I've used your old finger gym over the past 2 years. You are dead right, my legato issue is tension. I think tension is probably my biggest enemy in everything. I've noticed that when I just noodle while watching something or reading something, I'm way more relaxed. When I get that way, my scales/improvisation sounds so much better. 2+ years now & I'm still fighting tension...And a wandering mind, or monkey mind as you put it. Thanks for this!
Wow!!! I've only been using your Finger Gym exercises for a couple of weeks, and i can already feel the difference in my dexterity!! In am an adult beginner at guitar, and your instruction is terrific! Thank you. I love learning guitar because of your instruction.
I know this has nothing to do with the topic of the video, but anyone ever mentioned how excellent the colors of justins ineventory and his clothes fit together in his videos? All the blue, brown, grey, gold... Just give me a cozzy feeling watching his videos. Just great. Thank you for that exercise and your good work
I like how thorough your instructions are You cover all my questions and even ones I didn't think about makes me feel more confident in doing these exercises knowing that I'm doing them right
Justin,just watched the video you posted and sent me on the finger exercises hammer ons,walking up and down the neck,looks like just the tonic for me, thank you Justin.
Justin as a brand new guitarist who is knocking on 50 I’m loving your videos. I’ve only been practising for 3 days now and realise how hard it is on the fingers and I’m shocking at finger placement when trying the D chord and E major. I’ve cut my nails down to the core to try and assist with getting the strings down properly but still a mammoth task at the moment. The strings feel like cheese wire! Looking forward to trying these exercises. Anyway, practice makes perfect. Keep up the great work.
I tried to learn guitar around the age of 15/16 but through health issues and just bad confidence I have more or less had a hiatus of about 20 years. I have had a craving to try again and so been heavily looking into exercises for all sorts of stuff. This is probably the best "pinky focused" exercise I have found, and when mixed in the "spider walk; keep fingers down" version, this will hopefully help me with both finger strength and accuracy, which is something I have always struggled with. Thank you for your videos, they have been an invaluable resource.
Hi Justin, thanks very much for the video! Any updates to the spider exercise? Also any other variations of that exercise that you could make a video about? I quite like it, it seems challenging for the finger independence. Thank you for your work.
think about exploring open tunings, where you tune the guitar such that when you strum across all strings, you still get a chord. Then a lot of your chord changes will be barring straight across, decreasing the amount of dexterity you need.
Great lesson and exercise, Justin! I can't believe how long you've been making guitar videos! A couple of months ago I saw your air chord changes video and it was a couple of weeks before I realized that was you! You're an excellent teacher and I appreciate the time you put into sharing your expertise 🙂
My biggest weakness is definitely landing on the wrong strings when playing chords, generally my 3rd and 4th fingers. Is strength likely my issue? I have done this finger gym intermittently and have noticed stronger fingers when I do it consistently. But unsure if it’s strength I’m struggling with when I try to get chords or a mental/motor skills issue (I.e. my brain telling my fingers the right thing)
How long do you do the exercise for? Do you go through the exercise once before your regular practice session? Do you perform the exercise before or after a warm up?
Thank you for all your honest help .. What is your opinion about practicing the five position of the major scale in thirds and sixes ?? is that super important and essential in the progress plateau ?
I've been doing this but at the first fret, I feel like I'm combining a nice stretch with the other benefits but I guess I may be lessening the strength of the others for the stretch....
So (10:00) do the calluses or rather the strength of the fingers going to allow me (maybe one day) to be able to glide through these strings? I’m assuming a combination? I’ve started playing again a couple of months ago, after about a 10 year hiatus and I was only a good beginner before (not committed) that played simple chords. My calluses feel like they are still forming, with intervals of peeling and soft calluses that feel like I’m regressing. Sometimes, id feel like knives are going through my tips and I’m powering to let those strings ring (perhaps it has something to with my cold hands). I thought calluses are supposed to form within 4 weeks and my tips would be hard as a rock, but I’m learning that’s not the case. On average I’m practicing less than a half hour daily.
Sorry, this is not Justin answering, but I’ve been playing about nine months, and I only have one tiny callus on my middle finger. I’m still getting the knives through the fingertips sensation. I too have been practicing less than half an hour a day, partly because of the pain in my fingertips. It feels like a vicious cycle.
