Why? [1]
Technique development is the physical development of your hands (and to some extent your body) so that you can play things that you want to play.For demanding styles (like jazz and fast metal) it is essential to develop your technique to a high level, and then maintain it. Even if this is not your thing, it is a good idea to get your technical ability higher than you need it - so that it will sound easy and smooth when you play.
Golden Rules [1]
- Practice the right thing: Do not let yourself make any mistakes while working on technique. Do things very carefully, because there is no point in working a lot on developing a bad habit into a perfect bad habit!
- Start new things very slowly and only speed up when it's perfect: Speed comes with time and a little help from a metronome, but fast runs must be played smoothly, accurately and clearly or they sound rubbish. The amazing thing about the really technical guitarists like Steve Vai or Eric Johnson is not just how fast they play but how cleanly they play. Slow it down to half or quarter speed and you can hear every note clearly - that is what you should be aiming for. Clarity.
- Keep all movements to an absolute minimum: Try and keep all movements as small and accurate as possible. Try not to let your fingers fly too far away from the fingerboard, or to 'point away'. Also try and keep your picking under control using only the tip of the pick and not moving it too far from the string.
Practice Routine
- JustinGuitar.com practice routine (also download the 1h intermidiate pratice routine sheet, or a blank practice routine sheet)
Technique Exercises
- Finger Gym:Notes:Always stop if you fell any pain: over practicing can lead to permanent problems like tendonitis that can be a real pain and stop you playing at all for long periods, so please be careful.If you have a metronome use it with this exercise - set it no faster than 80bpm (why? always do this exercise slowly to strength the muscles; do it in time in order to develop finger control instead of reflex)Trying to get the second note as clear as the first is one of the aims of the exercise.Try to do this exercise regularly5 to 10 minutes a day. (After a couple of weeks you can train up to one hour if you have the time)
- Small movements make a big difference: Notes:Do it slowly;Fingers shouldn't get further than 0.5 cm from the fingerboard;Practice with different scales (major, pentatonic, etc.)
- The Spider: alternate cross string picking exercise
Scales
You should try to practice melodic patterns as much or more than scales: practice scales a lot and when it comes time to make up a solo, guess what's gonna happen.... you're gonna play scales a lot.Melodic Patterns are number games that can be applied to scales to open the scale up to new and creative ways to play them. They also create fingering challenges that must be overcome, increasing your technical ability. see some examples of melodic patterns here, and try to create your own too.
Melodic Patterns will really help your improvising and free up you mind.
- Train scales with a methronome for acuracy and velocity training also.
- Always train them with the less finger movements possible
- After you train the scale up and down train them using melodic patterns, there are a bunch of them here. (BC-195 • Minor Pentatonic Patterns talks about the same thing and doesn't add nothing new)
- JustinGuitar.com scales lessons
- 123, 234, 345 - use triplets
- 13, 24, 35, 46, etc. (thirds) - good to train the rolling technique
Rhythm
- Check the rhythm page
Licks
- Train your licks (check the licks page)
Improvisation
Use some jam tracks to practice your improvisationLearn new things
- Check the licks page;
- Justin Guitar Blues Lessons
- Learn new songs
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