5 Warmups Every Guitarist Should Practice!
Today you are going to learn some warmups that I have seen in guitar magazines or on guitar lesson videos over the years, and a couple that I actually designed for myself to tackle my own weaknesses.
The first warmup I saw in a guitar magazine from years ago, and it is a chromatic scale that should be alternate picked. When picking these things, try to tilt your pick a bit like I do in the video demonstration, it makes it easier to move the pick through the string
as there is less friction when less pick touches the string. Strict alternate picking should be used.
The second warmup is one that I created and is an expansion of the first exercise. I made this
one have 6 notes per string to practice my shifting. It is also a chromatic scale and again,
strict alternate picking is needed to play this at speed.
The third warmup is Joe Satriani derived. I saw this on some instructional video on Youtube
I believe, and learned it right away. This is a great exercise for getting the fingers all working together as one during chordal playing. These are diminished 7th chords and come in very handy if you know how to use them. Play this as high up the neck as you can and back. If you want to learn how to use them in a musical context, contact me for lessons and I can show you how. 🙂
Warmup 4 is from Vinnie Moore (I’m a poet and I didn’t know it) and this is all about getting your sweep picking together. If you are unfamiliar with sweep picking, you need to do what are called “rest strokes.” To me, this just feels like the pick falling through the strings to land on the next string after playing the first. Watch the vid closely to get this one. Same deal, play as high as you can on the neck and come back down to where you started chromatically.
Finally, warmup 5 is for the left hand. Most people have trouble in the beginning with their pinky, so this warmup really works the pinky twice as much as the middle and ring fingers. Go slowly at first and if you feel any pain, stop immediately. A bit of a burning sensation is normal as this will build muscle. Do this warmup to fret 12 (index) and back if you can. I swear by this one for the left hand.
Do these every day before you perform and you will notice your playing take a quantum leap
in terms of technique!
5 Warmups Every Guitarist Should Use PDF