In This Lesson You Will Learn Three Game Changing Exercises! They Are By Far The Best The Exercises For Guitar Beginners That I Know Of. But Before We Dive In, Let Me Explain The Guiding Principles Behind Them And Explain The Context Why They Are That Effective.
Every Guitarist Has To Overcome The Same Hurdle:
Getting The Fingers To Move On The Fretboard.
This Usually Takes Time. But With Diligent Practice, Commitment And A Special Set Of Exercises You Can Supercharge Your Guitar Playing In Days Or Weeks Instead Of Months Or Years.
Guitar Exercises Are Good For Beginners
Some Guitar Teachers Say That Exercises Ain’t That Good In The Early Stages Of Learning Guitar, Because Exercises Are Boring & A Nasty Chore For The Student, So They Drain The Motivation.
I Think That’s Partially True. But Not Doing Them Can Hinder Your Motivation As Well. Learning Guitar Without Exercises Takes Significantly More Time, Effort & Frustration To Overcome The Beginner Hurdles Like A Clean Fretting Hand, Clean Barre Chords, Changing Chords In Time, Playing Fast, Beautiful Bendings, Good Vibrato, A Constant Timing etc.
So A Good Practice Routine With Good Guitar Exercises Can Really Supercharge Your Progress.
So, Which Guitar Exercises Are Good For You? Which One Should I Start With?
Let Me Tell You This: Most Guitarists Hate Exercises Because They Do Two Mistakes:
- They Start Exercises Which Are Too Complex & Hard
- They Ignore Complementary Exercises
The First One Is Obvious: If You Start With Complex & Hard Exercises Then You Definitely Get Overwhelmed Over The Short Or The Long Run And You Quit As A Result. Therefore I Will Show You The Really Simple Exercises That Cannot Overwhelm You.
The Second Mistakes Is Quite Unknown. But It’s A Really Powerful Concept I Want You To Know And Understand.
The Reason Why It Takes So Long For Many Beginners To Getting Their Fingers Used To The Guitar Is That They Don’t Know That The Most Effective Way To Achieve That Is A
A COMBINATION Of Exercises
Which Complement Each Other Instead Of Single And Unrelated Exercises Or Worst: No Exercises At All To Speed Up The Process.
You Will Learn All About You The Right Combination Of Exercises. So You Can Speed Up The Process.
But Before We Dive Into The Exercises I Want You To Take A Moment To Recognize That The Basic Movements Of A Guitar Player Can Be Broken Down Into One Of These Three Categories:
- Gripping Hand Movement
- Picking Hand Movement
- Synchronization Of Both Movements
That’s All There Is. These Are The Basic Elements Of Guitar Playing.
I Know That’s A Big Simplification And Of Course It’s Infinitely More Complicated Than That, But For Now It’s All We Need To Know.
The Basic Ideas Behind The Following Exercises Are That They
Are Based On The Principle Of Reduction & Repetition.
You Might Have Heard The Famous Bruce Lee Quote About This Principle:
I Fear Not The Man Who Has Practiced 10,000 Kicks Once, But I Fear The Man Who Has Practiced One Kick 10,000 Times
Bruce Lee
It’s So Simple And Yet There Is So Much Practical Wisdom To Learn From It.
In Other Words: You Will Achieve The Best Results If You Shift Your Focus On One Thing Only.
Period.
But There Is Another Principle Which Is Hidden In Plain Sight. So Let’s Quickly Unpack It.
It’s The Principle Of Continuous Practice.
Let’s Take This Quote Literally. I’m Quite Sure That This Quote Was Meant To Be Taken Literally.
Do You Think It’s Possible To Practice One Single Kick 10,000 Times In A Single Practice Session And Then You’re Done?
The Obvious Answer Is No.
It’s Extremely Exhausting To Do Even 100 Kicks In A Single Session. I Did Tae Kwon Do & Kick Boxing For Over 10 Years. I Was Never Quite Good At It Or Had Any Ambitions To Become A Real Fighter But I Can Tell You From Personal Experience That Practicing Even 20 Kicks In Row Is Pretty Exhausting.
In Order To Get To 10,000 Kicks You Need To Practice One Kick Over The Period Of Weeks & Months.
Luckily We Don’t Have To Do Any Kicks Or Other Exhausting Stuff. We Just Need To Move Our Fingers. But The Lesson Here Is To Be Committed Over The Long Haul And Practice Continuously.
