Had enough of chords yet? There’s still a lot more to learn, but for now let’s take a look at some beginning lead guitar exercises. In this exercise we'll be use tablature, or tab. The basic concept behind it is fairly simple. the lines respresent the 6 strings, and the numbers represent the fret you will play on. Here it is:

Speed Developer Exercise

1. Align 1st finger to 9th fret.

2. Allocate one finger per fret so that the 2nd finger takes care of the 10th fret, the 3rd finger the 11th fret and the 4th finger the 12th fret.

3.Play the following notes using the fingering pattern 1 2 3 4 3 2:

e----------------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------
D------------------------------------9-10-11-12-11-10------
A-------------------9-10-11-12-11-10-----------------------
E--9-10-11-12-11-10----------------------------------------

e------------------------------------9-10-11-12-11-10------
B-------------------9-10-11-12-11-10-----------------------
G--9-10-11-12-11-10----------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------

4. Move down a fret and play the following notes using the same 1 2 3 4 3 2 fingering pattern:

e--8-9-10-11-10-9------------------------------------------
B-------------------8-9-10-11-10-9-------------------------
G------------------------------------8-9-10-11-10-9--------
D----------------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------

e----------------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------
D--8-9-10-11-10-9------------------------------------------
A-------------------8-9-10-11-10-9-------------------------
E-------------------------------------8-9-10-11-10-9-------

5. Move down another fret and repeat the whole exercise.

6. Continue working in this way down the fretboard one fret at a time until you have reached the first fret.

7. If pain or cramp sets in stop and relax your hand and start the exercise again a few minutes later.

8. Emphasis should all be on accuracy: fingers just behind frets, evenness of tone, connected (legato, not staccato) notes, rhythmic timing, strict up/down alternate picking.

9. This exercise done accurately and patiently will develop speed. Done quickly and carelessly it will simply waste time!

To this day, I still use this exercise as a warm-up every time I play guitar. I suggest doing it at least once per day.

To hear a little bit of this exercise, Click Here.

Remember that these lessons are always free, but if you find them helpful, we encourage you to Donate.