Finger Yoga

Warm-up exercise to relax fingers and stop extraneous movement

 

Place all fingers lightly touching the G string on frets five to eight. The notes should not be fully fretted, just touched as lightly as possible.

 

g-5-6-7-8-

 

Then practice fretting the third finger (ring finger) without fretting the other notes. At first, do not worry about picking or actually playing the note, just press down on the seventh fret WITHOUT ENGAGING THE OTHER FINGERS. The other fingers should not press down or fly off the strings.

 

g-x-x-7-x-

 

Now practice fretting the ring finger on the seventh fret of the b string while keeping the other fingers on the g string touching lightly.

 

b-----7---

g-x-x---x-

 

Press down on the seventh fret WITHOUT ENGAGING THE OTHER FINGERS. The other fingers should not press down or fly off the strings.

 

Set a metronome to a slow tempo and practice playing the seventh fret b string without engaging the other fingers. This exercise must go slowly to have the desired effect. The fingers to concentrate on are the ones lightly touching the other strings, not the one played.

 

Then repeat the process fingering the seventh fret of the d string.

 

b---------

g-x-x---x-

d-----7---

 

Once the note is clean, the other fingers do not engage the string or fly off, and the hand is totally relaxed, begin alternating the third finger between the b and d strings. Change stings every four counts on the metronome.

THIS PROCESS CAN NOT BE RUSHED.

 

b--------------7-----------------7---

g-x-x---x--x-x---x--x-x---x--x-x---x-

d-----7-----------------7------------

 

Then slide the hand up and down the fretboard

 

b--------------6-----------------6---

g-x-x---x--x-x---x--x-x---x--x-x---x-

d-----6-----------------6------------

 

Change strings

 

e------------------------------------

b------------------------------------

g--------------6-----------------6---

d-x-x---x--x-x---x--x-x---x--x-x---x-

a-----6-----------------6------------

e------------------------------------

 

Increase the distance the finger moves

 

e------------------------------------

b-----6-----------------6------------

g------------------------------------

d-x-x---x--x-x---x--x-x---x--x-x---x-

a------------------------------------

e--------------6-----------------6---

 

Repeat the process for the other fingers.

Play all possible frets.

Alternate which string is muted, eventually working all strings.

Cover all possible string switches.

 

Eventually, touching the strings will no longer be necessary. Just hover over the string and repeat the exercises. Fingers may relax into a hovering posture one at a time, with the pinky usually being the last to conform.

 

This process will build very slowly. Mastering the first few steps will take weeks; do not move on to the more advanced steps until the hand is totally relaxed and fingers no longer fly off the strings or press down. Exercises must be done at a slow tempo. Speed is unimportant; the relaxation is the key. The important fingers are the ones not playing.