Calling Guitar Players

[FallenXxRaven]

So I started practicing guitar around January, but I've found that I'm having trouble improving. I was wondering if anyone knew any excercises I could use to help improve my fingering (and I hope I dont regret wording it that way ).

Any help will be appriciated.

[BerZerkR]

Re: Calling Guitar Players

Try practicing scales over and over.

[FallenXxRaven]

Re: Calling Guitar Players

Ill do that, but I was also wondering if there was anything I could do while im not playing. Say Im bored in the middle of class, would there be anything I could do that could make my fingers a little more flexible?

[tupacodaman]

Re: Calling Guitar Players

not sure what you mean... do you mean like chords are buzzing because your fingers can't reach far enough or aren't strong enough yet to hold down multiple frets? or do you mean like, you want to move your fingers faster?

if it's the first case, then really just practice practice practice. learn songs that you really like that are simple. bands that come to mind are nirvana, linkin park, greenday, anything that's pop or punk (not really sure what you like but I'm talking about bands like The Academy Is... and All American Rejects for pop and Good Charlotte and Fallout Boy for punk. it sucks at first because your hand isn't used to stretching out over the fretboard, so you just need to get your hand used to that. playing chords and power chords is a good start to building up your fingers. I don't know if you have an acoustic, electric, or both, but acoustic guitar will help build up finger strength, though it may be frustrating to start off on it.

if you mean you want to move your fingers faster, practice scales a ton. start off playing them really slowly and then keep playing faster. if you have a metronome that's tapping out a tempo this is particularly effective. start off on something super slow like 60 bpm and play a scale five times without messing up (that's how I like to practice at least, some people do three, but w/e). then, once you've gotten the scale down at that tempo, move up to 65 and do the same, then 70, then 75, etc, until you get to a speed where you can't even imagine yourself playing that fast. then take it down like 20 bpm from that speed and practice a lot on that speed, then work your way back up until the "impossible" speed is more attainable. and as far as scales, I'd start off with major, minor, and pentatonic first and then look into other modes of scales after you've got those three nailed down.

ask me if you have any questions on anything I just said and good luck!

[tupacodaman]

Re: Calling Guitar Players

oh so you meant more flexible huh. if you don't have a guitar on you, you can imagine yourself playing the song/scale and incorporate corresponding finger movements. surprisingly this can help just as much as practicing, though I would say it's more helpful for very advanced musicians and not as much for beginners. if you're sitting in class bored you could try fingering a chromatic sequence over and over, forwards then backwards (assuming you're right handed, put down your left index as if it were holding down a fret and then lift it up, then do the same for your middle finger, then your ring, then your pinky, and then go backwards so it's ring middle index and keep going). it's not really the same as practicing of course.

[One Winged Angel]

Re: Calling Guitar Players

myguitarsolo.com

This place is really good if you wanna improve your technique. Take a look at the scales in particular; you'll learn so much more about the fretboard and what kinds of scales produce which kinds of sounds, etc.

There's also a ton of tapping exercises, arpeggiated licks, chromatic riffs, and tons more to improve technique.

But when I'm not dicking around with the **** on this website, I find that just learning songs helps loads...especially when you're trying to tackle something beyond your skill level. I started out trying to learn Dream Theater **** immediately, but wasn't able to get it up to tempo (obviously). But then I tried to learn stuff by like, Protest The Hero, and it was way easier to pick up since my fingers became somewhat accustomed to the wide stretches and fast chromatic licks often heard in DT stuff.

My advice would probably be to take a look at the website...learn some of the scales and take a look at the licks. You're gonna want a metronome too. Start slow (maybe half the speed) and gradually work your way up to the lick's tempo (maybe in increments of 4 bpm). That way your technique won't suffer along the way. Then to mix it up, try and learn some songs. Again, take the passages slow if they're difficult, start at half the speed and work your way up to full speed.

Trust me, a slow and methodical approach always works.

[FallenXxRaven]

Re: Calling Guitar Players

^_^ thanks for the help guys, ill be sure to try these things out.

[Tps222]

Re: Calling Guitar Players

Turn it up to 11.

[clarinet89]

Re: Calling Guitar Players

Turn it up to 11.

oh hell yeah