Shaan Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 Hey Everyone Thought I'd share a great exercise that I use to get my fingers in tip top shape. The spider exercise is an exercise where you start at your chosen fret. I normally choose fret 9 for this. Then with all fingers glued to the top string you gradually move finger by finger down to the string below whilst keeping the fingers that aren't moving glued to the string above. Try this goign as far down as you can before coming back up the fretboard. Hope that make sense. The other addition to this exercise for great strength is again keeping hands glued to the fretboard move down sequentially using the 1 3/ 2 4 pattern. Keeping the non-moving fingers locked in place. Keeping the constant tension through the exercise builds great strength and fluidity in the hands. Again as before see how far you get down the fretboard and then come back up. A bonus tip is before you start playing is to do 20-30 finger throws. This is where you keep your hand in a fist then throw out your fingers. You can also rest your hand on your lap and take each finger and do very slow and small circles ( i usually do about 7 circles in each direction) using your other hand. This loosens up the tendons in the fingers and you'll find you fretting hand feels nice and loose. I learnt these from one of the top UK Guitar teachers I used to work with. The finger circles I figured out myself, but they work great. Hope you enjoy:)🙂 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yves Cadieux Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 Hi Shaan! Thanks for your suggestions! I will sure give a try to the spider and the glued fingers! The stronger the fretting hand, the better! 👍🎸 YC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaan Posted November 24, 2021 Author Share Posted November 24, 2021 12 hours ago, Yves Cadieux said: Hi Shaan! Thanks for your suggestions! I will sure give a try to the spider and the glued fingers! The stronger the fretting hand, the better! 👍🎸 YC You’re welcome Yves. Let us know how you get on👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werner Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 Hi Shaan! Thank you very much for sharing the spider exercise. It's great and it is fun! Please take a look at the attached file which includes another "spider" exercise that I got from my first guitar teacher. It is slightly different: The first and 3rd finger and the 2nd and 4th finger take turns. It starts with the first finger on the first fret of the 2nd string and the 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the 5th string; then the second finger on the 2nd fret of the 5th string and the fourth finger fourth fret of the 2nd string, ... (see the fingerings in the attachment). It moves up one fret with every measure. Once the index finger reaches the 9th fret, it moves down again all the way to the first fret. I find this exercise quite challenging using the 2nd and 5th string. (However, it can also be done on the 1st and the 6th string 🙂 ) Thank you again, W. Spider Excercise.pdf 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaan Posted December 9, 2021 Author Share Posted December 9, 2021 Hey @Werner. I haven't seen that one before. That's fascinating. The other variation I was taught would be starting from the low E fingers one and three would play fret 7/9. Then whilst holding that position fingers 2 and 4 then move to the A string playing frets 8/10. Then basically whilst holding each position you move down to the High E. That's a great exercise for hand and finger strength. Both done as part of a warm up work just great and will improve finger strength, dexterity and flexibility. This is great if you aspire to play metal or shred or just want full power behind your bends and vibrato. So it really works all areas in many ways. That's what I love about guitar there's always something new to try and experiment with. Sometimes you feel like your always learning and beginning over again. It's a very humbling instrument to play. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Soukup Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 (edited) @Werner @Shaan I believe I will give both of those a try. Like 1 every other day. Actually, I can do both one after the other which will probably be better. Thanks for the exercises. Edited December 9, 2021 by Fred Soukup 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaan Posted December 9, 2021 Author Share Posted December 9, 2021 3 hours ago, Fred Soukup said: @Werner @Shaan I believe I will give both of those a try. Like 1 every other day. Actually, I can do both one after the other which will probably be better. Thanks for the exercises. @Fred Soukup. No worries at all. Hope they work well for you. I struggle with clean picking it sometimes particularly the lower down you go and the bigger the stretch but you still get the benefit of it, so don't worry if you're like me and you get that twang lower down lol🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werner Posted December 10, 2021 Share Posted December 10, 2021 Hi @Shaan, I started including your spider exercise into my daily routine. It is interesting that I feel it's somehow easier going from the high E string down to the low E string than going the other way. This indicates that I really need to do this exercise until there is no difference whether I go up or down. 🙂 (The other "spider" exercise that I mentioned earlier is more a warm-up for playing chords.