Django Rhinehart I might be stuck playing slide. I pushed through and with exercises like this I can play nearly as accurately as i did for 30 years before the accident. Great exercises there, got some new ones now, Thanks so much. 🍻
Psoriatic arthritis in my hands cuts my play time considerably. The exercise emphasizes play and hand dexterity. I was gifted this by my teacher , forgot his name sadly, it’s been about 25 years but I do this for about 30 minutes a day
This is very good practicing exercise. Practicing is not playing. So we don't like it, but we have to do it anyway, to play better, and to progress much faster.
Hi. Long time player here taking a moment to applaud your presentation of a very "basic" technique that fits in with my guitar playing philosophy. This short video can provide a go to place for budding players to maintain interest when things get a little "ho hum" as well as established players for warm ups and coordination excercises. I've done similar runs but you've expanded on mine and presented solid basis for beginners to established players. Thank You.
You’re an exceptional communicator. What a great teaching style. Thank you so much for sharing this exercise and your experience. I can’t wait to get home to my guitar and start!!
Incorporating this routine from today Ill comment here exactly 1 years after practicing this everyday. Thanks for the advice Ive been looking for something like this . Big appreciation 🔥
My first serious guitar teacher, the awesome, effortless, Randy Sarles from Philly area, called this exercise "finger gymnastics". They were every possible permutation. Sometimes all 4 fingers, sometimes just 3. Up... Down... Sideways... Skipping strings... Whatever. They had more of an influence on me than all the jazz standards "fake books" (non copyright, hand drawn, xeroxed, loose bound, song charts) combined. Thanks Randy !!!
@@andretonelli actually it's pretty good. Born in Napoli immigrated to America at six months old. Returned to Italy and study medicine at University of Bologna for five years. Picked up the guitar at age 74 and realized my lifelong dream of playing my favorite rock 'n' roll songs. I am now 78 and have a room full of fender, Marshall and Gibson equipment. My equipment is much better than my ability to play ha ha but I'm having so much fun. Appreciate your lessons. Keep up the good work and God bless.
@@dr.leonardo6382 I Love Naples! Great to hear you’ve got some great gear to keep you busy. I think most of us have way more gear than we need, so no worries! Ci vediamo presto. Andre
@@andretonelli another fun fact, when he left the music store to go to the gig, he showed his humility and bought a spandex outfit hanging on the wall that we all would make fun of, it was a black spandex top and bottom with red pin stripes, he performed wearing it at the gig. We all learned a lesson that night which had nothing to do with his talent. It was thought provoking to see him perform a classical piece "Jesus of Man's Desires" in that outfit.
I learned chromatic finger exercises from an old Jazz guitarists several decades ago. I still use them to warm up and invented some interesting "shapes" along the way. I even use them in solos from time to time...that gets some interesting looks from my bandmates! LOL. Thanks, some nice spins on "finger exercises" here!
I watched a video of Trey Anastsio explaining this! So awesome to hear the same advice from a different perspective and musician. You're great, thank you so much for your videos, Andre
I'm 72 y/o and have been playing acoustic guitar 6 and 12 string fingerstyle since 1975. I originally learned, by ear, on an electric guitar in 1968. Recently, I bought an Epiphone Sheraton 2. Going from finger picking to using a plectrum is a challenge itself. But I'm very happy I found you on RUclips. Using your finger exercises, I'm sure I'll get it eventually. BTW, I've looked all over RUclips for good electric guitar teaching, and so far you are the best. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing that! Amazing how RUclips puts people together like that. I was born years after you even started to play, are probably thousands of miles away, and yet here we are! Glad I could help you a bit in your progress. May I suggest you check out some other of my videos, I have a lot out there that will help you with picking. Andre
I did almost the same set of excercises when i started out years ago!I also found hammer ons and pull offs were really helpful through 1,2,3,4 up and down the fretboard to build strength.😀
When i was studying the Chinese pipa lute, my teacher taught me a variation of this kind of exercise that used the first 4 notes of a major scale instead of chromatic. But the exercise was that i ran through every combination 4 times, beginning with all combos starting on 1st finger, then all combos starting on 2nd finger etc. It was a great exercise and i sometimes use it on other instruments, including guitar, but i'm going to add this version now too!
Ha! Absolutely spot on. But if you’ve got less time than you’d like, I’ve just made a video about that: The Secret to EFFECTIVE PRACTICE ruclips.net/video/YsdrJvZ3hts/видео.html
One of the major problems with people, they can't figure out that things are going to take time, that's why people tailgate on the freeway, freak out when they have to wait in line, and want to be a guitar god without practicing.
Hey Andre, this video popped up in my feed as I'm teaching myself the basics of guitar after spending thirty plus years playing drums. I'd seen players mention the 1234 method before but never any permutations, I'm looking forward to spending a couple of (no doubt) frustrating hours this afternoon trying these exercises out and incorporating it in my practice routine. Thanks for this. Subscribed.
You have a genuine vibe. Learning such independent finger movement and cadence makes you realize you're playing a right-handed instrument. The picking hand can guide the fretting fingers into place but not vice versa. Learn rest strokes. Aside, an interesting variation: Start with the pinky, then move the hand up as the next fingers fall on their frets. Doing a chromatic 4 notes per string from low E-fifth fret, ascending/descending up to 12th fret offers a different set of stepping stones across the the stream.
I've been working on this the last two weeks and I love it. It really forces me to break those muscle memory moves that lead my hand before by mind can even think about it. Thank you
Great exercises. Tomi Fujita has a great chromatic exercise that focuses on 1 string. 12 1232 123432 1234 and also the reverse 43 4323 432123 432. Starting at the first fret going up to the 12th. Works great because each position is 16 notes long. Would love to hear your thoughts on this one!
