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Lesson 4 of 7

Ten-minute warm-up

A ready-made warm-up for the start of every session. No big stretches: everything stays in a comfortable position, and the tempo stays easy. Set a timer.

Minutes What How
0-2 Open-string crossing Picking hand only, slow and even
2-5 Chromatic 1-2-3-4 Up and down, one finger per fret
5-7 Spider walk Fingers stay close to the strings
7-9 Chord changes C to G from the first lesson, slow
9-10 Free strumming Any chords you know, relaxed

The drills

Open-string crossing. Strict alternate picking on pairs of open strings, moving from low E to high e. Keep the pick movement small and let your forearm travel across, not your wrist.

Chromatic 1-2-3-4. Frets 5 to 8 on every string, up and back down. At the 5th fret the frets are narrower than at the nut, so there's no stretch. Index on 5, middle 6, ring 7, pinky 8. On the way down, place all four fingers first and lift them one at a time.

Spider walk. Each finger plays on a different string from the one before: index and ring on one string, middle and pinky on the next. It trains your fingers to move independently. Keep the fingers you're not using hovering just above the strings.

The most common mistake is treating the warm-up as a speed test. These are wake-up drills: stay at least 20 bpm below your best tempo and focus on relaxed hands and an even sound.

Exercises

Open-string crossing

60 → 110 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. low E string, open
    2. A string, open
    3. low E string, open
    4. A string, open
    5. A string, open
    6. D string, open
    7. A string, open
    8. D string, open
  2. Bar 2
    1. D string, open
    2. G string, open
    3. D string, open
    4. G string, open
    5. G string, open
    6. B string, open
    7. G string, open
    8. B string, open
  3. Bar 3
    1. B string, open
    2. high E string, open
    3. B string, open
    4. high E string, open
    5. B string, open
    6. high E string, open
    7. B string, open
    8. high E string, open

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

Chromatic 1-2-3-4 at the 5th fret

60 → 100 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. low E string, fret 5
    2. low E string, fret 6
    3. low E string, fret 7
    4. low E string, fret 8
    5. A string, fret 5
    6. A string, fret 6
    7. A string, fret 7
    8. A string, fret 8
  2. Bar 2
    1. D string, fret 5
    2. D string, fret 6
    3. D string, fret 7
    4. D string, fret 8
    5. G string, fret 5
    6. G string, fret 6
    7. G string, fret 7
    8. G string, fret 8
  3. Bar 3
    1. B string, fret 5
    2. B string, fret 6
    3. B string, fret 7
    4. B string, fret 8
    5. high E string, fret 5
    6. high E string, fret 6
    7. high E string, fret 7
    8. high E string, fret 8
  4. Bar 4
    1. high E string, fret 8
    2. high E string, fret 7
    3. high E string, fret 6
    4. high E string, fret 5
    5. B string, fret 8
    6. B string, fret 7
    7. B string, fret 6
    8. B string, fret 5
  5. Bar 5
    1. G string, fret 8
    2. G string, fret 7
    3. G string, fret 6
    4. G string, fret 5
    5. D string, fret 8
    6. D string, fret 7
    7. D string, fret 6
    8. D string, fret 5
  6. Bar 6
    1. A string, fret 8
    2. A string, fret 7
    3. A string, fret 6
    4. A string, fret 5
    5. low E string, fret 8
    6. low E string, fret 7
    7. low E string, fret 6
    8. low E string, fret 5

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

Spider walk

50 → 90 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. low E string, fret 5
    2. A string, fret 6
    3. low E string, fret 7
    4. A string, fret 8
    5. A string, fret 5
    6. D string, fret 6
    7. A string, fret 7
    8. D string, fret 8
  2. Bar 2
    1. D string, fret 5
    2. G string, fret 6
    3. D string, fret 7
    4. G string, fret 8
    5. G string, fret 5
    6. B string, fret 6
    7. G string, fret 7
    8. B string, fret 8
  3. Bar 3
    1. B string, fret 5
    2. high E string, fret 6
    3. B string, fret 7
    4. high E string, fret 8, vibrato
    5. rest
    6. rest
    7. rest

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

Checkpoint

Move on when you can do all of these.

  • The whole routine in 10 minutes by the clock, with no stops
  • Chromatic clean for 2 loops at 100 bpm with relaxed hands
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