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaan Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 Hey @Werner. That is awesome work their Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Tate Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 On 11/23/2021 at 1:25 PM, Shaan said: Hey Everyone Thought I'd share a great exercise that I use to get my fingers in tip top shape. The spider exercise is an exercise where you start at your chosen fret. I normally choose fret 9 for this. Then with all fingers glued to the top string you gradually move finger by finger down to the string below whilst keeping the fingers that aren't moving glued to the string above. Try this goign as far down as you can before coming back up the fretboard. Hope that make sense. The other addition to this exercise for great strength is again keeping hands glued to the fretboard move down sequentially using the 1 3/ 2 4 pattern. Keeping the non-moving fingers locked in place. Keeping the constant tension through the exercise builds great strength and fluidity in the hands. Again as before see how far you get down the fretboard and then come back up. A bonus tip is before you start playing is to do 20-30 finger throws. This is where you keep your hand in a fist then throw out your fingers. You can also rest your hand on your lap and take each finger and do very slow and small circles ( i usually do about 7 circles in each direction) using your other hand. This loosens up the tendons in the fingers and you'll find you fretting hand feels nice and loose. I learnt these from one of the top UK Guitar teachers I used to work with. The finger circles I figured out myself, but they work great. Hope you enjoy:)🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Tate Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 Just now, Charles Tate said: Great advice since i'm 68 years old. I actually been pulling my fingers apart as far as they will go and do the fist and throw tecnique. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaan Posted December 18, 2021 Author Share Posted December 18, 2021 On 12/16/2021 at 4:38 AM, Charles Tate said: Great advice since i'm 68 years old. I actually been pulling my fingers apart as far as they will go and do the fist and throw tecnique. Hey @Charles Tate You're welcome. You'll hopefully find that as you do the exercises you will build strength and stamina by default in the left hand. This is great for just general hand strength training or for those like me who want to build strength to take on the more difficult lead parts and just have the strength to really accentuate technique it works well. Just a couple of minutes on both if your pressed for time still works wonders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny A Posted February 4, 2022 Share Posted February 4, 2022 (edited) 👍Thanks for posting! Edited February 4, 2022 by Kenny A 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaan Posted February 5, 2022 Author Share Posted February 5, 2022 21 hours ago, Kenny A said: 👍Thanks for posting! Hey @Kenny A. You're more than welcome. Hope they work a treat for you like they do for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralimossy Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Thanks all for the great ideas. Being able to work my fingers to stretch out and play the more difficult chords has been a real challenge. Can't wait to see this improve, thanks again !! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaan Posted March 14, 2022 Author Share Posted March 14, 2022 22 hours ago, ralimossy said: Thanks all for the great ideas. Being able to work my fingers to stretch out and play the more difficult chords has been a real challenge. Can't wait to see this improve, thanks again !! Hey @ralimossy Hope the exercises work really well for you. These were the first exercises my guitar teacher taught me to really get good hand strength and finger dexterity. Like all things it takes a brief amount of time to really begin to feel the difference. Another great tipis to, if you can, loosely stretch out the wrists and open and close your hands for 20 repetitions before playing. This just helps to warm the hands and muscles etc up before you launch into your guitar. Let us know how they work you. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Soukup Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 Another good exercise that I learned here was to place all four of your fingers on the D string. Then starting with the index finger extend it to the low E then to the High E string 10 times. Next do the same with the middle finger then the ring finger and finally the pinky finger. Doing 3 reps of 10 will strengthen your fretting hand if you do them on a regular basis like every day or every other day. Of course if it gets too easy add another rep of 10. Fred 🎸 PS was taught that by Jonathan in 5 Day Lead Guitar Lightbulb Challenge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaan Posted March 17, 2022 Author Share Posted March 17, 2022 3 hours ago, Fred Soukup said: Another good exercise that I learned here was to place all four of your fingers on the D string. Then starting with the index finger extend it to the low E then to the High E string 10 times. Next do the same with the middle finger then the ring finger and finally the pinky finger. Doing 3 reps of 10 will strengthen your fretting hand if you do them on a regular basis like every day or every other day. Of course if it gets too easy add another rep of 10. Fred 🎸 PS was taught that by Jonathan in 5 Day Lead Guitar Lightbulb Challenge Hey @Fred Soukup . Thank you so much for sharing that. That’s a great exercise. I’ve never seen that before so totally new to me which is always exciting. Will definitely have to check that out. Have an awesome day/night👍😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Soukup Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 Always enjoy sharing and reading tips that can be used to help us improve. Fred 🎸 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaan Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 20 hours ago, Fred Soukup said: Always enjoy sharing and reading tips that can be used to help us improve. Fred 🎸 Thank you Fred. Always greatly appreciated. Great to learn from others as well👍😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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