Thank you for sharing this important lesson on some great exercises! I have implemented this into a routine now and look forward to the improvements. It was impressive to me that you pointed out the ring finger and pinky how they are weaker and are harder to work with. I was noticing that in starting these exercises and I hope to solve my stumbling rhythm with these exercises.
@@JimPetty thanks Jim, I hope they help you in your guitar journey. If you have a look at past videos, there’s a LOT of material you might like. Cheers Andre
This is the perfect exercise. My friend taught me this over a year ago on his guitar, but now I'm just getting my first ever guitar today and i can't wait to emplament this first thing into my practice! This video found me at a perfect time.
Looks like a very useful practice system. FYI the ring finger (flexor) tendon and the small finger tendon are often connected. Many people including myself cannot flex the small finger independently from the ring finger. The same can be true with the thumb and index finger. Try flexing each one with the others straight and see.
I've been playing for around 9 months and every time I practice I do the spider walk from bottom string to top string, move one fret over and then from top to bottom string. I do it from the 1st fret all the way to 12th fret or so. It goes, 1234, 2341, 3412, 4123, 1234, 2341 from bottom to top string, move over one fret, then top to bottom starting at 3421 and so forth. I don't use a metronome but perhaps I should. Form me I am much slower from fret 1-5 but can go faster as I move through the frets. I also don't have the longest pinky finger so the 4th fret over on the bottom 2 string is alway a stretch for me. After that warm up I also play the A minor pentatonic from the 1st fret/nut all the way to fret 21 on my guitar. That finishes my warmup. When I began, that used to be my practice because I was so slow.....LOL Would take me 20-30 minutes to do that spider and the pentatonic, LOL. Now, it's a 5-8 minute warm up doing those two things.
Sounds like you’ve got it figured out! But I would add one thing and that’s the metronome. If you are slower at the bottom of the fretboard and faster as you move up, you really want to even that out. Thanks for sharing your progress! Andre
You definitely should use the metronome so you can force yourself to play faster. I improved a lot in my playing by regimenting myself with this using a metronome even after I had been playing for years. If you do this kind of thing for a few months pushing a few bpm a week you can get really fantastic results.
Great video! I do two of the permutations as part of my warmup and after watching your video I will start with a couple of the latter ones you showed us all.
I've always done the basic first combination, but switching it up. Actually adds a lot of strength to different muscles. Appreciate the tip I'll definitely be using it
If you enjoyed the video and learned something new, could you please hit the 👍button, it really helps a lot! Thank you so much everyone! Andre
I'll do one better and subscribe as well. This particular video is going to help me so much as a 3 week beginner. Can't wait to see what other knowledge you have to share!
@@TeamFRYFTW welcome! I think you’ll find a lot of stuff you can use in previous videos, too! Best, Andre
@andretonelli are you touching the guitar with your picking hand 3 and 4 fingers, using it as a guide to help with accuracy?
@@richardnissman6511 hi Richard, my fingers are just resting “dead” on the guitar. They are not doing anything really!. Andre
Thank you. Going to be busy with this …
One time I was in Guitar Center. Some dude was playing and was so good a small crowd had gathered around him to listen. Somebody complimented him and said ‘You’re really talented’. He said ‘Yeah people say that all the time and I always tell them it isn’t talent…it’s hard work’
When I first moved to America in 1998, I had a basic knowledge of English (it was actually quite good for back then!). I was playing guitar in a local music shop when someone came up to me and said: “dude, you’re sick. Your playing is the shit, man.” I was shocked someone would walk up to a stranger and call them shit and sick! I mumbled something, turned it off and went home, quite depressed… when I told the guy at the store what happened, he told me what the guy actually meant!
@@andretonelli Oh man, that’s funny!
@@andretonellihahah that's funny
@@willbluefield5776 No. There is no human on this planet that was born with the ability to play any instrument. Until we can plug a USB T cable (USB 17.0), into a port inserted in our heads that conveys the music we hear in our brains into audible sound, all musicians have to put in hard work to get to the point where they can use their musical talent/gifts. To be able to fully express what you hear in your head takes a lifetime of practice for many. After 40 years, I can still barely scratch the surface of what I hear in my head. Have I practiced like a fiend? No I have not. Maybe if that was my only responsibility in life, I could get there. But it doesn't just require musical ability and talent. I honestly think it also requires the ability to understand how chords work and to understand music theory to a very deep degree to be able to fully unleash all that a creative person hears in their head. Which is why I think it's so uncommon.
@willbluefield5776 agreed that there are extraordinary but rare examples like Mozart. But even he required repetition to get his body to do what his brain conjured up. Having played violin, piano (just barely) and guitar, my personal opinion is that piano is by far the least difficult to mechanically operate and to gain substantial physical proficience. Also, you can't play out of tune if you wanted to, unlike stringed instruments, so its easier. There is a reason people type on a "keyboard". Its the most natural interface. This takes nothibg away from Mozart's genius. We know his name, not because of his technical ability (crazy how Mozart could play 64th notes at 200 bpm!!!!). Nobody cares about that. Its his writing ability. There is, no way, in fact, to know just how technically proficient he was other than anecdotes. But we do have fairly detailed accounts of just how many hours a day he spent writing and playing the piano/harpsichord (8 hours!). And look how much our standards have changed with RUclips showing the world just how many impressive amazing guitarist exist. Far more than most realized. I'm stunned by some of the stuff I see/hear. But nobody is moved by that like they are by an amazing song, something that moves you deeply. THAT is what is innate. The ability to transcribe the music you hear in your head requires learning to read music, learning to play those notes on the piano in order to vet your ideas.
I believe you are conflating instrumentalist and song writer.
Impressive guitar playing ability heard in a music store is not about someone strumming an acoustic guitar and singing the latest song they've written, its blowing oeople away with instrumental virtuosity.