@@lindsayheywood7195 thanks Lindsay, no problem, post was meant for any one to reply to. I guess it’s normal then and calluses and conditioning take more than time than I thought.
Hi, I hope you don't mind me butting in but I've been playing for 4 years, started late, I'm 56, decided guitar was a safer mid life crisis than a motorbike! I'm not marvellous (limited practice time!)but Justin's videos are a huge help, and I enjoy it. It took a long time for my fingers to toughen up, and yes, I've had the callouses peeling and reforming, that will stop eventually, it does feel easier over time, but the only real way to feel effortless is practice, I'll let you know when I feel that way, if i live long enough! Hope you persevere and enjoy it🙂
@@dogmax1 "decided guitar was a safer mid life crisis than a motorbike!" lmao. Good for you man, I love that, never too late, and it's encouraging to me. I started once upon a time in my early 20s while still in college but sucked and never had maintained any commitment or discipline. Part of the reason I stopped was I moved around from state to state, then overseas to the middle east, and then since 2013 to California. After like 8 years of not playing, decided to get my new 6 string a couple of months ago. I'm 42 now. What's interesting is that I made more improvement in those couple of months than in years before, and I've actually started progressing. I can sometimes play the intro to "over the hills and far away" with little flaws and I am sort of impressed with myself given my incompetent history. I attribute this to a few factors 1. I've learned the right supplementation to improve my chronic illness somewhat. I have fibromyalgia, arthritis, and being out of energy was never a motivation to practice. Also fingers incoordination and pain never helped. 2. UA-cam and fantastic teachers like Justin (he's my number 1) has made this very encouraging and fun. 3. As I see myself actually getting better, I'm impressed with myself and more willing to put more time and effort into it, and this triggers a good cycle. I just finished a practice session and I think my fingers are getting stronger. So I guess I'm heading in the right direction. Thanks for the encouragement and good luck to you too :)
In my experience, my fingers got hard calluses first but after a little while they will get soft again, but the skin is much tougher than before and there is very little pain. Took a few months I think.
Oh man, I remember doing the finger gym exercise when you taught it with 3 fingers 🤣😂 I'm alive, I made it, I'm still a beginner (by my own fault) but I will now do it this new way since I'm going through it all again lol.
Very Nice Exercise To Make Stronger Your Fingers..!,, And For "LEGATO TECHNIQUE OFCAURSE..,, If You Do It 1rst Time (S) It Would Be DEFICULT (like Everything In Life.!..) But When You PRECTICE +PRACTICE It's Gonna Be Eysier.,,!,, Take Your Time And If Start" Pain - Take A Break.., And Continue"".!!,..,! 💯👌👍💯🎸☘️♣️🎸☘️♣️🎸🎸🎸💪🤘😉
Will this help in my flexibility? Going from finger 1 to 3 etc is difficult for me. Or using each finger on a fret to play a note is very hard. I'm starting to get a bit discouraged with my flexibility.
That’s my thoughts also. My finger and hand strength for these kinds of exercises AND barre chords just isn’t there. 5 months in to learning and I still can’t achieve a barre chord. Very discouraging. Maybe by the time you’ve read this, you’re a wiz at it and if so……tips?
@@CateB66 @CateB66 I've come a very long way since this comment, I play electric and went and got my guitar setup properly with a low action and instantly barre chords were there for me. And just over time I can't think of anything specific I've done except put countless hours in my fingers are much more flexible now. Hopefully you've got them locked down now!
@@MrBikboi now that’s progress. I’ve been saying for a year that I need to have my guitar set up as I still can’t play a barre chord. Mind you, I haven’t actually been able to play/learn for quite a few months. Had a couple of small strokes so my ‘talent’, for lack of a better word is now as it was when I first began - tragic. You must be thrilled with your advancement although not just by the alteration and set up of the guitar but clearly a lot of practice and dedication. Congratulations!!
@@CateB66 Thanks for the kind words. I'm a pretty firm believer in muscle memory so I think you should be able to get back in swing of things without as much effort as you put in to get there before. I wish you the best of luck with your journey and your health :)
@@MrBikboi thank you so much, I hope so and all the very best with your musical future, which sounds very exciting. Don’t forget to dedicate your first solo to me 😉.
