Like many of you, I’m still working to improve my play. While I’ve spent a lot of time trying to ‘learn by playing’, I’ve noticed that trying to master the same songs over and over again isn’t getting me the improvements I’m hoping for at the speed that I’d like.
I’ve started doing more practice exercises. It’s not as fun as learning a song, but I’ve found it far more effective in helping me to develop my skills and muscle memory. Here are a few exercises that I’ve found useful.
Riffs & Rhythm: Finger Independence
Riffs & Rhythm is my current finger independence exercise of choice. The video is long, in-depth, and comprehensive. It’s not a video I’d start with as a beginner, but for someone two years into a guitar journey, I think it’s got the richness and depth needed for the next few years.
Riffs & Rhythm: Faster & More Accurate Fingers in 1-Week – I have no idea if it’s a YouTube thing or not, but everyone seems to promote this “Faster in 1-Week” thing. I’m definitely better after starting these exercises, but they’re definitely not a “1-week” thing.
Fender Play: Warm Up with 4 Strings
Fender Play is focused on helping new players who have no prior experience with guitar. As a Fender Play user, I tended to skip over the exercises and moved on to the song exercises. I think that was a mistake. When I tried some of the exercises that I skipped, I discovered that they were a lot harder than expected even though I was doing well with the song exercises. Since then, I’ve gone back to my earlier lessons and invested more time in mastering the practice exercises. Here’s an example of one that I found useful: Warm Up with 4 Strings. If you’re not a Fender Play subscriber, you can sign up for a free 2-week trial membership and cancel later.
Fender Play: Warm Up with 4 Fingers
Finger Independence Exercise with Lauren Bateman
I used this exercise daily for just a few minutes every day when I started playing guitar. I just did 10 repetitions with each finger at the start of my practice for 3-4 months. The tendon on my ring finger of my fretting hand was damaged playing sports (mallet finger) and I had a lot of problems getting it back into shape in order to learn guitar. This exercise served as my guitar finger physical therapy and is highly recommended.
Lauren Bateman: Faster Fingers in 1-Week: Finger Independence Exercise
Resources
- Faster & Mire Accurate Fingers – Riff & Rhythm
- Fender Play: Warm up with 4 strings (free trial or subscription needed for access)
- Lauren Bateman: Faster Fingers in 1 Week – Finger Independence Exercise