Two Basic Exercises for Bluegrass Guitarists

Описание: Here are two basic exercises for bluegrass guitarists that I often assign to my students to help them improve their coordination and work on technique for both the left and right hands.

The first exercise seems simple enough at first glance, but there's a lot of specific elements to pay attention to. Here are a few things to pay extra-careful attention to.

1. Make sure your pick hits the string as flat as possible. Don't angle your pick forward or backward. you will get a much fuller tone.

2. Make sure you strike the string over the rosette, just behind the soundhole of your guitar. If you're too far back it will be "twangy" if you're too far forward you won't have a cutting attack on the front end of the note.

3. Make sure your left-hand fingers are hovering over their corresponding fret.
Index finger - first fret
Middle finger - second fret
Ring finger - third fret
Pinky finger - fourth fret

4. Make sure there is space between the fingers on your left hand, paying extra attention to the ring finger (it will want to lean up against another finger). To keep your hand loose, you need to make sure your hand is relaxed and that your fingers are able to reach and move freely. Often, new players keep their fingers pointed at their head, keep them vertical, or splayed out as if you were a kid saying "I'm four years old"

5. Alternate pick! When you play the odd frets with your left hand, those are down-strokes with your right-hand. The even frets are up-strokes.

6. Think about when you lift your left-hand fingers up. When your ring finger plays the third fret, your index finger lifts of the fret (but not too far). When your pinky plays the fourth fret, your middle-finger lifts up.

7. You need to know the G-major scale in open position!!!!!!! Memorize it, you will use it all the time.

8. Practice the folding scale as I showed it to you, but feel free to change it as well. Can you play more notes in the pattern? Can you play fewer notes? Experiment and have fun

9. Don't miss the additional info at the end. You can change the pattern of the "1-2-3-4" exercise and play other patterns in your left hand. 1-3-2-4, or 1-4-2-3, or 2-3-1-4, or 3-4-1-2, whatever you want. Don't change you alternate picking though.

10. Alternate pick on every eighth-note. Down strokes on the beat and up strokes on the and-of-the-beat (off-beat).

Make up your own exercises and let us all know about them!!!

Happy practicing!