Sample exercises from The Ultimate Guitar Workout Book

Sample Exercises From The Ultimate Guitar Workout

The exercises are explained in detail in the book. We take you step by step through each one. The first exercise on this page uses a major scale. In the book, we would first talk about and show you how to play scales. We discuss what notes make up each scale, how to transpose exercises into any key, etc. So, if you're just a beginner, don't worry, everything is expained for you. If you're an intermediate or advanced guitarist, you can start right in on the exercises. There are plenty of them to keep you busy for a long time, and they become quite challenging.

Try the scale exercise below. Here we've used a major scale, but we've divided it into groups of three. Play the first three notes of the scale, then play three more notes, but start with the second note of the scale this time, then start with the third, etc. Practice it for a little while and you will start to see a pattern. No rhythm is shown here. Use a straight rhythm throughout the exercise, such as all quarter notes, or play each group of three as a triplet.

Once you develop speed with this exercise, you'll start to see how it can be useful in guitar riffs, and solos. Have fun with it.

The book contains literally hundreds of fretboard diagrams to help you visualize the scales, chords, exercises, etc. Here you can see five blues patterns. We later discuss how to improvise using the pentatonic and blues scales, and the seven modes. We also include exercises for these scales as well. You'll be able to link patterns like these together, which will allow you to play in key anywhere on the guitar neck.

The next exercise uses the E Aeolian mode. If you're unfamiliar with modes, Aeolian is the same as a Natural Minor scale. All of this is explained in detail in the book. Advanced guitarists know how important modes are. If you understand how, where and when to play them, you will be able to move freely around the guitar playing in key all the time.

The exercise shown here takes a minor scale and "spreads it out" so it covers a large portion of the guitar neck. We include a variety of these types of exercises to help you get used to playing on every fret of your guitar. Again, play the exercise with a steady, even rhythm.

The "Getting In Shape" section of our book includes hundreds of tablature exercises that cover an unbelievable amount of finger combinations. They will improve your playing speed, accuracy, and coordination. We've also included playing techniques in this section. You'll get exercises to help you with alternate picking, tapping, hammer-ons and pull-offs, and much more.

We've included a few non-musical exercises as well. Take a look at the one shown below. This one doesn't involve playing any notes, but it's fun and quite effective. It's a simple looking exercise, but almost no one can do it perfectly the first time they try it. It will help you develop finger independance because it forces your brain to concentrate on each individual finger movement. Begin by placing four fingers on the sixth string. Make sure each finger is on a different fret. Now, lift only your index and ring finger both at the same time. This is shown in the first picture. It's not as easy as it looks. Next, place those fingers back down, and lift the other two. Repeat the exercise over and over, alternating your fingers. Remember, only lift two fingers at a time as shown in the pictures. Once you get used to it, it's easy.

As you can see from the full page images shown below, each page of the book is loaded with valuable information. Not only do we give you this information in an easy to understand format, but we also provide you with plenty of reference sheets for scales, modes, chords, and arpeggios. There are also two music theory quizzes for you to test your knowledge before you continue on through the book.

The Ultimate Guitar Workout contains much more than what you've seen here. The chord section includes information on how to create progressions, how chords are formed in any key, chord progressions exercises, and chord reference sheets. There is also a chapter on arpeggios and arpeggio progressions. And don't forget the riff section which includes riffs for all of the modes, scales, and chords in the book.