Two String Warm Up Exercises

These exercises are designed to work on picking technique and left hand position shifts.

I use these exercises with both classical and pick style students.  

If you are using a pick I would recommend alternate picking starting with a down stroke. If playing classical guitar technique I always suggest to alternate between i and m fingers and also to play all of the exercises with first the rest stroke (Apoyando) then free stroke (Tirando).

Once you have memorised your left hand position shifts always play with a metronome. This will quickly identify shifts or sections you are not sure of. 

I recommend you take one exercise per week for the next five weeks. This gives you time to master the stretches and position shifts that are involved in each shape. 

Strings E and B

Strings B and G

Strings G and D

Strings D and A 

Strings A and E 

Seven String Jazz Guitar Part Three - Phrygian

Last week we looked at the second chord of C major and its corresponding scale. This week we will study the third chord of C major which is E minor 7 and its corresponding scale E Phrygian (E minor flat two).

Before we pick up the guitar lets look at the scale in plain English. 

E - F - G - A - B - C - D - E

To help understand what this means lets analyse the scale and see how it relates to the first scale of the series, C Major. 

In the following analysis I have chosen to not place the octave of the tonic for ease of identifying the sequence. 

C Major  C - D - E - F - G - A - B - 

E Phrygian         E - F - G - A - B - C - D

By changing the order of the notes of the scale we create a new sound. It works In much the same way as an anagram does. For example if I write the word, 

GUITAR 

and then write the same word with the letter I (the third letter) at the beginning I make the word, 

ITARGU

A new sounding word without adding or subtracting any letters. 

I will cover this concept in more detail in another blog for now however lets talk about the Phrygian sound we have created. 

One octave Phrygian Scale.

When hearing this scale for the first time many students tell me it sounds Spanish. I agree with them, it does have a Spanish sound and I always encourage students to label what they hear for ease of identification. 

As your fingers get used to the shape and ears get used to the sound lets add another octave. 

E Phrygian Two Octaves 

As we add octaves it is important we take our time and memorise the left hand fingering. 

Now lets add a third octave and once again the seven string range really becomes apparent. 

E Phrygian Three Octaves

This the  E minor 7 arpeggio shape spread across seven strings.

The last step is to learn the accompanying E minor 7 chord form. 

Notice the chord shape is identical to last weeks D minor 7 chord only this time it is played a whole step higher.

Next week we will examine the iv chord of C major and its corresponding Lydian scale.

Links to previous posts in this series:

Seven String Jazz Guitar Part One - Major         

Seven String Jazz Guitar Part Two - Dorian

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For the start of the chromatic descending pattern. The triplet comes as a welcome break from all of those eighth notes.

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Moving on to the B7 flat nine chord. This intervallic line is a tip of the hat to the jazz great Joe Diorio.  This line also works well out of context as a technique exercise.

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This minor 7 flat five line works perfectly as a phrase that you can use in other songs.

Seven String Jazz Guitar Part Two - Dorian

Continuing on from last weeks introduction to the seven string guitar which started with the C major scale, C Major 7 chord and arpeggio this week I would like to look at the ii chord of C major which is D minor 7 and it’s corresponding scale D Dorian (D minor sharp 6)

First lets look at the notes in plain English. 

D - E - F - G - A - B - C - D

As you can see this scale is made up of the same notes as the previous scale (C Major) however this time we start on D and account for the first seven letters of the alphabet until we get back to the tonic D. 

In music and on the fingerboard it looks like this.  

D Dorian One octave

Once your fingers and ears are used to this sound it’s time to extend the range to a two octave scale.

Pay attention to the left hand fingering written underneath each note. 

Only when you can play the previous exercise fluently should you proceed to the three octave scale bellow. As you can see this scale covers all seven strings.  

Before moving on it is advised that you say every note as you play. This should be done as you ascend and descend the shape. This helps with memorisation of the scale and has the added benefit of making you play slower and as a result play cleaner. 

The following D minor 7 arpeggio covers three octaves. Once again the advantage of the extended range that the seventh string offers really starts to show. 

Notice how the first six notes lay out on the fingerboard. The fingering is similar to our old friend, the "classic" minor pentatonic scale shape.

Finally lets learn the D minor 7 Chord.

   

Once both the Major and Dorian scales, arpeggios and corresponding chords are memorised they should be practiced one after the other to gain complete control of each shape.