There's a series of lessons on legato here: www.justinguitar.com/modules/legato-primer Cheers 😊 | Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Approved Teacher
Damn! I have a cronic "golfers elbow" after practising barr-cords a few month ago. So I can not do this type of practise..... damn. I have played for one year.
Hey quick question .. when I’m doing my hammer on do I leave my other finger pressed down on the string I’m on ..for example if I’m doing first and second finger will I leave first finger pressed down on the string as I’m doing my hammer on with my second finger .. oh boy 🤦🏻♀️is this making sense lol
Yes it made sense :D . In your example, you keep your first finger down. You'll be doing that more in the future when playing something in a certain shape; you probably picked the note that's under your first finger and then, instead of picking the the second with your second finger, you hammer it on. Same goes for "pull-offs", where you do the opposite. You pull of the second finger so the note under your first finger isthe one that will ring out. I do mention though, practicing hammer-ons and pull-offs on open strings is useful to (for scale shapes that incorporate open strings) | LievenDV | JustinGuitar Approved Teacher, Assistant and Community Admin
I can't seem to get all my fingers parallel and evenly spaced square on to the neck ? Instead they all seem to want to point inwards? Has anyone got any advice ? Thanks in advance
If you’re doing this seriously - should you do it for one day quite intensively (20-30 mins) then have a COMPLETE day off for your finger muscles to grow? As you would with the real gym?
So you started with click baiting titles also Justin. Well done, you’ve finally lost your uniqueness and became the same as all others. Thank your SM managers…
Yeah, not really. I literally did (and recommended!) this exercise wrong for years, and I need my students to see there's a more efficient version available. I talk - a lot - and explain my points about it in the video. Cheers - and happy holidays! :)
@@justinguitar I know, I’ve seen the part where you talk about it. I’m not saying you didn’t. I’m saying you are using click baiting titles. Is this the only exercise you did wrong in your life ? The title is vague and too general. It’s not a title someone searches for. It’s title to be clicked on when seen as suggested. At least your SM managers know what I’m talking about. Happy Holidays, don’t sell out for cheap clicks, you are unique ☺️
@@dusanmilenkovic5886 aren't you just so special . Why do you care so much about title? Please explain. I'm interested in your point of view on the subject.
Sad, nitpicking man. The content of the video is of significant quality and Justin is within his rights to advertise it as effectively as he sees fit in order to promote what he believes is an important message.
@@everythingtakin because I’m sad to see Justin, who is so special and unique and who I like too much and I’ve followed him for too long, fall under cheap tricks of uncreative SM managers. I don’t think he needs it nor deserves it
I've used your old finger gym over the past 2 years. You are dead right, my legato issue is tension. I think tension is probably my biggest enemy in everything. I've noticed that when I just noodle while watching something or reading something, I'm way more relaxed. When I get that way, my scales/improvisation sounds so much better. 2+ years now & I'm still fighting tension...And a wandering mind, or monkey mind as you put it. Thanks for this!
I like that you reflect on your past experience as a teacher; then, you modify the lesson(s) for best results for your students. Well done!
Thank you for the feedback - I appreciate your comment!
Wow!!! I've only been using your Finger Gym exercises for a couple of weeks, and i can already feel the difference in my dexterity!! In am an adult beginner at guitar, and your instruction is terrific! Thank you. I love learning guitar because of your instruction.
you taught me how to play guitar 10yrs ago! i really appreciate that you consistently put out great content
Thanks for this lesson Justin. Much love and thanks from India. We love you.
I know this has nothing to do with the topic of the video, but anyone ever mentioned how excellent the colors of justins ineventory and his clothes fit together in his videos? All the blue, brown, grey, gold... Just give me a cozzy feeling watching his videos. Just great. Thank you for that exercise and your good work
It's true!! I've always liked how the background looks.
I like how thorough your instructions are You cover all my questions and even ones I didn't think about makes me feel more confident in doing these exercises knowing that I'm doing them right
9:31 I Love It! It Sound Beautiful!
Great exercise, ty Justin
You are an Absolute Professional. 🤘🏼👍🎸
Great exercises! Love hammer ons!
Love this exercise. Thanks Justin 🥰🥰🥰
Justin,just watched the video you posted and sent me on the finger exercises hammer ons,walking up and down the neck,looks like just the tonic for me, thank you Justin.