I was born with musical ideas in my head. From my earliest memories, I could hum a solo with any kind if music due to that innate improv ability. An ability which I was just born with. Zero work involved. Zero practice. Trying to put those sounds in my head into audible reality requires lots of practice. It may have required less for mozart than many or most, but one does not simply walk up to an instrument they've never played and bust out a perfect scale.
I am pretty much a beginner and I started off not liking this exercise. However, in just a few days of playing every combination I am noticing a significant improvement in my playing, speed and accuracy. Thank You...
That’s great to hear, Jeff! Andre
impressive dedication. you are off to a great start!
How about your “musicality”? If you’re “pretty much a beginner” you shouldn’t be worrying about speed to much.
@@spacejockey4746 this is but one exercise. Also it's not intended to improve musicality. It is intended to improve technique which, in turn, allows one to express their misicality. You can have all the ideas you want but if you can't play the instrument, it doesnt matter.
Amazing clear simple goals.
Pushing 60 years old, finally decided to learn how to play, can't afford lessons. This exorcise is simple genius. Even with my untrained eyes and ears I understand the value. Thank you.
I’m so glad to hear that! Andre
My teacher's oldest student is 71. It's never too late. How are you coming along a month later?
just 70 (weird!) and bought a guitar....this is a good exercise I think
I'm glad you're getting the exorcism you needed
@@tonyarnold9784
If you think 70 is weird, try
Being 73!!
When I first picked up guitar 40 years ago my college roommate showed me exactly these exercises. I practiced for hours before learning any actual music. 5 years later when I first started playing with other musicians they heard me noodling and said “okay you play lead” even though I didn’t know shit.
😀
that's jazz!
: D
@@emankayker8257 lol
Very well said.
I always get "this doesn't work and it's a waste of time" but I'm hear to say it does work, it allows you to focus more on the technique than the notes, your focus is more directed to pick and hand sync , great lesson !!!
Thank you Andre. I am from the Netherlands and 63 years old. After playing for 2 years when I was 25 I stopped for 38 years. I bought myself a second hand guitar one month ago. Your video and lesson gave me the good spirit (again). God Bless you.
That’s fantastic, thank you for sharing! Andre
@@andretonelli 🤝👋
This guy needs to get up every day and thanks God for those fingers. I’ve been playing for 40 years with stubby digits, and it definitely makes things harder!
@cryptojoecoin5480 Yeah it is funny how the guys doing these exercises all have long fingers. It's like the piano guys who can stretch a tenth who all say "Oh it just takes a bit of time" as if sausage fingers eventually grow into swan neck fingers. 🤣
I was self-taught at around 10 years old. I played consistently until my late 20s. I played chords/rhythm with emphasis on my right hand for "flourish" (right-handed)
After a 35 year hiatus I have begun trying to play again. Now 64 years old.
I still remember each chord, but not the order they go in to play any of the large catalog I used to play.
But I have started learning songs I never played before, primarily rock. I also am learning lead riffs and solos.
The exercise you show in this video is helping immensely. This might help stave off the arthritis that is increasing in my fingers.
Being new and clumsy to this I found picking each note 4 times helps. Then 3 times, then 2, then 1.
Old dog relearning and old, and new, trick.
Thank you.
Thanks for sharing that, Patrick! This kind of comments fill me with joy. I hope you'll find some of the other vies useful, as well. Andre
Ah! Thank you Patrick! I thought I was just a lamer for doing that.
Can you elaborate it more, i don't understand why picking each note multiple time helps, I'm just curious.
@@audioexpeditions Muscle memory
With 26 years of guitar practicing under the belt I must say this video is hands down one of the most important I've ever seen. This really is going to take your guitar ability to the next level. Thank you.
Thank you Tonio for the kind words! Andre
You have played 26 years (now 27)...i am 70 and just started so at 97 maybe i will master it!
always use a metronome while practicing and use your voice too along with the notes. Amazing how that works
I wouldn't say always unless you are planning to always play with a click on stage, when recording, etc
@@axel9473 That's why @donnalarossa9173 said "while practicing".
You know, I have a very addictive personality. When I do something I try it to the absolute max, it used to be things that were not good for me, about 6 months ago I bought my first guitar, a squire tele. I playing about 3-4 hours a day, work on scales everyday, and in between work on songs that I’ve wanted to learn. I do hand stretching to work on my range of motion, and decided to look for something new to add, and by the end up doing this my hand was actually sore lol, those weird combos work awesome. So big thanks, I will definitely be adding this to my practice routine, and hopefully help me along on my guitar journey here.
Congratulations on starting with the guitar. It will be an awesome journey! Sounds like you have your routine figured out, too! Andre
Have you tried MMA?
@@MarceloPinto-fw5sw no, never got to big into mma stuff. It’s kinda funny though when I look back on comments from when a while ago, an seeing the things I was working on, an how much farther along I’ve come with the guitar.
Right on man!! I can relate to your story, except for one thing, I started playing guitar about 50 some years ago and if my first guitar was close to the quality of your squire tele, I would be a virtuoso by now!! I have around 45 guitars today and a couple are squire tele's that I play almost everyday!!
@@gregoryzischke1843 what is the basic difference of a Squier vs American Standards, made in Mexico, made outside US etc, ?? My husband is a professional guitar player. Between us we have over 30 guitars. I have been playing/fooling around with guitar since I was 15. I’m 63 now and have recently gotten fired up to seriously hunker down and get back to it. I never got past a basic beginner/very early intermediate Rhythm guitarist. I don’t care about being a lead guitarist. That is my husband’s forte. But at this age, I want to hit my goal of being a very decent rhythm guitarist, so I’m practicing again and learning things off of RUclips, etc. We have all these beautiful guitars. I am blessed to have my pic of the crop at any time to practice with. I have a made in Mexico Tele (Nashville player) and a made in Mexico Strat, too. I also own a vintage 1960 Gibson Les Paul Junior that was my uncles in studio sessions in the 60s and 70s. My husband has a lot of vintage and newer Fenders and Gibsons. I never understand what the difference is really between Squires, Americans, and all the others. Can anyone give me a solid basic breakdown about this? Thanks! ❤
If you're a beginner (like me) and starting this exercise, do it with a metronome. Makes it a lot easier, at least for me.
