Artificial Harmonics Exercises 1-6

Exercises 1-6

Hints: The right hand fingering to play artificial harmonics is very tricky, so make sure to fully understand the movement of the fingers before attempting these exercises. Watch out that the ring finger in the right hand does not accidentally pluck another string. Pluck with decent force or else the sound of the harmonics will be low. If the coordination between both hands is off you will either hear a muted sound or you will just have a regular non-harmonic note.

Natural Harmonics Exercises 1-3

Exercises 1-3

Hints: You must develop the ability to play harmonics with any fingertip of the left hand, which these exercises address. Practice them in order, and always strive to have clear tones when playing harmonics. After mastering these exercises try to play two harmonics at the same time in adjoining strings by flatening the left hand finger so that it touches over two strings at once. Play harmonics together on the 1st and 2nd, 2nd and 3rd, 3rd and 4th, 4th and 5th, 5th and 6th strings. After that, play around with other possibilities, like the 1st and 6th strings at once, etc.

Triplets Exercises 1-5 Tab

Triplets Exercises 1-5 Sheet Music PDF

Exercises 1-2

Exercises 3-4-5

Hints: These five exercises are arranged in order of difficulty, so practice them in order. Do not go to the next exercise until you can complete the current one perfectly. The hardest part of playing a triplet correct is not the physical aspect, but the mental one. You have to mentally divide a quarter note into three equal parts, then its a matter of getting your fingers to play along. Each exercise has two measures, the first one being a measure with four beats with quarter note values, followed by the second measure playing four triplets. This is done to establish the quarter note values in the first measure, and then using the same quarter note values to play triplets in the second measure. These exercises are played using open strings, but feel free to also practice them with different chords in the left hand.

Tremolo Exercises

Exercises 1-2-3

Hints: All three exercises can each be repeated in a continuous loop. Be very relaxed as you perform these exercises, and go very slow at first. Have an evenness in tone, volume, and spacing in the tremolo, even at a slow speed. Only after you can perform these exercises with total evenness should you attempt to speed up the tremolo a bit. Remember, developing a tremolo is a long process, and attempting to skip steps will result in a bad and sloppy tremolo.

slurs hammer/pull off

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Hints: You should first see the video “Slurs technique” in the “Technique” section of this site before attempting to do any of these exercises. I suggest you do these exercises in order. This lesson encompasses both the Hammer on and Pull off technique’s, so you must have practiced each individually before you seriously attempt to do these exercises. Fatique will easily set in with this exercise, which may affect your strength and form. Take many mini breaks if you have to, but don’t sacrifice correct form and sound just to get through them. The pinky finger is by far the hardest to built up strength and accuracy in, so pay close attention to it and look at it’s development as a long term goal, but definitely don’t skip it just because it is “inconvenient”.

slurs pull off

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Hints: You should first see the video “Slurs technique” in the “Technique” section of this site before attempting to do any of these exercises. I suggest you do these exercises in order. Remember, simply lifting your finger to pull off isn’t enough to get a clear sound; you have to “pull” on the string and actually pluck it again with your left hand finger. Make sure that the pulled off note isn’t any louder than the first note, and watch that you produce a clean sound.

slurs hammer on

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Hints: You should first see the video “Slurs technique” in the “Technique” section of this site before attempting to do any of these exercises. I suggest you do them in order. Like any new technique you learn, you should start out slow to really grasp all the correct movements needed to do the technique correctly. Speed comes only after correct form and sound.

thumb excercise2 tab

Exercise 7

Exercise 8

Exercise 9

Hints: You should first see the video lesson “Thumb technique” in the “Technique” section of this site before attempting to do any of these exercises. I suggest doing all these exercises in order. You must be able to do “Thumb exercise 1″ well before you do these exercises because it includes more difficult freestroke parts. Don’t try to do these exercises fast. Speed will come with time, just focus on correct form and always be aware of all your movements.

thumb excercise1 tab

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Exercise 5

Exercise 6

Hints: You should first see the video lesson “Thumb technique” in the “Technique” section of this site before attempting to do any of these exercises. I suggest doing all these exercises in order if you are new to using your thumb. You should also have practiced freestroke before doing these thumb exercises because many of the exercises incorporate freestroke parts. Go to the “Exercises” section of this site to look for freestroke exercises.

reststroke excercise2 tab

Exercise 6

Exercise 7

Exercise 8

Hints: You should first see the video lesson “Reststroke technique” in the “Technique” section of this site before attempting to do any of these exercises. I suggest doing all these exercises in order. All these exercises can be done up to the fifth string A, so work on doing them on the first string E first, and when you think you have gotten the hang of it, go to the second string B, and so on. Reststroke cannot be done on the sixth string E because there are no strings below it in which to “rest” upon.