Everyday Practice Techniques for the Intermediate Player

[@LessonFace]

Go to Lessonface.com for great music teachers, great lessons, guaranteed. When it comes to online music instruction, "the top choice is Lessonface." - LA Times.

[@ray1ashwin]

hey bro i have been doing this exercise for a month now n i cant believe what i have acheived in this short period of time.i have good ears but i was always finding difficult to play what i wanted to play but after seeing your video i did as you instructed to n now every guitar lessons i watch,i learn it in 5 minutes,so i came back here to show my gratitude towards you,thank you so so much.

[@thebassofmontecristo]

Hope l can say the same. l've been practicing this for 2 weeks now and it still hurts when working on the pinky.

[@youngdumbandbaroque1543]

Just wondering.... how long on average have you been practicing per day?

[@ray1ashwin]

PinballWaluigi64 probably 15 to 20 minutes but most of the time i skip downstroke part lol

[@churlesjenkins4338]

Rafael Montecristo I think it will always hurt to an extent on the pinky but with it actually used in context it benefits a lot.

[@ethanhicks5092]

Yo man I kno I'm four years late but I'm the exact same. How's guitar now if you see this? You still playing?

[@matthewmartinez5021]

Honestly, you're by far the best teacher on the Internet.

[@GamezPlayerX]

+Matthew Delgado Not to take anything away from him. But did someone say Tom Hess?

[@carlileernest1094]

+Matthew Delgado agree up+1

[@runsl4yer802]

+Carlile Ernest well, there are many people who teach you songs, or show you accords and "tricks" how you can show that you are a good guitarist. but i dont see many people who teach how to drasticly improve your basic skills in such easy ways. the shown things in this video helped me in less then a day!

[@Fr0stiX101]

+Matthew Delgado Carl Brown ftw bro

[@sandypandy9161]

+Matthew Delgado And to think... I almost didn't watch the video because of the tribal tats...I learned alot from him

[@hliashlias9489]

I have been playing since i was seven and im now almost eighteen i ,discovered these 3 and 1/2 years ago and they skyrocketed my skills .They are truly, very effective excercises ,go-to for me. This video played a big part in the fact that i am able to play songs and solos like tornado of souls ,crazy train ,master of puppets and recently even flight of the bumblebee, now i want to finally obtain the music degree. Im very grateful ,your video really helped me get to the point where i feel confident to call myself a guitarist ,thank you😎

[@mihalis1010]

Teaching guitar for over 27 years? This guy doesn't look a day over 32.

[@lennart3445]

He started teaching at the age of 5, that's how...

[@maximusprime6671]

he's in his late 40's

[@mihalis1010]

Max Aaron Well, I mean that would have to be the way it is, I'm simply saying that this guy still looks really young.

[@maximusprime6671]

World Known​ yea, definitely got some good genes lol

[@mihalis1010]

***** That part about the musicians is only true if they die before they're 30... I mean, have you seen any band that came out of the 70's, 80's and 90's??? They're all either still on drugs, or they have become born again Christians and got off drugs. Still though, most of these people look much older than they are.

[@jackd.ripper7613]

"And being honest about it." I'm guilty of this. Good lesson.

[@Whitefox-pc7lp]

Dude his down picking alone was insane..

[@AXESLINGER2112]

this dude has a good plan

[@robertgwinn1478]

Love the "intermediate" lesson. So many are beginner or advanced and they overlook all of us intermediate players. Thank you for the great lesson!

[@saeedkhabaz4761]

To play fast, you must play slow. This is the first, most fundamental principle.

[@federicotabella7063]

To play fast you have to play fast

[@bitcoin-trash]

It is not true ! To play fast you must play fast~~

[@tysonharris1697]

As a classical guitarist... Yes, when learning a new piece, I learn it slow and deliberate and then gradually increase the tempo... You perform like you practice.. so.. practice correctly without mistakes, then gradually build speed. Then you have an awesome performance!

[@johnbraucher1499]

But also remember to play at a ridiculous speed for a few minutes to push yourself and get your hands and mind used to being able to fathom that speed. Even if it sounds like garbage, go for it, and focus always on each hand separately, then together at last, and watch how fat you're going past the strings with right hand, and how far each finger is lifting off the fretboard. Make sure you're pinkeye isnt flying up off the fretboard when doing runs. Always LIFT your index when playing 3 note per strings or any note per strings licks. Dont let the index rest and never lift up, make then all lift independently no matter what. Always make sure your picking hand is NOT anchored with any type of tension at all. Resting your pinky or whatever on the pickguatd is okay, as long as you're not PRESSING whatsoever. Best way I've seen is to get used to being able to keep a fully closed fist. It's tough at first, but if you can master that, youre set. A nice relaxed floating hand.

