Guitar Boot Camp - Four Critical Skills
In my own personal journey with the guitar, I learned decades ago that there were some key techniques that should be developed to improve fundamental guitar skills, which then inform playing music with a greater fluency and ease of expression. Although the guitar is blessed with a dizzying collection of techniqes that span from the normal (scales for example) to the exotic (two-hand tapping), the vast majority falls into a few limited categories.
I'm sure that guitarists will debate what should or should not be included in any such list, but I believe that the four listed below are critical. I have made these the cornerstone of my practice routine for decades. In fact, whenever I pick up my guitar to practice, I start with these. Since my time is limited, I usually rotate them over several days and often only spend a matter of minutes on each. I do this to maintain my skills which I developed when I was much younger and had more time to pratcice. Regardless of the time you have to practice, I'm convinced that practicing these skills regularly will profoundly improve your playing ability
NOTE: Explaining each of these four skills in detail would take books (which I'm working on) so the material below just touches the surface of these powerful skill-development tools.
1. Slur (legato) Studies
Slur studies, also called legato studies, are exercises that are commonly referred to as hammer-ons and pull-offs, though they may include additional kinds such as slides and other alternative ways to articulate notes other than by plucking. The basic technique consists of an initial plucked note followed by one or more hammer-ons or pull-offs produced by a fretting finger (without being plucked). The examples below are just two of a very large number of possibilities.
Ascending Slurs
The fretting hand fingertip "hammers" the string into the fingerboard, making contact with the fret wire, to produce a sound. The example below uses a series of ascending slurs (hammer-ons) using the index and little finger of the fretting hand. The first one of each pair of slurred notes (indicated by a curvy line called a "slur") is plucked (fretted by the index finger, indicated by "1"), while the second one of each pair of notes is produced stricly by the hammering action of the fretting hand little finger (indicated by "4"). The string is plucked with a pick or fingerpicked.
Descending Slurs
A related technique is used for descending notes. This is often called a "pull-off" because the fretting hand finger literally plucks the string by "pulling off", almost always in a downward motion (though other directions are possible as shown in the videos below). In the this example, the first note is fretted by the little finger (marked with a "4") and plucked in the normal way by a pick or being fingerpicked. The second note, fretted by the index finger (marked with a "1") and connected with a slur (the curvy line), is not plucked in the normal way (by a pick or being fingerpicked), but by the fretting hand little finger "pulling off" or literally plucking the string. Descending slurs can be executed in a variety of ways (out, down, even up). The first video uses the method commonly used on nylon string guitars, where the fretting hand finger "pulls off" in a downward direction, ending up resting on the lower adjacent string (or just below the string when performed on the 1st string). The remaining videos show other ways to perform descending slurs.
Nylon String Method
"Straight Out" Method
"Down and Away" Method
"Up and Away" Method
(I am preparing to publish a book of slur studies. I will place a link here to them once they're available.)
2. Scales
A scale is a collection of consecutive pitches, based on some sort of formula. Scales are one of the most important building blocks of music, used to create melodies and chords in particular. There are a virtually limitless number of scales. Because they are found in almost all music, it is critical to be familiar with as many as possible and practice them. With practice they will become familiar and easy to play when encountered in music. There are probably many more ways to pracctice scales than there are scales. I will only touch on one scale, the C major scale, and the simplest way to practice it, by ascending and then descending. Although there are many permutations of this scale, as there are with all scale, I am demonstrating a one-octave version. The C major scale consists of the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, and B.
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(I am preparing to publish a book of scales. I will place a link here to them once they're available.)
3. Coordination Studies
Coordination studies try to develop synchronization between the hands, while developing velocity and dexterity. They are very simple in principle, based on repeating fretting hand fingering patterns with plucking hand flatpick or fingerpicking alternation. My recollection is that I first learned about these exercises in one of my favorite technique books, Mel Bay's Complete Book of Guitar Technique, by Sal Salvador. In that book, they're called "control mechanisms", finger independence mechanisms", or just simply "mechanisms". As with slur studies and scales, there are probably limitless varieties. I've displayed my two favorites below, ones that I do virtually every time I pick up a guitar.
Practice Notes
If you are using a pick: use alternating up and down strokes.
If you are fingerpicking: use alternating fingers, such as index, middle, index, middle, etc. If you are playing a nylon string guitar you might practice using both free and rest strokes.
Use these as warm-up exercises each time you practice. Play them on other strings. With time these will develop your speed and promote better coordination between your right and left hands. Don't rush them! The speed will come with consistent, clean practicing. By all means play as fast you can, but not to the point that you play sloppy. Being fast is only one part of playing well; you must be accurate too.
Don't overdo these exercises because this may cause repetitive stress injuries.
Invent other patterns using different finger combinations, such as 1-3-2-4, 1-4-2-3, 1-2-3, 4-3-2, etc.
(I am preparing to publish a book of coordination exercises. I will place a link here to them once they're available.)
4. Arpeggios
I hate to repeat myself, but like slur studies, scales, and coordination studies, there are truly massive numbers of arpeggios in music. An arpeggio is playing the notes of a chord in a sequence rather than all at once (block chord). Whether it's the iconic arpeggio in the first movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", or the exercise quoted below, you'll find them everywhere. There are varieties for flatpicking, fingerpicking, tapping, slurring - even some using harmonics. It's a very wide field and the example below is one very little acre in a world of property.
When it comes to guitar perhaps the most helpful of all arpeggio collections is that by Mauro Giuliani. He carved out one-hundred-and-twenty of them that are gems to be polished in the hands of every fingerpicking guitarist. Several years ago I created a video that describes a way to practice this and other fingerpicking arpeggio exercises, which I've pasted below.
(I am preparing to publish a book of arpeggio exercises. I will place a link here to them once they're available.)