Great advice to stay on tempo
thanks!
A bit late but… absolutely! Metronome is king. Andre
Lots of guitar players share their expertise, I think this is one of the best. Many thanks to you and God bless you ❤😊
Fat deal
I did this practice about 15 minutes yesterday and then about 10 minutes today. I then decided to test my newfound coordination by playing through Landslide, specifically where Buckingham solos over the travis picking. I couldn't believe it. I sailed through what is usually a very tricky part for me. Wow!
Great.
Hi David, I know I’m a bit late, but that’s great to hear! Thanks for sharing. Andre
That exercise my teacher showed me 40 years ago but as a 12 years old I didn't understand the point but a few years later I incorporated it in my practice routine. Highly recommended!
Hi Ales, sometimes we’re just not ready for things, but we never know when they will click. Thanks for stopping by! Andre
How many reps or how much time would you say is good to practice with his per day?
@@RainingsandstoneHalf an hour per day as is very intense and boring at the begging.
I have been using this exercise on my students for 20 years, my guitar teacher showed it to me over 35 years ago, great dexterity exercise and so many variations on the theme.
Michael Toth in Vancouver was the teacher who showed me this in 1978. After career and kids “paused” my guitar playing for 35 years, I picked up guitar again and this was my first step back.
Thank you both.
same here - feels great, doesn't it? I'm amazed that some things you never lose. When I was nine, getting my ring finger to play the basic D chord was a real challenge. So were fretted chords. And I never lost being able to do fingerpicking patterns, even a tremelo.
I took lessons in 1972 as a 10 year old, now picking it back up at 60. I figure by 70 I'll be touring, lol. Never too late to be rock star.
@@nancymarshall1312 You go girl!!!
@@dianegordon5366 thank you Diane, appreciate it.
Not just a strength issue, but coordination. Anything that improves coordination is great training.
as a teacher and player for more than 30 years (flamenco, fusion rock) this is the most important exercise for guitar...just play the chromatic scale for a month and with these variations even better...up and down, fastening the tempo and after a month go learn the proper scales...this exercise will "marry" the left and and right hand in perfect sync...that all you need to begin, after that everything will be just butter..believe me and believe Andre, Ciao de Portugal
Thank you, Marco! I Love Portugal. Andre
For those of us who were less fortunate not being able to take lessons, (very expensive) this is such good information and I hope you will continue to pass on these great tips and exercises on to us. Thank you for sharing.
Not planning to stop posting videos. anytime soon… Though RUclips’s mysterious choices when it comes to showing my videos or not is MADDENING! 😀 thanks for the kind words.
I don't quite understand, YT works perfectly 😂 I have posted over 1000 help/type practice what I call video tabs (chord stuff) as I thought people would me like, oh this is awesome an easy way to practice and its free. I know I can't collect a dime from it because it's all copyright stuff and I certainly wouldn't continue after this many uploads and not even 150 subscribers. Man I can hardly, get a like or a comment. Sometimes I think they are hoping I will just go away and give it up. I don't mind as I started all this as a online backup for myself, but a had shown a friend and he was like "man you have to make these public" so I did and managed to connect to a few people but I thought I'd have 1000'a by now because it's all done for you. Just click and play. I'm not schooled in music, it has all been done on my own. I never started playing until I was 40, learning the most basic stuff from J. Sandercoe. I used to post on guitar sites but rather be on my own. If you ever bored drop by and check it out. Some are better than others, I know that, but I don't claim to be the worlds best or anything. I hate typing all the lyrics, I will try to find what I think are the best until tabs and just tweak them if I can. It's not against the law, but some people who submit transcriptions my not like me say that I just regurgitate stuff. If I just did that I would be cheating myself. I do enjoy the challenge and the reward of playing along and it sounds pretty good I think. I'm not into lead playing, and I guess for the subs I have right now are happy about that or I might stop what I'm doing.
Something that I kind of had intuited, but never really considered is that because I was a guitar autodidact, if I saw a Barre chord that seemed to throw off the rhythm while I gradually positioned my fingers and then... usually get maybe 3 notes to ring out with the occasional fret buzz
Guitar Tricks is not expensive and awesome. No excuses not to learn these days.
There is much variation among teachers...
I love it on 1 3 2 4 when you say it's harder than it seems - no, it seems hard :)
Drunk spider exercise I was !! Love it!! 💕
…told.
Thank you, Im a 62 year old trying to learn to play. I will work on this :) ciao bello
Best of luck Steve! Ciao. Andre
I’ve just picked up my bass guitar after 35 years and do these scales everyday .interesting to see these played on a guitar !
Hi Anna, They make for great bass exercises, too! Andre
I tried to teach these to my young niece years ago, suggesting they would help her fingers get stronger and familiar with positions in prep for other stuff. The commitment for practice always changes the plan. I found when applied to modes, and using string skipping and adjacent string plucking it was possible to open up this idea to soloing and jamming in really cool ways. Thanks for the post Andre, I now feel I should revisit my practice sessions like I used to in the old days.
Hi John, thanks for sharing. It always feels great to know when these videos inspire people in a small way. Cheers! Andre
I’ve been warming up with this exercises every time I practice. I’ve incorporated my picking strokes to coordinate with the first finger of the set. Example:
4213= 4 strokes per note.