[@ryanlyle9201]

I’ve been a daily metronome practice player for years and have always gradually increased speed. UNTIL I hit a wall. I could brute-force the riff more until my hand hurt but I found out the real secret is the rest you take in between practice sessions and how you space out riffs in your routine. After heavy practice, I wait a day and come back to it with a significant jump in mastery

[@lulzjeffy1337]

Been playing guitar on and off for the past 8 years, and these fundamentals still help me with my daily playing. I remember finding this video years ago and doing these exercises, and it really "unlocked" the next level of playing for me. Consistency is the key. Do this stuff every day, even just as a warm up for your play session. You'll be surprised at the results!

[@brucehowell7825]

Thank you. I've been a drummer/percussionist for 48 years, just picked up guitar 2 years ago. Struggling with learning because of playing riffs. You have reminded me of how I got so good at drums. Thanks again for the tip.

[@McRonson]

I started playing guitar in 1979 - no tab, no instruction DVDs, no guitar mags with transcriptions of classic songs or tutorials on scales, modes or different styles of music until the mid-1980s with American GUITAR mags being available here in the UK. You learned by ear from listening to records over and over, slowing them down till you worked it yourself. If you were no good, you stayed crap. Now it's totally different - if you're not in a band or jamming with friends, you're not going to progress much unless you start recording yourself playing over jam tracks, etc. Or study lessons like this!

[@McRonson]

+Tan Gerine - I'm so dumb that when I first saw the Blues scale written out as a diagram, I thought it was a chord shape....! My drummer friend picked up my guitar and played the scale (it was in a very old book on lead guitar, with Pete Townsend on the cover) and that's when I realised it wasn't the major scale. Learning three chords on the electric guitar and listening exclusively to the Damned, Motörhead and the Sex Pistols wasn't a very good start, tbh ;-(

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

Have you run into that cheap little Fender G-dec yet? It's full of backing tracks right there. Very cool for maybe 90.00. I'm a singing drummer, but I remember the "boxes" (scale shapes) from when I was a kid. Or some of them. A very nice US Strat I got for a steal at 250.00 (I checked, didn't see evidence it was hot) and I can amuse myself all day long. lol. If I'm feeling masochistic, I try it on acoustic (ow).

[@autocrow]

I've noticed that those 4 finger walk up/down type of exercises up to the 12th fret and back also help me to get used to the fret spacing as the frets get considerably closer and closer together as you move up the neck. Good lesson.

[@NickFaina]

Are you feeling it now mr Krabs?

[@cornholioliolio3668]

Steve I really want to give a very sincere 'thank you' to you for this lesson (and all of your others). I have played guitar for roughly 30 years and have always been very frustrated with my left hand (fret hand) strength and coordination. No matter how much I practiced there was always this sort of wall that I could not break through, in terms of my left hand ability. I was pretty much resigned to just accepting what I perceived as basically a genetic shortcoming on my part. Sure I can play fairly well, but nowhere near what I would like to achieve, and certainly less well than I feel like I should be able to considering how long I have been at it. BUT - then I watched this video, and more importantly actually did the exercises. I could barely manage to do the more difficult fingerings at first, let alone at speed for 30 seconds at a time or whatever. But sure enough, after just a week or two of struggling through it, I can see AMAZING results. It is SUCH a terrific feeling to have my left hand so rapidly doing things that weren't possible just days ago. It's almost strange (in a very good way), as if I suddenly am borrowing a better players hand. My fingers are moving faster, are fretting notes cleanly, my hammers and pull offs are snappier, and mainly my fingers are just going where I want them to, when I want them to, with sort of a new feeling of authority. If it's this helpful in just a matter of days, I can't wait to see how much improvement I will have in the weeks and months and years ahead. So again, THANK YOU!

[@Reviverandy]

Steve bro you rock! I cant tell you how much your lessons have helped me understand and improve at the guitar. I appreciate all your videos and everything that you do.

[@brandonpetersen9414]

Best teacher i've ever had for free. You deserve a serious reward.

[@chopseee]

superb lesson you are a natural at teaching and conveying knowledge impartially, easy to understand and concise! subscribed.

