Getting Ready For Essential Techniques
AnthonyThe Essential Techniques series is going to take a toll on your muscles and push the limits of your dexterity. The spider drills I'm publishing today will help you get ready.
Visit the Practice Center to learn the Spider Exercises
Getting Ready
The Essential Techniques Series, which begins with a lesson called "The Grip" on 10/21/2009, will test the limits of your hand strength, forearm endurance, and finger independence. It is entirely possible that you will experience more soreness than you are used to as you go through these lessons.
Over the years, I have gone through various stages of being "in shape" physically, and I have become acutely aware of the effect that this has on my playing. There are licks that I can't play as well as I used to, my picking arm gets tired too quickly and my forearm muscles start burning halfway through a long solo.
The bottom line is this. There is a certain amount of quickness, strength, endurance, and dexterity that is needed to progress beyond the intermediate level of playing. And if you manage to reach beyond that stage, you have to maintain your skills through frequent playing and exercises.
As I made the journey from beginner to more experienced player, there was one exercise that I did consistently that helped me develop all of those things in a fairly quick manner. The spider exercises I've described in this video were a regular part of my daily routine, and I was able to tolerate the boredom of doing them, because I realized that without them, my fingers would remain too dumb and lazy to do what I wanted them to do.
If you plan on taking the Essential Techniques Series seriously, I strongly suggest that you become a bit obsessive about doing these exercises. You will start to notice differences within a week of doing these everyday, and the longer you do them consistently, the bigger the payoff.