Hey Gang,
Do you remember the song "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" recorded by Neil Sedaka? Well, just like breaking up, warming up is hard (and boring) to do. Alas, it is very important to do before you play guitar. Just like sports, if you don’t warm up correctly, you can hurt yourself.
Here is an exercise one of my instructors taught me many years ago. Make sure you count this in eighth notes. 1 & 2 & so on and so forth.
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
|--1--4--3--4--2--4--3--4--|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
You can use this pattern on any string and in any position; I prefer to start in first position, high E string, first note being F, working this exercise up the neck.
Do you remember the song "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" recorded by Neil Sedaka? Well, just like breaking up, warming up is hard (and boring) to do. Alas, it is very important to do before you play guitar. Just like sports, if you don’t warm up correctly, you can hurt yourself.
Here is an exercise one of my instructors taught me many years ago. Make sure you count this in eighth notes. 1 & 2 & so on and so forth.
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
|--1--4--3--4--2--4--3--4--|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
You can use this pattern on any string and in any position; I prefer to start in first position, high E string, first note being F, working this exercise up the neck.
|--1--4--3--4—-2—-4—-3—-4--|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--1--4--3--4—-2—-4—-3—-4--|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--1--4--3--4—-2—-4—-3—-4--|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--1--4--3--4—-2—-4—-3—-4--|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--------------------------|
|--1--4--3--4—-2—-4—-3—-4--|--------------------------|
|--1--4--3--4—-2—-4—-3—-4--|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|--1--4--3--4—-2—-4—-3—-4--|
You can also try it legato style; pick the first note and let the left hand do all the work. If you’re a finger picker, alternate between pointer, middle, ring, and pinkie. The beauty is, you can pick it however you want.
Enjoy!
TANK