[@iangolsby8471]

Just wanna mention this real quick I love that fretboard design it's so beautiful

[@keepj8523]

I fucking hate my pinkie. its a fucking burden I just hope this will help me

[@Mk101T]

See if you can get a doctor to chop it off and sew your right hand middle or ring finger in its place. Should work.

[@GuitarDaddyo]

+Mk101T lmao. omg

[@Mk101T]

Although you should probably check into a cadaver doner before losing any right hand fingers.

[@Mk101T]

Could be a new market for aging guitarists to sell off their fingers to the highest bidder too ;)

[@RockHeiland]

bite it off then

[@MyMuzikVideos578]

Thanks, Steve! It is always nice to see a lesson on exercises, which really are the key to becoming faster and cleaner in your playing. I used to teach bass, and always taught my students alternate fingering and using all four fingers of the left hand. I will be working on these exercises on guitar now. Thanks again!

[@ebeep]

Legato exercise is killer and this is the first I've ever heard of it! Thank you!

[@raymondmonmendoza3627]

doing lesson #2 improves my pinky...i only use 3 fingers without my pinky b4...i'll try your technique..thanks for sharing your talent, sir...God loves you 👍

[@bryndowsvista3016]

raymond mendoza I did this for a long time. Totally made life difficult for myself. I started lessons and my tutor was like wtf haha.

[@catguy96]

great warm-up exercise!!! i play the rhythm a bit differently lol, but it works, i gotta tell ya. it works. plus the benefit of this is building both finger strength and speed for my left hand, and accuracy for my right hand. been playing for 6 months now, and this is part of my 1 hour a day (trying my best to keep it that way) warm-up routine before actually playing Led Zeppelin riffs, or getting "creative"

[@danielbelosic3112]

Dude I thought I was intermediate then I tried out the second exsercise

[@alvintoms1806]

its hard right, that means its an effective exercise

[@donnybellaire9102]

Thank you for the lesson...i have been stuck for about a year...i'm old and life gets in the way..this has been inspiring ..thank you for your time...

[@lelandolsen1369]

What kind of shampoo do you use?

[@MrDoboz]

+Lee Olsen No. 1. off comment award :D

[@promviolence7877]

I wanna know too.

[@bramdriessens5942]

Lee Olsen head & shoulders

[@hazelrobinson3416]

Garnier fructis

[@bramdriessens5942]

Lee Olsen I would love to go thru his hair with my hand for about ten minutes... And with my other hamd, i would bring some hair of him up to my nose, and smell his hair.. Inhaling deep in and out. I would never forget that day.!

[@daveleblanc3558]

Great video! I'm a bassist and I've been doing that chromatic string-by-string exercise for years! Great way to warm up. Will be trying it on guitar!

[@MadNut321]

5:23 I just felt that Eruption vibe

[@mikethomas3968]

I'm very intrigued about all the lessons. I have been so trapped in my mind about why i cant do what i want and 13 years after playing self taught i feel so energized to take on a new teaching from you. so simple and i missed the boat. my fingers can't keep up and yet i push them to do what i never practiced to get them all to be at the same speed. I just kept trying to use the fingers that are strong to drag the ones that are not along. this is such a break through i feel stupid for not doing this years ago. You are awesome for teaching in a way i can understand. thank you so much.

[@victorbazooka4327]

nr. 1 get long hair.. 2. you can now play guitar!

[@azfck99]

yepp

[@faithiscrazy]

+victor Bazooka Or change your last name to Satriani :)

[@pao2725]

lol da best comment

[@user-sq4dy2hz3u]

+victor Bazooka well, i started growing my hair out when i started playing guitar. we'll see if that's how it works :D

[@NoctumusTV]

hahaha :)

[@bpdarragh]

Mr Lessonface. Fantastic lesson. Just what i needed. I David Soule nailed it. Thanks from across the pond

[@jeffeagle7632]

These are all great exercises, and I use them almost daily, the third one I think i has done the most for my strength which intern improves clarity, these are great videos and I thank you very much for sharing, You articulate everything very well and easy to understand . Pretty much all of my daily routine is based on what I’ve seen in your videos with some variations of my own And I’ve definitely seen the significant improvement! Thanks again, man. Keep up the good. Work

[@jeffeagle7632]

Oh yeah, and I really dig your laid-back attitude about just having fun and not stressing out on playing everything everything robotically note for note… very cool vibe , we all have our own style, what we think sounds good and how we would have it sound if we recorded it right? Cheers from Vegas !!

