Sight Reading 3
We’ll be working on sight reading in this practice session by looking at “hard” music. Step One Repeat warm-up routine. Try to increase your max… Read More »Sight Reading 3
Practice Club
Sight Reading 1
This session is dedicated to sight reading. Step One Repeat the warm up 1 routine. You don’t have to beat your previous max bpm. You… Read More »Sight Reading 1
Sight Reading 2
This session is dedicated to sight reading Step One Repeat warm-up routine. Try to increase your max speed by 2 bpm. Click here for a printable version… Read More »Sight Reading 2
Technique Exercises #14
Here we are at 80 beats per minute for this session of exercises.
We’ll work with our finger isolation exercises in the routine. We’ll only use 2 fingers per string, but each finger will get a good workout once you’re done with all the exercises.Read More »Technique Exercises #14
Ear Training 2
Here’s another fun ear training session. We’ll work on our absolute pitch by practicing identifying intervals by ear. Read More »Ear Training 2
Ear Training 1: Open Strings
There’s an aspect of your playing that you may not actively train much. It doesn’t involve your fingers or reading music. All you need is your ears!
That’s right, it’s ear training. In this session we’ll practice picking out open string notes by just listening to them. It’s a skill that’s harder to pick up for some people than others, but I think you’ll find, with a little practice, that it becomes easier and easier.Read More »Ear Training 1: Open Strings
Warm Up Routine
It’s usually a good idea to spend 10-15 minutes warming up- especially if you plan on doing a lot of playing. Below I’ve devised a simple warm up routine that should get you going. I’ll show you how you should run through it in the video.Read More »Warm Up Routine
Rhythm Notation Practice Session
Before you tackle this sessions you may want to take a look at these two lessons: note values and measures as I talk about them a lot in… Read More »Rhythm Notation Practice Session
Practice Tips
Get In Tune The very first thing that you should do when you pick you guitar is to tune it. Let’s face it, an out… Read More »Practice Tips
Guitar Exercise: The 7 Minute Guitar Workout
Wouldn’t you love to be able to play as fast as you wanted? Wouldn’t it be great if your hands never got tired?
If you answered “yes” to either question, then I believe you’ll enjoy my “7 minute guitar workout”.
This workout will help you develop speed, endurance, accuracy, and finger strength. This physical aspect of guitar playing is called technique. Keep in mind that these exercises are not to be performed for their musical value. They are simply to develop skill.
These guitar exercises are not something you play through once and then forget about. Performing these exercises regularly is an absolute must. It’s not unlike going to the gym to workout. If you stick with it and keep a regular schedule you will see marked improvement as time goes by.
It doesn’t matter what level of guitar playing you are at. It doesn’t matter what style of music you play. Everyone can benefit from the same exercises, and it’s important that you keep doing them. If you slack off at the gym you’ll see you muscle development deteriorate after time. It’s the same with these technique exercises. You can spend months or even years building up blazing fret board speed, but the point where you stop exercising your fingers on a regular basis is the point where your hard earned skills will deteriorate.
Applied properly, these exercises will help you to develop confidence in your playing and will help make you aware of weak areas of your playing that need concentrated effort. They are great way to start out a practice session. They will help loosen your fingers and stretch your hand muscles to get you ready to practice other material.Read More »Guitar Exercise: The 7 Minute Guitar Workout