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The holy grail for me is right hand finger independence as I am learning Latin and flamenco styles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx4-vqvH4XU
my third finger on the fretting hand is useless for anything but chords,I cannot play any scales with it in the traditional fingering of one finger per fret,without it seizing up.It has never been damaged either! After 9 years of practice and exercises I just use the gary moore method of fingers 124 for pentatonic scales.It was either that, or give up guitar permanently
I certainly believe improvement in finger independence is available to all, but it's definitely a tough challenge, and often approached incorrectly. That's my opinion after 32 years of struggle with a very naturally untalented left hand.
3rd episode in this series is on the way before too long .. been a bit sidetracked recently, In it I'll showcase the "Double Chromatic", a deceptively tricky pattern I devised in 2010 to highlight these and related concepts.
Page 17 in the book linked below has a bit on this, online preview available ...
You cycle through a number of sequences, one finger per fret. There are six. Play each one a few thousand times. Get it to machine gun speed. Thus:
1234, 2341, 3412, 4123 x 1000
The other five are:
1243, 2431, 4312, 3124
1324, 3241, 2413, 4132
1342, 3421, 4213, 2134
1423, 4231, 2314, 3142
1432, 4321, 3214, 2143
The first and last sequences are the easiest.
Start on one string only, then try going from bottom string to top string - bottom E 1234, then A string 2341 etc. Up to top E string, then moving up a semitone (3412), then coming down the strings, all on the fret above where you were previously. Then up again.
Also just try humming the notes to yourself when on a train etc.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
1234234134124123,1243243143123124,1324324124134132,1342342142132134,1423423123143142,1432432132142143.
And actually I change the order of the six groups as well. It's a good tongue twister, or should that be finger twister. Obviously you're right, it does get easier and ceases to be useful once you've got your fingers used to it, and then it's time to look for something else. But many guitarists will find this a challenge. And if you can do this then your fingers will be able to work quite independently. My fingers have always lagged behind my brain, by miles - I have thousands of tunes in my head - but gaining control of my hand in this way has enabled me to play more and more of them, and the practical application of my improvisational ideas has improved over the years because of this and other similar exercises that I've invented to stretch me in areas I'm weak in.
But I think the MOST important thing, for me anyway, is to be musical. Music is an art. It cannot be mastered through finger exercises alone. I admit, my system has been useful, for me, as a way to help convert my ideas into reality, which is why I share it, but if you're saying that things like this are not the most important thing by a long shot, then I wholeheartedly agree with you.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
I liken this situation to that of a martial arts student who doesn't have enough flexibility/stretch in his legs to kick to a certain height. Sure, we couldn't completely dismiss the possibility that by executing the kick to his current maximum height repeatedly and trying to push higher he would gain extra stretch, but the accepted approach is to work on stretching the relevant components of the leg in isolated "practice". Returning to test out the kick with increased flexibility and possibly never having even attempted the kick in the meantime, the student would find his potential in this move to be enhanced. This would be the best time for repetition.
There are many fingers supporting the hand in the first example,but not in my example.in my example,which is standard fingering for a pentatonic for most people(give or take a slight variation in fingering) many times the hand is on one finger,sure you can keep all fingers down (lightly)on the fretboard,on unused strings,throughout the scale,which I can actually do,but it never feels that comfortable,is slow,and ultimately defeating.
Yeah man those 1234 exercises drive me up the walls mate! I prefer to practice things I can use musically, like one string patterns, Yngwie and Gilbert patterns etc.
It's the same situation as I outlined above re. martial arts. An equivalent statement to yours would be something like "martial arts physical ability = kicking to head height". But my interest liies in answering questions like "Can you get that ability just by repeatedly trying to kick higher?" (and I'm not saying that's not possible for some), or "Is there a better way?"