3142= 3 strokes per note etc. This is yielding both fretting and picking dexterity. A great exercise for all levels of player. Thanks for tutorial AND for posting the chart!
I wish I would have done this years ago when I first started playing. I'm old now, and have been a decent player (off and on) but never did develop the finger strength in my pinky to be able to run around on the fretboard freely. I tend to use only 3 fingers and skip the pinky. Not always, but more times than not.
Hi, have you been practicing this? How did it go? Andre
Yeah, these types of exercises are great. I hope you don't mind me adding that I think it's helpful to also use a metronome and then try quarter, eighths, triplets and sixteenths (when you can do them evenly) always start slow and don't move up the speed until you can play the spacings evenly . Doing that with the metronome really helped my sense of time that carried over into other playing situations. You also can do all of these exercises legato -just pick the first note. Stop if you feel any pain. Nice video!
Absolutely!
When you say stop when you feel pain, does that just mean take a break for the day/ hour(s) to give your hand some rest??
@@jessed6151 I think it means to take a break until pain disappears. It doesn't take long usually
I second the metronome. Its a priceless tool.
Drum backing tracks on RUclips are also good
Great exercises, but what makes them even better is playing the symmetrical scale rather than just arbitrary consecutive frets - because then you have to think about it musically as well. Harder to get right but very worthwhile. And when that’s not too hard, try counting aloud and playing two notes per count, then three…
A clear presentation and a valuable lesson
on what should be the FIRST thing students
should practice BEFORE tackling music theory
and scale practice!
No explanation of tempo, precision, incremental development, common challenges, pushing past sticky points, time requirements and so on and so on. Too much missing to really be very useful. Especially for an exercise that is extremely common.
@@theoriginalheartstrummer You are obviously a competent musician but your reading skills suck!
I clearly praised what I regard as a vital first step! What you mention certainly follows.
This is a random video suggestion but it’s great. I have done those excercises for years and think they’re great. I think players should also experiment with with varying time signatures. Play the notes in 3/4 or 5/8 groupings. And if you want to make it worse, emphasise individual notes in each group. Say you play the easiest one: 1234. Put an emphasis on one. Then on 2 , then on 3 , etc etc …. Change dynamics, etc.. it’s endless … this is a great and helpful video. Thank you :)
Great suggestions Sebastian, and thank you! Andre
These are very good exercises and have been part of my routine for something like 50 years. One way to play those exercises that is very good for finger independence is to play them and keep your finger down as long as possible while moving from string to string. It does not work with all permutations but it works for most of them and will really develop your finger strength and independence.
I love your sarcasm in your videos. “ it doesn’t sound that terrible you could use it “ brought a smile to my face 😊
Thanks for reminding me to do this today.
I started doing this exercise a couple years or so so ago after playing for 15 years.
I started with a quite a quick pace of 16ths at 90bpm (I had been playing for a long time so this was pretty straightforward, players with less experience would probably start with half this speed)
I would do 3 of these rows a day from fret 1 to 12 up and down then move on to the next 3 overlapping with the last two I did the day before (day 1 row 1+2+3, day 2 row 2+3+4, etc) This cycle takes 6 days
1 2 3 4 2 3 4 1 3 4 1 2 4 1 2 3
1 2 4 3 2 3 1 4 3 4 1 2 4 1 3 2
1 3 2 4 2 1 3 4 3 2 1 4 4 2 3 1
1 3 4 2 2 4 3 1 3 2 4 1 4 2 3 1
1 4 2 3 2 1 3 4 3 4 1 2 4 3 1 2
1 4 3 2 2 1 4 3 3 4 2 1 4 3 2 1
It took 5 weeks of bumping up the tempo 10bpm a week to get this up to 140bpm
That's when it starts getting very difficult to progress much further. And I would separate things into one row I would do faster, say 160bpm and the other rows I would do at an established speed.
Eventually there's a point where you have to mentally group the notes differently, instead of thinking of 4 separate notes at 180bpm once I got to that it was just a sequence.
It took a few months to get to 185-200bpm which is where I decided to stop because I was getting diminishing returns in affecting other parts of my guitar playing and it was just becoming about doing the exercise. Now I just do a column or two a few times a week or whenever I feel my chops getting rusty.
This whole process was very beneficial in ways that I didn't anticipate it would be. I was able to whip my fingers around for single note lines a lot better for sure. However the most improvement I got from this was the ability to play independent lines on the guitar much better and with fantastic legato because I was able to get my fingers where I wanted them much faster and more accurately.
Overall the most important thing here is using the metronome to force yourself to solve the movements required and strip away anything that is superfluous to movements which you will be forced to do in transitioning between strings once you get past 120bpm
Thanks for sharing that Michael!
You lost me after your 10,000th word.😂
Good! I learned this elsewhere and did this for a couple of months but had stopped and forgotten about it- this got me started again. The "4 times on each" is helpful as is the thoughtfulness about the differences of each one. I will re-start doing this now every day!
BTW, this pattern is easy to remember as it is in "dictionary order " (called in mathematics "lexicographic order",
that is, all possible words with letters abcd are ordered in the dictionary, abcd abdc adbc adcb, then starting with "b" and so on. The number of patterns is (# ways to choose 1st letter) x (# ways to choose 2nd given that)x(
# ways to choose 3rd given that )x( # ways to choose 4nd given that)= 4x3x2x1 = 24 as he said. This is called "4 factorial" and is written 4!
Cheers!
That’s exactly how I did it, @lopezb. Andre
This is one of the first exercises I ever learned when practicing guitar.
Thanks!
@@N5279X you are very welcome! Thanks. Andre
Thank you I'm a beginner at 53 and I'm struggling with this so called pentatonic scales.. This will help. I'm teaching my self from U tube..