Next time I will cover the third chord of C major and its corresponding scale.

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Today is the second bar of the G Major 7 chord. Both bars could be used to complete a ii-v7-i in G Major. 

Right hand P-I-M-I

In the early stages of learning the classical guitar allot of time is spent focusing on the right hand. In this exercise we focus on gaining independence of the thumb (p) index (i) and middle (m) fingers of the right hand.

This exercise is to be played with the free stroke (tirando). This means the finger pulls away from the strings so as to avoid the string directly above the one played. When playing arpeggios this makes the notes sustain rather than being stopped. It creates the opposite of a staccato scale.

A few things to observe.

Make sure that the thumb remains in front of the fingers so as to avoid a collision with them.

Take time to ensure that the thumb remains straight. It should move form the "ball" or base of the thumb. Try not to let the knuckle of the thumb bend. If it does this can cause tension in the right hand and also means too much of the thumb is moving making it difficult to be precise.

The fingers should start with a gentle curl towards the palm of the hand. Study the natural curl of your fingers when your arm is relaxed at your side. That is the form we are looking for.

Before playing the exercise place your thumb gently on the G string and gently lay your index and middle fingers in the B and E strings. This is often called planting.

With your hand relaxed and fingers placed on the strings gently "peel" your thumb and fingers away from the guitar one at a time.

If you a new to this technique don't worry about speed or timing. This is a chance to become aware of how you can produce sound from the guitar with accuracy and with minimal effort.

Once these motions become effortless and second nature its time to play the full exercise.



Once you can play the open string exercise repeatedly for a minute with constant tone, rhythm and volume it is time to move on to this excerpt from a study by Dionisio Aguado .





The left hand doesn't pose much of a challenge to most who have played chords for even a few months so please don't be put off by the amount of dots contained in only eight bars.

Right And Left Hand Synchronisation

This is an exercise that I use to help synchronise both hands.  Be sure to adhere to the both using the correct left and right hand fingering. The string skipping may take some time to negotiate.

Because of the melodic and rhythmic cycle that this exercise crates I will at first have students play this for thirty seconds at 120 b.p.m aiming for no fluctuation in either tempo or dynamics.

Once this can be played with consistency it is worth extending the duration to one minuet. This element of the exercise makes it then as much about listening,  and focus as it is about physical skills.

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The first of a two bar phrase fir the G Major 7 chord.

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Today's line is played over the D7 chord. The E flat creates D7 flat nine sound.

A-M-I

When studying classical guitar we spend many hours working on tone production and dynamics created from the right hand. 

To keep things simple I often teach early classical students to focus on alternating between index and middle fingers using either rest or free stroke for scale practice and in musical  passages.

This scale exercise however involves the ring finger (a) which is more often associated in the early stages of technique development with arpeggios.

Due in great part to the fact that this scale  consists of three notes per string it is a perfect opportunity to involve the ring finger in scale work.

I like to use a-m-i and free stoke with this exercise. 

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The fifth bar of the B section starts off with a triplet breaking up the stream of 8th notes. This bar basically outlines the A minor 7 chord with the 6th (F) creating a little tension to finish on the minor 7 (G).

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Today we have the second bar of the E minor 7 chord.  This line starts with a little chromatic moment.  The F natural gives a momentary sound of E Phrygian and the D sharp hints to Harmonic Minor.

Seven String Jazz Guitar Part One - Major

To many of us the appeal of the 7 string guitar is the extended range most often in the bass register.

The advantages of this extended range are easily heard in solo guitar settings for example chord melody style and also in duet with either a singer or saxophone etc. 

Before we begin lets take a quick look at the development of the tuning of the seven string guitar in jazz.

One of the founding fathers of the seven string guitar was jazz guitarist George Van Eps. Van Eps chose to tune his guitar down a whole step making his tuning GDGCFAD. As interest in the seven string guitar started to grow notable players such as  Lenny Breau added a high A (above the high E string) while others such as Ron Eschete chose a low B (bellow the low E string). Many jazz guitarist choose to tune the extra string to a Low A. This tuning has many advantages most notably the ease of switching from six to seven due to the extra string being simply an octave bellow the fifth string. 

In this series of lessons the seventh string is tuned to a low A. They are intended to be a simple introduction to the exciting new sounds the 7 string guitar has to offer.