Have A Daily Practice Session. If That’s Not Possible, Practice Every Other Day. If That’s Not Possible Practice Three Times A Week Or Whatever You Can Arrange For Yourself. But Have Some Sort Of Scheduled Practice Session.
So This Is The Magic Formula In Short:
Do Repetitions & Do Them Continuously Over Weeks, Months Or Even Years.
So Let’s Go Right Into The Exercises
Best Exercises For Guitar Beginners
Exercise No. 1
The Gripping Hand Movement
This Exercise Will Help You To Develop The Main Qualities Of A Solid Gripping Hand. These Are
- Strength
- Precision
- Finger Independence
- Flexibility
- Tension Control
Here Are The Important Details To Look For:
- Hit The String With Your Finger Tip.
- It’s A One Hand Only Exercise. So Use Only Your Gripping Hand.
- The Goal Is To Produce Loud & Clear Notes.
- The Goal Is To Be Consistent And Have An Even Pulse. So Choose Your Own Tempo. It’s Not About Speed.
- The Goal Is To Be Comfortable With The Stretch From The 1st To The 4th Fret While Maintaining The Right Finger Posture.
- If You Can’t Stretch Your Fingers From The 7th to The 10th Fret Then Start This Exercise From The 12th Fret And Move Your Way Down To The 1st Fret.
If You Feel Comfortable With This One Then Add Or Replace Exercise No. 1 With One Of These Variations:
The Next Variation Is A Little Harder Because It Contains String Changes. Do This One After You’ve Mastered Exercise No. 1 And Variation No. 1.
Exercise No. 2
Right Hand Movement
This Exercise Will Help You To Develop A Basic & Solid Picking Hand Technique.
Although This Exercise Seems To Be Stupidly Simple It Is Highly Highly Effective.
Here Are The Important Details To Look For:
- Use Down Strokes Only. The Downstroke Movement Is The Basis For Alternate Picking.
- Feel Free To Dampen The Strings With Your Gripping Hand.
- Relax Your Hand.
- Pick The Notes With Good Attack To Produce Loud & Clear Notes
- The Movement Comes Mainly If Not Solely From The Wrist. So Keep Your Fingers Still.
If You Feel Comfortable With This One Then Add Or Replace Exercise No. 2 With This Variation:
Exercise No. 3
Synchronization Of Both Movements
This Is A Standard Exercise. You Probably Know It Already or A Variation Of It. But Stay With Me. The Real Magic Is In the Combination With The Preceded Exercises. The Results Will Speak For Themself.
Here Are The Important Details To Look For:
- Choose Your Own Tempo. It’s Not A Speed Exercise. It’s A Synchronization Exercise.
- Keep Both Hands Relaxed. Control The Tension. Don’t Let The Tension Control You.
- Play This One At First Towards The Higher Frets. It’s Easier This Way.
- If You Feel Comfortable With This Then Try To Move Towards The Lower Frets.
- Use Alternate Picking
Guitar Beginner Practice Routine: How To Practice Effectively
Here Is A Short Plan For You. So You Can Start Immediately.
Do Every Exercise For A Minimum Of 2 min. Straight Without Stopping.
Practice Exercise No. 1 For 2 min.
Practice Exercise No. 2 For 2 min.
Practice Exercise No. 3 For 2 min.
Total Practice Time: 6min.
If You Are A Complete Beginner Than Do This For At Least A Week ( 5 Days In A Row). The Key Is To Built Momentum And Slowly Increase The Practice Time. Judge Your Progress After A Month Of Doing This Exercise. You Will Probably See, Feel & Hear The Results Much Earlier. Add Or Replace The Variations For Ex. 1 & 2 As You Like. This Is A Great & Short Warm-Up Routine. So Implement This Into Your Practice Session As A Warm-Up And Then Move On To Songs, Riffs or Licks Or Whatever You Currently Work On.
I Encourage You To Increase The Practice Time For Each Exercise After One Or Two Weeks. Strive For A 3x5min. Set And After Two Months Or To Something Like 3x10min.
You Will Get A Feeling For This And Then You Will Know When To Increase The Practice Time.
And If Have Some Struggle With Playing Chords, Then I Recommend That You Watch & Read This Article Here. There I Teach A Powerful Two Step Process For Mastering Difficult Chords In General.
And Make Sure You Go Through My Ultimate Guide On How To Play Guitar Chords Right. There You’ll Discover Many Awesome Tips And Tricks For Guitar Beginners Who Wanna Start With Playing Chords.
In This Sense: Be Your Own Teacher.
Have Fun & Stay Tuned
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