[@Anmatuur]

My girlfriend sent me to this video, especially to hammer on part...I wonder why...

[@namahshrestha3226]

Hahahaha

[@rachelfrancis872]

*shes a lesbian*

[@insertcodname7534]

She wants you to up you finger game bra

[@IrshadMKhan-cl5rg]

Anmatuur she likes him

[@noahbeaty2295]

Because she wants to break up with you

[@goatsurgeon]

Man that made my forearm burn... so simple, so effective

[@boyjollajammeh289]

I really enjoyed it and I am sure it will help me so much. I am an African I play African music. But the fingers tip will improve me. We normally play fault chords more than real chords. Because we follows what the singer is singing using notes.

[@scotteisner8366]

Great exercises. Thanks for the advice!

[@sandeepchakraborthy2786]

yeh I started taking lessons it seems to be very useful around the world.Hats off good one he is best in Internet

[@SammyBones]

Sometimes I find that if I am stuck... I don't play for a day or two then when I pick the guitar up it comes more natural again without thinking about it too hard. Sammy Bones #guitartips

[@jonahanema48]

I’m so glad I experimented with my pinky when I started playing it makes things so much easier

[@cockshot1438]

HOLY SHIT!!!! its Jerry Cantrell!

[@maxhoward7541]

the handle on the body cool. the neck looks awesome too

[@aleksandrsmasharo5628]

My granny do 1h practice with her pinkie while she cooking pie.

[@Twice_Marvel]

Aleksandrs Masharo she do?

[@fredmikal]

"I can last the three minutes, but when I get done i can feel it. That's what I'm looking for." Same, bro. Same.

[@2Ursos1]

I was like "oh dude, jerry cantrell?" lol.

[@VAStarGazer211]

Same

[@VAStarGazer211]

no. jerry doesnt have that kind of tattoo

[@smallfaucet]

This will still stand up to today, nice stuff.

[@ericheine2414]

That was a good lesson. You have to make your practicing part of the ritual of your life. Morning, noon and night, just like brushing your teeth and washing your face. But don't practice too much you'll get arthritis. So play the piece in your mind or while you're listening to someone else play it. Share your knowledge.

[@acousticmania1883]

Best channel for real learning .. loved it ..

[@jayoh6oberdalhoff50]

I got the chromatic hand exercise going pretty well so i decided to go backwards and that messed me all up! good video!

[@legendaryloner9154]

Plenty of them out there, but Stevie you're the best.Keep it up.

[@ginagriffin5268]

Steve,I HAVE many of your program lessons, and YOU ARE the BEST!!THANKS SO much!

[@taimurshaikh7666]

1:09 'I can last the 3 minutes, but when im done, I can feel it' *Steve Carrell pops up out of nowhere* THATS WHAT SHE SAID!

[@markomarko8583]

sir, you got my both handdown. long live to you master stive!

[@leatherface2795]

so clear the way he describes it

[@capzisediam5845]

Thx a lot ... exact what i am lookig for ... really good practise techniques !!

[@MrAcballer72]

You're so calm and focused, what can I do to combat my tendency to get tense and lose focus? I feel like I have almost as much technique as I need to express myself the way I'd like to on the guitar, but mentally I'm struggling. Any tips other than to just keep practicing?

[@tonycarpaccio9550]

Jem 10th been my fav guitar since I started playing.

[@bobross1859]

that is the sexiest guitar i'v ever seen

[@ALZee81]

bob ross it looks like an Ibanez JEM series?

[@HeartCalcos]

I bet it be better with some happy trees

[@YourFridge_in_the_fridge]

It's the Ibanez jem 10th anniversary edition. Probably more rare than the jem DNA series but I own BOTH already sooooooo.

[@elwoodjones4772]

Can,t screw it!! lol

[@richg1746]

Awesome lesson and awesome instructor.

[@itamarwjr92]

Dude, i believe that this can help me a lot! Thanks man, i'll comment in a few days to say how much helped me, already use the 1,2,3,4 exercices and i feel the inprove, let's see the others.

[@micahgarrett9700]

It sounded like you were going to play cowboys from hell at first lol.

[@seangreen3184]

If he did that would be badass

[@weston6312]

awesome drill for the finger thanks for the vid!

