Guitar Techniques: Picking & Fretting
| Motor Hand Guitar Techniques | Fretting hand |
|
|
Guitar technique is the physical dimension of your hands working independently & together to provide the basis for musical expression. When you train with awareness, focus, & imagination, the hands can play what you 'think'.
In this practice routine, the main point is to make connections to all of your fingers, plus get them to work in different combinations- while linking those combinations to the motion of the pick.
Alternate picking (down-up) will be the preferred picking pattern for this routine. We want the pick on auto pilot, so practice down-up on open strings to get the motor moving. Ask: "What is the minimum effort it takes to pick and get solid tone?" What is the motion that gets this tone (both down & up in combination).
You could also fingerpick this exercise using i/m (index/middle) in a walking motion. Or m/a, i/a, p/i, p/m, pa, i/c, etc.
We are revisiting the chromatic exercises lesson, yet we are adding complete combinations of fingerings - every possible order. The types of exercises, that you can design for yourself, are endless.
Combinations beginning with the
one finger (and the reverse)
We are selecting a fingering pattern (start with 1234). For the first half of the exercise, we play the pattern (1234) low to high in a fixed position, then shift one position and reverse the pattern (4321).
We will continue up the neck to p9 (9th position) in this manner, then for the second half of the exercise, we will go back down the neck on a single string (1st) using the same fingering and shifting (one position - down - at a time).
A good consequence of shifting using these fingerings is the last finger of the first pattern is the first finger of the next pattern (up a position), so...you can do what is called guiding. Guiding is where you keep a finger in contact with a string as you shift, but don't keep pressure (don't press) as you move up or down a string. Similar to sliding but without the pressing (and tone/sound).
After completing this cycle in 9 positions (up-full string set/down-single first string, alternating patterns ascending and descending, every other position), repeat the process with the next fingering pattern on the chart above: 1243 up, and the reverse - 3421 down, by position (all 6 strings), then descend on a single string position by position using the same fingerings.
Go through all 6 sets of fingerings.
The First Half of Exercise
The same exercise using tablature
Second Half of Exercise, Descending on Single Strings
As you practice this, you may notice it might be easier to think in sets of 2 fingers sometimes (2 sets of 2, say for 12-43 combination), and better to think in a set of 3 and 1 at other times (such as 1-432).
This is a subtle difference, but get a feel for the differences in thinking. You'll get different results. Compare those results.
Also, after practicing for a while, can you just say to your hand, "Do That Pattern?" What becomes automatic, how fast?
If you train with awareness, you'll have more depth & comfort, & can focus on making music, rather than, where's my pick?
You might try using an open tuning such as DADGAD or CGEGCE. This exercise could be modified & repeated in myriad ways, so experiment.
The main point of all of this guitar exercise is to make connections to all of your fingers, plus get them to work in different combinations.
Now, all the possibilities. This
isn't easy to keep track of at first, but once
you make all the connections, you will be amazed
at your level of control.
Guitar techniques - Fingerpicking