With the extra string tuned to a low A the guitar tuning looks like this. 

 7=A  6=E  5=A  4=D  3=G  2=B  1=E

To help get aquatinted with both reading and hearing the low A string we shall learn the natural notes horizontally along the string. Notice that the notes are following the same fret position and names as the 5th string. Left hand fingerings are bellow the notation to help divide the fingerboard up into easy to play positions positions. 

The next step is to learn a one octave C major scale with the tonic on the 7th string. This will introduce the basics of the extended stretches needed when playing the 7th string.

Once this feels comfortable we can add another octave. Here the advantage and comfort of three notes to a string becomes evident. 

Now to make a three octave major scale. Just like the example above this scale form produces a scale that has three notes per string with the exception of the 1st string which as you can see has four notes.

The next stave shows the major 7 arpeggio starting on the 7th string. This same shape can be used to create an arpeggio of the iv chord (F Major 7) in the key of C Major.

When playing arpeggios I try when possible to never use the same finger twice in a row with my left hand. This avoids  accidentally playing double stops. Because of this the fingering on the 2nd string may seem a little convoluted at first. If this technique is new to you it is worth the extra effort as if can make for cleaner sounding arpeggios.

Finally we will add a C Major 7 chord. You will see that this is nothing more than a garden variety C major 7 chord when its root note is played on the filth string. The only difference physically is that the root is now played on the 7th string. The difference in sound is that the root note C is now one octave lower than usual. 

Over the following weeks we will take a look at minor, dominant and diminished scales and their corresponding arpeggios. We will end this series with chord progressions including a walking bass line and apply scales and arpeggios to create improvisations over them. 

Please check back next week. There’s so much more to come!

Link to Seven String Jazz Guitar Part Two - Dorian

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This B dominant 7 phrase starts on the flat seven followed by a B Major triad. The D natural on beat three gives a sharp 9 sound quickly followed by the major 3rd (D#). The phrase is completed as it stated on an A, the dominant 7 only this time an octave lower.

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Todays line features a triplet on beat one and uses the Lochrian mode to outline the  F# min 7 flat five chord. 

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Today we look at the second bar of the E minor 7 chord. This bar uses a little bit of a chromatic and leading tones to create tension and release. 

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Today we have an E Minor 7 phrase. This line outlines the E Minor 7 chord and can easily be moved  into other situations where a basic minor sound is required. 

A Minor Theme

I use five different shapes of the A natural minor scale from open to 12 position to help students learn the fingerboard and technique. A student reminded me of this theme and it contained everything we had been talking about in his lesson. Thanks Rich.

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Today features a line for the B dominant 7 chord. The phrase starts with the note C which is the flat nine which moves down a minor third to A. This  creates a little bit of tension to complement the chord.

Chord Practice

Very often in my teaching I hear from students of all levels that changing chords is a slow and often difficult thing to do in time, especially at faster tempos. Many will give up thinking that it's impossible to move in time.

After discussing a good left hand and arm position and making sure the guitar is being held in a way that doesn't cause the arm to have any excess tension I will often use this ii v7 i exercise.

I have used this with jazz, rock and classical students to help them move chords with fluidity.

Before trying the full exercise it is wise to learn and memorise the following chord forms;

First the root position, 1st, 2nd and 3rd inversion of the ii chord.


D Minor 7



Now the root position, 1st, 2nd and 3rd inversion of the v7 chord.


G Dominant 7


Finally root position, 1st, 2nd and 3rd inversion of the i chord.

C Major 7




While learning each chord it is worth taking a little extra time to name the bass note of each inversion. This not only helps you with your fingerboard knowledge but also reinforces the notes of each chord.

Don't focus on timing until you can play each chord without any hesitation.



Once you feel confident that you can play each chord cleanly it's time to set your metronome to 80 b.p.m and enjoy all of your hard work.


Take your time to master this exercise and you will soon find that chord changes start to feel easier, sound smoother with more consistency no matter what style you play.

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This bar for the F sharp half diminished chord is relatively straightforward. Once again be careful to not blur the triplet rhythm.

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I hope you are keeping up. Of note in this phrase you get the 9th by use of the note D and a Lydian sound via inclusion of the F sharp. Enjoy.

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The only thing to tricky I this bar is the triplet. It's so easy to rush and lose its impact.