I really enjoy your metronome, I bought it and didn’t use it BUT now many months later I really like it.
Nice one Justin. Merry Christmas.
Thanks, you too!
Justin, you are a stellar instructor. Thank you.
Justin is the man!
Hi Justin youre very professional great lesson tips. Thank you 💯👍👌
Thankyou for new video!! 😊😊
Hope you like it!
Excellent, definitely be doing this 🙂
Just tried it! Great little finger workout! Thank you!!
Justin as a brand new guitarist who is knocking on 50 I’m loving your videos. I’ve only been practising for 3 days now and realise how hard it is on the fingers and I’m shocking at finger placement when trying the D chord and E major. I’ve cut my nails down to the core to try and assist with getting the strings down properly but still a mammoth task at the moment. The strings feel like cheese wire! Looking forward to trying these exercises. Anyway, practice makes perfect. Keep up the great work.
You’re a great teacher Justin thank you
When good at this, should you move the starting position towards the nut?
Great video. Thanks so much Justin.......Sal : )
Thank you, Sam!
I tried to learn guitar around the age of 15/16 but through health issues and just bad confidence I have more or less had a hiatus of about 20 years. I have had a craving to try again and so been heavily looking into exercises for all sorts of stuff.
This is probably the best "pinky focused" exercise I have found, and when mixed in the "spider walk; keep fingers down" version, this will hopefully help me with both finger strength and accuracy, which is something I have always struggled with.
Thank you for your videos, they have been an invaluable resource.
Hi Justin, thanks very much for the video! Any updates to the spider exercise? Also any other variations of that exercise that you could make a video about? I quite like it, it seems challenging for the finger independence. Thank you for your work.
This is what I was looking for… Thank you Justin
11:43 😊
Thanks Norm Macdonald!
Ty my hands are getting hard to handle. But this is a great excercise
i have cerical spinal stinosis and have numbness in my fingers, do you think i can still learn to play guitar and how do i deal with it????
think about exploring open tunings, where you tune the guitar such that when you strum across all strings, you still get a chord. Then a lot of your chord changes will be barring straight across, decreasing the amount of dexterity you need.
@@wendysgarden4283 thank you
happy holidays man!
Happy holidays!
whoa my pinky needed this exercise for sure😅. thank you!
Great lesson and exercise, Justin! I can't believe how long you've been making guitar videos! A couple of months ago I saw your air chord changes video and it was a couple of weeks before I realized that was you! You're an excellent teacher and I appreciate the time you put into sharing your expertise 🙂
My biggest weakness is definitely landing on the wrong strings when playing chords, generally my 3rd and 4th fingers. Is strength likely my issue?
I have done this finger gym intermittently and have noticed stronger fingers when I do it consistently. But unsure if it’s strength I’m struggling with when I try to get chords or a mental/motor skills issue (I.e. my brain telling my fingers the right thing)
How long do you do the exercise for? Do you go through the exercise once before your regular practice session? Do you perform the exercise before or after a warm up?
Thank you for all your honest help ..
What is your opinion about practicing the five position of the major scale in thirds and sixes ?? is that super important and essential in the progress plateau ?
I've been doing this but at the first fret, I feel like I'm combining a nice stretch with the other benefits but I guess I may be lessening the strength of the others for the stretch....
Thanks for the lesson. Do you have an exercise for slide?
Nice. I am finding that finger 3 does not do what I am wanting it to do! 8)
( the other fingers SHOULD be following along! Great line, Justin. )
So (10:00) do the calluses or rather the strength of the fingers going to allow me (maybe one day) to be able to glide through these strings? I’m assuming a combination? I’ve started playing again a couple of months ago, after about a 10 year hiatus and I was only a good beginner before (not committed) that played simple chords. My calluses feel like they are still forming, with intervals of peeling and soft calluses that feel like I’m regressing. Sometimes, id feel like knives are going through my tips and I’m powering to let those strings ring (perhaps it has something to with my cold hands). I thought calluses are supposed to form within 4 weeks and my tips would be hard as a rock, but I’m learning that’s not the case. On average I’m practicing less than a half hour daily.