It is never too late to learn, don’t give up.
@@yurib7067 yeah it's relieving anti homesickness escaped .. Working alone abroad..
@@florasalvatierra2632 even a lesson or too with a very good instructor can save you innumerable wasted hours and prevent you from developing habits that hinder your development. Don’t be afraid to find a teacher. With guitar, good technique often makes difficult things seem a lot easier, as well as making the process a more enjoyable experience.
@@yurib7067 what TRUE words... thank you Sir!
It has also occurred to me not long ago that you don't always need the guitar in your hands to practice the guitar - a table or even your thumb will do. A very powerful realization. But to these exercises I would also add pressing more than one finger at a time (e.g. 1+3 together, then 2+4 together, or: 1+3+4 together then 2, and so forth. Quite a few permutations.). In real life playing this helps with combining melodic lines with chords during improvisation or just regular playing.
Yeah, I noticed this a number of years ago with a foot ruler--the kind from grade school w/ the brass edge. You can practice all sorts of single "string" licks and exercises with that. Finger combinations, hammer-ons, pull-offs, tapping, etc.
Yes that's a good suggestion B M
Hi, speaking of this, I made a video a while ago on How to Practice Guitar... Without a Guitar!
ruclips.net/video/RzcVSRGDUUc/видео.html
Great video Andre - for anyone serious about using 100% of their capabilities.
I remember doing these exercises on the piano as a child, both hands at the same time - rub your belly and pat your head while tap dancing kind of stuff. There is an inherent weakness in the link between your third and fourth fingers that many people will ignore for their whole playing life.
I agree with you completely about how much this will improve your chops. The thing that got to be a "problem" for me (as a kid) was, once I could do this smoothly (at even a slow tempo) it was so hypnotic I would lose myself in the exercise.
If I had the discipline now, I had back then - I would have been doing this with the strings a long time ago. It seems impossible at first but you get it down quicker than you think if you do it every day - make a game of it. If you can't get through a section without errors, slow the metronome down and go until you can get it right. It gets to be very satisfying when you can build up even a little speed, just don't faster than you do it clean.
Very good points! I’ve also got another “variation” of this I will have to make a video about at some point…
Bass player Gary Willis has a similar exercise which is to play 1-2-3-4 on one string but keeping each finger on the fretboard after it's played, so all four fingers are on the fretboard, then do the same on an adjacent string but only moving one finger from the first string at a time. It's hugely illuminating in how little control you have, especially with independence of third finger.
That’s a great variation on the exercise for strength, while this one is more for dexterity. There are so many!
I have been teaching this for years, taught to me by a student of pat Martino's who was an incredible guitarist.
That first tip is so spot on! There are no shortcuts. You have to put in the hard work. I needed to hear that right now! Thanks! Rock on!🤘
Glad it was helpful! How has this exercise been treating you? Andre
Glad it was helpful! How have these exercises been treating you? Andre
I used to not see the point of this when I could do something more musical, but now I use a combat sport training analogy; this is strength and conditioning, whereas theory or learning repertoire is acquiring/drilling techniques and improv is sparring.
Great job on the explanation of the finger work
I played guitar between 17 and 21 and these exercises always where our warm-up exercises before we went on. I want to play again and this is what I start with now, just get strength and mobility in my fingers again, the rest comes later. Awesome stuff.
In the same boat, I wanna rebuild my strength and technique because I already learned a lot about playing guitar and still have a lot of the muscle memory but my fingers won't cooperate
Thanks!
Thank you! Andre
This exact concept was explored in the 1970s in a now hard-to-find book called Quadrophonic Fingering by Mitch Holder.
I think the book pumping nylon goes over it
Thanks
Thank you Andrew!
These combinations are great exercises for the left hand when played on a single string. If you play them of four adjacent strings and maintain alternate picking, they are great right hand exercises.
Excellent idea. Just what I needed to hear. Thanks
I literally had to stop this before even two minutes!
Why?
Because I experienced enough to show gratitude when a truly good person shares their wisdom.
Now I shall really enjoy the rest of the video. But first I like and sub.
With Blessings and thanks hermano.
@@SpiritYouAll thank you for the very kind comment. I hope you enjoy the rest of the channel and welcome! Andre
Really helpful. I just started out (again) and came across your channel. 2 years ago I gave up, mostly due to myself. Now I watched several videos and some say ‘don’t give up’. Those simple words really help. These excercices look simple, but there is a lot to them. I found your tips really helpful
And wrote them down, definitely gonna watch more of your videos and hold on to playing. I found it really essential to monitor my progress, getting better every day little by little but also accepting that sometimes you are allowed to have a bad day. Then it is important to come back to your guitar the next day and do your routines. Thank Andre!
Thank you! And welcome to the channel! Andre
Some words of encouragement...Every guitarist has been there, and they will all tell you the same thing - it's worth it. When I first played Wish You Were Here accousitc and Shine On You Crazy Diamond electric properly for the first time (Floyd fan, abviously) I felt like a guitar god! I'm not much good, but just knocking out the odd blues riff now and then is pure therapy. Whatever or whoever inspires you, keep at it. It will improve your life in ways you least expect - musical people tend to be more 'rounded individuals' - philisophically speaking. Even the most tortured souls are exorcised through their playing! Make them fingers bleed...!!!
I have a hand injury, cut the Ulnar nerve just under little finger while diving. It really slowed me up and I thought seeing as I'm not Django Rhinehart I might be stuck playing slide. I pushed through and with exercises like this I can play nearly as accurately as i did for 30 years before the accident. Great exercises there, got some new ones now, Thanks so much. 🍻
That’s great to hear, Adam. Congratulations on working your way back to form! Andre
Psoriatic arthritis in my hands cuts my play time considerably. The exercise emphasizes play and hand dexterity. I was gifted this by my teacher , forgot his name sadly, it’s been about 25 years but I do this for about 30 minutes a day
This is very good practicing exercise. Practicing is not playing. So we don't like it, but we have to do it anyway, to play better, and to progress much faster.
your pinky is longer than my index !
