Dexterity Exercises

Basic warmup

Move up and down each string. Using each finger in the order represented by the images below. Moving up and down the string's play the notes in the order indicated by the finger markers on the fretboards.

Example 1

Start on string 6 ( low E in standard tuning ), moving up the fretboard
Play each note one after the other using the fingers indicated in the order of 1-2-3-4.

Use fingers in the order of 1-2-3-4 when moving up the fretboard ( higher in pitch )
Use fingers in the order of 4-3-2-1 when moving down the fretboard ( lower in pitch )

Example 2

Use fingers in the order of 1-2-3-4 when moving up the fretboard ( higher in pitch ).

Use fingers in the order of 4-3-2-1 when moving down the fretboard ( lower in pitch )

Continue moving across all the frets and strings between frets 1 and 12.

If you are playing a guitar where you can reach further up the fretboard, feel free to move up into frets 13-14-15-16, The more notes you practice early, the easier they will be to incorporate later in the study of theory.

Transverse the entire fretboard moving from string 6 ( low E ) to string 1 ( high E ), Next repeat the process in reverse.

Transverse the entire fretboard moving from string 1 (high E) to string 6 (low E) in standard tuning.

After you get comfortable moving around on the fretboard a bit, start exploring some other types of movements.

Movement Patterns