[@Aijaleena]

I didnt knew that Sebastian Bach could play the guitar

[@brandonmitchell1056]

I've been doing these excersizes for a long time and decided to look for something new. Got 90% through the video before I realized this is the EXACT video I watched years ago LOL

[@ztefacobain]

Does anyone think he looks exactly like Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains?

[@CooisaQualquer]

the hair helps a lot :P

[@addictedtochaos4195]

ztefacobain I thought of a blonde Kirk Hammett.

[@bwc12minus38]

Not exactly but similar for sure

[@MustObeyTheRules]

Looks verryyy similar

[@InSamous70]

ztefacobain A younger Sebastian Bach to me.

[@johnnymiller1149]

This was super helpful i have always just played by ear or learned songs by tabs and lately been actually wanting to learn technique because i have reached a stale mate in my playing and song writing these exercises are brilliant....will let you know in a month or so my progress thank you for your awesome teaching style :)

[@rgiegas]

i clicked cause i thought i was gonna learn guitar from jerry cantrell

[@robydean7]

Beautiful fret board

[@siocnarfdrassel1755]

Your one of the best teacher

[@gmjones2001]

You gotta love You Tube. The first 47 ass hats had to go off on a rant about whether this was a lesson or a song and then argue over the instructors credentials ... lol... New Rule (personal) don't read You Tube comments because they're indicative of the current state of intelligence of the general population and I really don't care.

[@danilaspiridonov2552]

Thank you so much for your video, sir! It helped me a lot.

[@carsonhughes8672]

*I exercise my right hand a lot ( ಠ ͜ʖಠ)*

[@recklessanil]

Thanks for lessons Jerry Cantrell

[@katambay4648]

Thank you so much!! Beginners here

[@wesleyreyes3505]

AHHHH WHY DOES HE ALWAYS HAVE AMAZING GUITARS LIKE WHERE DID HE GET THEMMMM

[@4183434]

Steve I think you are are a fantastic teacher why do you always teach with a overloaded guitar sound we learners have clean sound amps it’s a shame because we do not sound anything like your samples please consider this in your lessons Thanking you for your wonderful enthusiasm whilst teaching Ron

[@nawarajshrestha4949]

your guitar sounds so n so awesome man..

[@jorgeabaezp9365]

VERY useful, as always mr. stine

[@salvodazes]

Thank you Steve, superb instructions to put my routine in order.

[@avishkarseth1955]

Awesome techniques Sir!

[@Bonde334]

by only holding my pick like you do I increased my speed by ≈ 45%! so thanks!

[@jeffbowers4895]

It seems like no one really try to express to people how important it is . I keep my guitar out all of the time. I know if I didn't I would not play it as much as I do.

[@mateostorr504]

Thank for being such a great teacher

[@aireya51]

Really Good stuff. Getting over tendinitis and I've had to go back to basics. This has really helped/ Thanks Keith Airey

[@graemeozzie2251]

Question for Steve or anyone who thinks they can answer: When doing the right/left coordination exercise, is there a reason why it has to be chromatic? Can you get the same end result by doing similar exercise but using scale positions? ie. kill two birds with one stone and make more efficient use of practice time.

[@jamesweber5616]

Absolutely. I teach my students to do the chromatics for total of 2 minutes. Then, we do the picking and HO/PO (Legato) with the pentatonic & major scale. Practice what you want to play. Accelerated development.

[@benjiburgess7255]

Awesome Lesson! Thank you for teaching !

[@soerenna]

dude you are an awesome teacher, keep up the good work!

[@DailyMusicalGrowth]

Thanks, great excercise.

[@ariestaWA]

Thanks for the guide! It's crystal clear!

[@thebigflyingninja5242]

This guy's great teaching Guitar longer than I've been alive

[@pelimies1818]

Great tone, man!

[@marbananta]

This guy is a real deal.

[@villevn]

Very useful video, thanks!

[@TomSlickery]

Another great lesson. Thanks

[@progjsa]

Holy crap!!! Awesome workout......never knew my hands and fingers were girly man!!

[@ElevatedLevetator]

amazing teacher

[@Marcells44]

10 years of guitar and I couldn't finish the 20 seconds exercise... guess I've got a lot of work. Thank you for the tips!

[@kipponi]

Yes we all guitarists need stamina and when we play use just enough force that strings make sounds. I have found that if you press too much you tired easily. These exercises you do with max. speed and force but you can not play like this of course.

[@xristoskou6357]

Well, you are great man. Really helped me a lot. I am grateful Thanks!!!!