Same thing here :)))
Seriously!!
Yes, his hand actually looks like the facehugger from Alien. 😅
I wish I have long fingers 😢 I can’t REEAACH
Hi there, I see a lot of talk about long fingers, but trust me any average sized hand can and will be able to play all this! Andre
Hi. Long time player here taking a moment to applaud your presentation of a very "basic" technique that fits in with my guitar playing philosophy. This short video can provide a go to place for budding players to maintain interest when things get a little "ho hum" as well as established players for warm ups and coordination excercises. I've done similar runs but you've expanded on mine and presented solid basis for beginners to established players. Thank You.
Thank you so much John! Andre
Thanks for the combinations that will keep me busy awhile!
Thanks!
Thank you! Andre
This is a fantastic practice routine man thank you for exposing me to it!
Very welcome Nick! Andre
You’re an exceptional communicator. What a great teaching style. Thank you so much for sharing this exercise and your experience. I can’t wait to get home to my guitar and start!!
Thank you so much Chris, I appreciate your comment! Andre
Incorporating this routine from today
Ill comment here exactly 1 years after practicing this everyday.
Thanks for the advice
Ive been looking for something like this .
Big appreciation 🔥
Please do! Andre
Same. I wonder how much of a difference it will make
We'll wait here then?
Yessir
Waiting patiently 🙏🏾
My first serious guitar teacher, the awesome, effortless, Randy Sarles from Philly area, called this exercise "finger gymnastics". They were every possible permutation. Sometimes all 4 fingers, sometimes just 3. Up... Down... Sideways... Skipping strings... Whatever. They had more of an influence on me than all the jazz standards "fake books" (non copyright, hand drawn, xeroxed, loose bound, song charts) combined. Thanks Randy !!!
Thank you. I generally lack motivation to practice but I played along with the exercises in this video. God bless.
Good video, an exercise I find helpful is to squeeze the capo with finger tips to build strength in fingers.
Your English is perfect. I wish my Italian was that perfect bravo
Thank you Leonardo, come va il tuo italiano? 😀 Andre
@@andretonelli actually it's pretty good. Born in Napoli immigrated to America at six months old. Returned to Italy and study medicine at University of Bologna for five years. Picked up the guitar at age 74 and realized my lifelong dream of playing my favorite rock 'n' roll songs. I am now 78 and have a room full of fender, Marshall and Gibson equipment. My equipment is much better than my ability to play ha ha but I'm having so much fun. Appreciate your lessons. Keep up the good work and God bless.
@@dr.leonardo6382 I Love Naples! Great to hear you’ve got some great gear to keep you busy. I think most of us have way more gear than we need, so no worries! Ci vediamo presto. Andre
1984 I meet Steve Morse at a music store I worked at and he show all of us this. Awesome video! Listen to his fist album and this is all over it!
Steve is a monster player. Very nice guy, too! Now that you mention him, time to dig out my Dixie Dregs albums!
@@andretonelli another fun fact, when he left the music store to go to the gig, he showed his humility and bought a spandex outfit hanging on the wall that we all would make fun of, it was a black spandex top and bottom with red pin stripes, he performed wearing it at the gig. We all learned a lesson that night which had nothing to do with his talent. It was thought provoking to see him perform a classical piece "Jesus of Man's Desires" in that outfit.
I learned chromatic finger exercises from an old Jazz guitarists several decades ago. I still use them to warm up and invented some interesting "shapes" along the way. I even use them in solos from time to time...that gets some interesting looks from my bandmates! LOL. Thanks, some nice spins on "finger exercises" here!
I watched a video of Trey Anastsio explaining this! So awesome to hear the same advice from a different perspective and musician. You're great, thank you so much for your videos, Andre
@@JeffKinglive Thank you Jeff, it’s good to know! Andre
I'm 72 y/o and have been playing acoustic guitar 6 and 12 string fingerstyle since 1975. I originally learned, by ear, on an electric guitar in 1968. Recently, I bought an Epiphone Sheraton 2. Going from finger picking to using a plectrum is a challenge itself. But I'm very happy I found you on RUclips. Using your finger exercises, I'm sure I'll get it eventually. BTW, I've looked all over RUclips for good electric guitar teaching, and so far you are the best. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing that! Amazing how RUclips puts people together like that. I was born years after you even started to play, are probably thousands of miles away, and yet here we are! Glad I could help you a bit in your progress. May I suggest you check out some other of my videos, I have a lot out there that will help you with picking. Andre
I've heard of and played around with the 1234 version of this exercise, but not the rest! Looking forward to getting into it, thanks for the lesson :)
Hope you enjoy it! Let me know how it goes. Andre
I've been playing on & off for 50 years and find this very helpful! You have a new subscriber sir. 👍🏻👍🏻🎸
Thank you! And welcome! Andre
I did almost the same set of excercises when i started out years ago!I also found hammer ons and pull offs were really helpful through 1,2,3,4 up and down the fretboard to build strength.😀
Abolsutely. You can actually do all of the combinations using legato, which makes for a great workout!
@@andretonelli it does indeed,even after 35 years playing it makes a good warm up after a lay-off on guitar
When i was studying the Chinese pipa lute, my teacher taught me a variation of this kind of exercise that used the first 4 notes of a major scale instead of chromatic. But the exercise was that i ran through every combination 4 times, beginning with all combos starting on 1st finger, then all combos starting on 2nd finger etc. It was a great exercise and i sometimes use it on other instruments, including guitar, but i'm going to add this version now too!