Sorry, this is not Justin answering, but I’ve been playing about nine months, and I only have one tiny callus on my middle finger. I’m still getting the knives through the fingertips sensation. I too have been practicing less than half an hour a day, partly because of the pain in my fingertips. It feels like a vicious cycle.
@@lindsayheywood7195 thanks Lindsay, no problem, post was meant for any one to reply to. I guess it’s normal then and calluses and conditioning take more than time than I thought.
Hi, I hope you don't mind me butting in but I've been playing for 4 years, started late, I'm 56, decided guitar was a safer mid life crisis than a motorbike! I'm not marvellous (limited practice time!)but Justin's videos are a huge help, and I enjoy it. It took a long time for my fingers to toughen up, and yes, I've had the callouses peeling and reforming, that will stop eventually, it does feel easier over time, but the only real way to feel effortless is practice, I'll let you know when I feel that way, if i live long enough! Hope you persevere and enjoy it🙂
@@dogmax1 "decided guitar was a safer mid life crisis than a motorbike!" lmao. Good for you man, I love that, never too late, and it's encouraging to me. I started once upon a time in my early 20s while still in college but sucked and never had maintained any commitment or discipline. Part of the reason I stopped was I moved around from state to state, then overseas to the middle east, and then since 2013 to California. After like 8 years of not playing, decided to get my new 6 string a couple of months ago. I'm 42 now. What's interesting is that I made more improvement in those couple of months than in years before, and I've actually started progressing. I can sometimes play the intro to "over the hills and far away" with little flaws and I am sort of impressed with myself given my incompetent history. I attribute this to a few factors 1. I've learned the right supplementation to improve my chronic illness somewhat. I have fibromyalgia, arthritis, and being out of energy was never a motivation to practice. Also fingers incoordination and pain never helped. 2. UA-cam and fantastic teachers like Justin (he's my number 1) has made this very encouraging and fun. 3. As I see myself actually getting better, I'm impressed with myself and more willing to put more time and effort into it, and this triggers a good cycle.
I just finished a practice session and I think my fingers are getting stronger. So I guess I'm heading in the right direction. Thanks for the encouragement and good luck to you too :)
In my experience, my fingers got hard calluses first but after a little while they will get soft again, but the skin is much tougher than before and there is very little pain. Took a few months I think.
Tensions kills speed. Both in your fret hand AND in your picking hand
Yes!
Oh man, I remember doing the finger gym exercise when you taught it with 3 fingers 🤣😂
I'm alive, I made it, I'm still a beginner (by my own fault) but I will now do it this new way since I'm going through it all again lol.
Very Nice Exercise To Make Stronger Your Fingers..!,, And For "LEGATO TECHNIQUE OFCAURSE..,, If You Do It 1rst Time (S) It Would Be DEFICULT (like Everything In Life.!..) But When You PRECTICE +PRACTICE It's Gonna Be Eysier.,,!,, Take Your Time And If Start" Pain - Take A Break.., And Continue"".!!,..,!
💯👌👍💯🎸☘️♣️🎸☘️♣️🎸🎸🎸💪🤘😉
Will this help in my flexibility? Going from finger 1 to 3 etc is difficult for me. Or using each finger on a fret to play a note is very hard. I'm starting to get a bit discouraged with my flexibility.
That’s my thoughts also. My finger and hand strength for these kinds of exercises AND barre chords just isn’t there. 5 months in to learning and I still can’t achieve a barre chord. Very discouraging. Maybe by the time you’ve read this, you’re a wiz at it and if so……tips?
@@CateB66 @CateB66 I've come a very long way since this comment, I play electric and went and got my guitar setup properly with a low action and instantly barre chords were there for me. And just over time I can't think of anything specific I've done except put countless hours in my fingers are much more flexible now. Hopefully you've got them locked down now!
@@MrBikboi now that’s progress. I’ve been saying for a year that I need to have my guitar set up as I still can’t play a barre chord. Mind you, I haven’t actually been able to play/learn for quite a few months. Had a couple of small strokes so my ‘talent’, for lack of a better word is now as it was when I first began - tragic.
You must be thrilled with your advancement although not just by the alteration and set up of the guitar but clearly a lot of practice and dedication. Congratulations!!
