simple finger style exercises

As I'm recovering from an injured left arm that's left me able to practice only for short periods of time, I've come up with some fairly simple exercises I can do on just open strings. Hey, if I can squeeze in another 5 minutes every time I pick up the guitar, all the better!

Except where indicated, use free-strokes for everything. Don't worry about playing them fast; just play them clean. Feel free to repeat any part of any exercise as many times as you'd like or to play them with chords.

(click on the images to enlarge)

1 - Rest-Stroke vs. Free-Stroke

2 - Arpeggiating

(This can also be done using all 4 fingers. I was just too lazy to write it out.)

 3 - Tremolo

 4 - Tremolo With The Thumb

As usual, feel free to play around with different variations and make the exercises your own and have fun!

Brant Grieshaber - guitarist
Guitar Teacher

Mistakes

When you make a mistake, you're learning. When you find the courage to continue making mistakes, you're on the path. When you accept the path as it is, it doesn't matter how many mistakes you make. There is joy in every single one.

Brant Grieshaber - guitarist
Guitar Teacher

My book

Alright, it's time for a little more shameless self-promotion. I probably don't do enough of it anyway! For those of you who really want to milk your scale, arpeggio, and chord practice for all you can get out of it, my book is available digitally. You can get it for any reader. Here's the link for Kindle:

Ultimate Guitarists Survival Guide

Pentatonic Etude For Blues - Playing The Changes

And here's a short video that will help you with the idea of changing scales when chords change.




Brant Grieshaber - guitarist
Guitar Teacher

Melodic Embellishment of Chords

Here's a short instructional video showing how you can add melodic embellishment to a 12-bar blues by making some simple alterations to a couple of standard chord voicings.




Brant Grieshaber - guitarist
Guitar Teacher

short video lessons

After, oh, 3 years or so of procrastination, I'm preparing to do a series of short (<5min) free video lessons.

What sorts of topics would you like to see covered? Please be as specific as possible.

Brant Grieshaber - guitarist
Guitar Teacher

new videos

I've posted 4 new videos on YouTube. One is an arrangement of the Brahms Lullaby and the other three are Piezas Sin Titulo 1-3 by Leo Brouwer.

diagonal thinking

Today I attended a clinic given by a fellow Berklee grad, German Schauss, who's a remarkable shred guitar player. Aside from his general sincerity as a human being, I was particularly intrigued by his Diagonal Thinking on the guitar. German has chops that most of us dream about. His picking has a precision and speed that can make 99% of guitar players weep. But that all comes down to practice time and discipline, which is nothing new to me. To play better, I spend more time practicing. Simple.

But the kind of mind-blowing speed that German displays with ease, even when he's playing at temperatures that are 40 degrees below what he's accustomed to, is inspired by his thinking about the instrument as well as his dedication to practice.

He thinks diagonally a great deal of the time. What do I mean? Here are some simple illustrations.

At first we have octaves. In the second variation, we add the notes of a G major triad. The fingering is identical through each octave, which is a crucial part of this way of viewing the fingerboard. In the third line, we add a passing tone (the 2nd) to our G major triad. The fourth line is a slightly more intricate pattern that adheres to this this perspective.

This is an amazingly economical way of viewing the fingerboard and economy is the seed of speed!

Brant Grieshaber - guitarist
Guitar Teacher