Fastly approaching 10K subscribers. Today you're at 31.4K!!! Grazie mille.
All thanks to you guys. Thank you! Andre
The guitar exercise that changed my life: time.
Ha! Absolutely spot on. But if you’ve got less time than you’d like, I’ve just made a video about that: The Secret to EFFECTIVE PRACTICE
ruclips.net/video/YsdrJvZ3hts/видео.html
You mean effort over time
😁😁😁😂😂😂😂
One of the major problems with people, they can't figure out that things are going to take time, that's why people tailgate on the freeway, freak out when they have to wait in line, and want to be a guitar god without practicing.
I've spent a lot of time with the guitar in my lap i don't think I've learned anything yet
relaxing the ring finger is a great tip, I battle with keeping my hand relaxed often
Hey Andre, this video popped up in my feed as I'm teaching myself the basics of guitar after spending thirty plus years playing drums. I'd seen players mention the 1234 method before but never any permutations, I'm looking forward to spending a couple of (no doubt) frustrating hours this afternoon trying these exercises out and incorporating it in my practice routine. Thanks for this. Subscribed.
That's great to hear Alex! Thank you, Andre
You have a genuine vibe.
Learning such independent finger movement and cadence makes you realize you're playing a right-handed instrument. The picking hand can guide the fretting fingers into place but not vice versa. Learn rest strokes.
Aside, an interesting variation:
Start with the pinky, then move the hand up as the next fingers fall on their frets. Doing a chromatic 4 notes per string from low E-fifth fret, ascending/descending up to 12th fret offers a different set of stepping stones across the the stream.
Exactly the kind of exercises I need right now. The relaxing at every note thing already working wonders. Thank you very much
I've been working on this the last two weeks and I love it. It really forces me to break those muscle memory moves that lead my hand before by mind can even think about it. Thank you
Great exercises. Tomi Fujita has a great chromatic exercise that focuses on 1 string. 12 1232 123432 1234 and also the reverse 43 4323 432123 432. Starting at the first fret going up to the 12th. Works great because each position is 16 notes long. Would love to hear your thoughts on this one!
Hi Mike, I’ll check it out! Andre
Great Lesson!!!Thank you!!!
you are really onto something with the relaxation while finding the finger movements that cause the most tension. Great stuff.
i did three permutations up to the twelfth fret and back for a few years i really recommenf this as a warm up
Andre this is great advice and very useful way of practicing working the fingers even when not sitting with the guitar
I have played for 99 years and this is the best advice I have heard.
This is not only excercise, its also Jazz-Inspiration.
Great tips on WORKING
3rd & 4th fingers!
And more..
Thanks 🎉
Subscribed! Can't wait to try these!
Thank you for sharing this important lesson on some great exercises! I have implemented this into a routine now and look forward to the improvements. It was impressive to me that you pointed out the ring finger and pinky how they are weaker and are harder to work with. I was noticing that in starting these exercises and I hope to solve my stumbling rhythm with these exercises.
@@JimPetty thanks Jim, I hope they help you in your guitar journey. If you have a look at past videos, there’s a LOT of material you might like. Cheers Andre
Thank you for the video. I am literally just starting my self learning guitar journey today.. I'll be trying this out 🙏
Good luck! Andre
This is the perfect exercise. My friend taught me this over a year ago on his guitar, but now I'm just getting my first ever guitar today and i can't wait to emplament this first thing into my practice! This video found me at a perfect time.
@@TheAlam0 first guitar, congratulations! And welcome. Andre
@andretonelli Thank you, Andre!
You know why I Subscribed? because I have an exact Dot like that one! it is my go to guitar!
It’s an amazing guitar! Thanks Fernando, Andre
You're awesome - thank you! I'm including this as a part of my warm up routine.
you are so blessed with those fingers. my pinky is barely even half the size of your pinky. im gonna have to train my fingers for a long time.
Looks like a very useful practice system. FYI the ring finger (flexor) tendon and the small finger tendon are often connected. Many people including myself cannot flex the small finger independently from the ring finger. The same can be true with the thumb and index finger. Try flexing each one with the others straight and see.
thanks! solid foundation.
Great video!! THE most important one. No doubt. We neglect it because it is simple. It is simple and powerful. Thanks for reminding us.
Thank you! Andre
I've been playing for around 9 months and every time I practice I do the spider walk from bottom string to top string, move one fret over and then from top to bottom string. I do it from the 1st fret all the way to 12th fret or so. It goes, 1234, 2341, 3412, 4123, 1234, 2341 from bottom to top string, move over one fret, then top to bottom starting at 3421 and so forth. I don't use a metronome but perhaps I should. Form me I am much slower from fret 1-5 but can go faster as I move through the frets. I also don't have the longest pinky finger so the 4th fret over on the bottom 2 string is alway a stretch for me.
After that warm up I also play the A minor pentatonic from the 1st fret/nut all the way to fret 21 on my guitar. That finishes my warmup. When I began, that used to be my practice because I was so slow.....LOL Would take me 20-30 minutes to do that spider and the pentatonic, LOL. Now, it's a 5-8 minute warm up doing those two things.
Sounds like you’ve got it figured out! But I would add one thing and that’s the metronome. If you are slower at the bottom of the fretboard and faster as you move up, you really want to even that out. Thanks for sharing your progress! Andre
You definitely should use the metronome so you can force yourself to play faster. I improved a lot in my playing by regimenting myself with this using a metronome even after I had been playing for years. If you do this kind of thing for a few months pushing a few bpm a week you can get really fantastic results.
Great video! I do two of the permutations as part of my warmup and after watching your video I will start with a couple of the latter ones you showed us all.
I've always done the basic first combination, but switching it up. Actually adds a lot of strength to different muscles. Appreciate the tip I'll definitely be using it