@@CateB66 Thanks for the kind words. I'm a pretty firm believer in muscle memory so I think you should be able to get back in swing of things without as much effort as you put in to get there before. I wish you the best of luck with your journey and your health :)
@@MrBikboi thank you so much, I hope so and all the very best with your musical future, which sounds very exciting. Don’t forget to dedicate your first solo to me 😉.
hi Justin thanks for the video great lesson.
This exercise is going to help in many areas. Pinky is so weak.
Do u have a video on Legato ?
There's a series of lessons on legato here: www.justinguitar.com/modules/legato-primer
Cheers 😊 | Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Approved Teacher
Ouch!!!!! And thank you!
Please make a demo of Wild blue yonder by screaming blue messiahs
Great video
Damn! I have a cronic "golfers elbow" after practising barr-cords a few month ago. So I can not do this type of practise..... damn. I have played for one year.
Perfect hammer on practice song : 4 horsemen by Metallica
Hey quick question .. when I’m doing my hammer on do I leave my other finger pressed down on the string I’m on ..for example if I’m doing first and second finger will I leave first finger pressed down on the string as I’m doing my hammer on with my second finger .. oh boy 🤦🏻♀️is this making sense lol
Yes it made sense :D . In your example, you keep your first finger down. You'll be doing that more in the future when playing something in a certain shape; you probably picked the note that's under your first finger and then, instead of picking the the second with your second finger, you hammer it on. Same goes for "pull-offs", where you do the opposite. You pull of the second finger so the note under your first finger isthe one that will ring out. I do mention though, practicing hammer-ons and pull-offs on open strings is useful to (for scale shapes that incorporate open strings) | LievenDV | JustinGuitar Approved Teacher, Assistant and Community Admin
when should we speed it up?
❤
hey
what is the name of the app for the metronome?
Justin i have to know, where is your iconic hat from! :D
I buy my hats at Borsalino. Italian made!
@@justinguitar welcome to the Tribe 🤣
I'm confused as to how this trains the index finger
🎸
What stage of your course should we do this excersize?
Grade 3, which's getting a full remake: www.justinguitar.com/classes/beginner-guitar-course-grade-three
@@justinguitar I'm in module 5 of your begginer app so assume I'm not upto this yet. Looking forward
I can't seem to get all my fingers parallel and evenly spaced square on to the neck ? Instead they all seem to want to point inwards? Has anyone got any advice ? Thanks in advance
www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/play-better-guitar-the-finger-gym-exercise-bg-1503
Cheers 😊 | Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Approved Teacher
Two notable things:
1. The Position of the Index while the others paired.
2. The Pinky when it's not engaged.
🤙🤔👀
If you’re doing this seriously - should you do it for one day quite intensively (20-30 mins) then have a COMPLETE day off for your finger muscles to grow? As you would with the real gym?
👏👏👏👏👍👍 am I first to comment😀
Yes you are! :) Thank you!
Nope btw 😁
@@justinguitar 😀thank you🙏
Everyone can speed this up by using some sort of gripper.
Dang, that is torturous.
Too surgical. I just wanna have fun with a guitar and play my favorite songs. Gives you a good workout
So you started with click baiting titles also Justin. Well done, you’ve finally lost your uniqueness and became the same as all others.
Thank your SM managers…
Yeah, not really. I literally did (and recommended!) this exercise wrong for years, and I need my students to see there's a more efficient version available. I talk - a lot - and explain my points about it in the video. Cheers - and happy holidays! :)
@@justinguitar I know, I’ve seen the part where you talk about it. I’m not saying you didn’t. I’m saying you are using click baiting titles. Is this the only exercise you did wrong in your life ? The title is vague and too general. It’s not a title someone searches for. It’s title to be clicked on when seen as suggested. At least your SM managers know what I’m talking about.
Happy Holidays, don’t sell out for cheap clicks, you are unique ☺️
@@dusanmilenkovic5886 aren't you just so special . Why do you care so much about title? Please explain. I'm interested in your point of view on the subject.
Sad, nitpicking man. The content of the video is of significant quality and Justin is within his rights to advertise it as effectively as he sees fit in order to promote what he believes is an important message.
@@everythingtakin because I’m sad to see Justin, who is so special and unique and who I like too much and I’ve followed him for too long, fall under cheap tricks of uncreative SM managers.
I don’t think he needs it nor deserves it
Thank you so much!! It's really helpful(◍•ᴗ•◍)❤