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Acoustic Guitar Lesson - Build Finger Strength In Ten Minutes

It is important in the development of any player to build independent finger strength in the fret hand. This is especially true for the acoustic since it is often times harder to play than the electric due to the thickness of the strings. To help speed things up here is an acoustic lesson that will build finger strength and help synchronize your right and left hands.

Starting on the sixth string place your index finger on the first fret. Pick this note and then place your second finger on the second fret sounding it. Do the same with the third and fourth fingers on the third and fourth frets respectively. Then move up to the fifth string and repeat the pattern. Do this on every string and then back down in the same fashion. Once you have played the pattern on every string move your entire hand up to second position, that is where the index finger starts on the second fret. Now play the same exercise. Continue moving your hand up the neck until you can't play any longer. Don't hurt yourself

though. If you feel your hand cramping up stop and give it a rest.

You should practice this acoustic lesson everyday as a warm up for about ten minutes or so. Most people find that after about a month they can play the exercise up and down the neck at a moderate tempo without stopping. That brings us to the next important aspect of this acoustic lesson. Tempo.

When you first start using this acoustic lesson in your practice play it slowly and make sure you are playing each note cleanly. It is always important to develop accuracy before speed. That goes for any acoustic lesson. If you have a metronome I strongly suggest you use it. If not just tap your foot for now, but go BUY A METRONOME ASAP!

This might just be the most boring acoustic lesson you will ever have to play, but trust me it's rewards are plentiful. When you get tired of it be creative and start mixing things up. Use different finger patterns and ultimately start using scales to warm up.