The Chromatic Octave Exercise
Description: The Chromatic Octave Exercise is essential for all guitarists, regardless of style. It gives absolutely vital development to the left hand in a way no other exercise does. Chromatic Octaves greatly strengthen the left hand and especially develop the ability of the fingers to spread apart. Anatomically, this means they develop the muscles that lie in between the bones inside the palm of the hand, the “interosseous muscles”. These muscles are often undeveloped in players, and that is why the practice of chromatic octaves is so important for all guitarists.
This course will develop the musculature of the left hand to build strength and finger stretch. With the left hand development you will get from the correct practice of this exercise, everything you play will feel easier and sound better!
This exercise is best used after studying “How To Master A Scale”, but it can be used with great benefit at any time.
What you will get from this course:
- A video with complete, detailed note by note instructions for the exercise. You will be told exactly what your fingers should be doing at every moment. What the fingers you are not using are doing is as important as the actions of the fingers you are using!
- A video of Jamie doing the exercise slow, medium and fast.
- A PDF of the exercise, the instructions, and a discussion of the correct course of left hand development that gives you powerful left hand technique.
Develop That Stretch!
When players think of improving the left hand fingers, they usually think of strengthening them. They may even use a gripmaster, pushing down on those springs to increase finger strength. This only strengthens the muscles of the forearm that flex and extend the fingers. This may be somewhat useful, but it does nothing for the very important group of muscles that lie within the hand itself, and these muscles are responsible for stretching the fingers apart sideways.
The sideways stretch of the fingers is essential for doing just about everything on guitar, and doing things easily. From a C chord (which requires quite a stretch between 1 and 3), to octave playing, and countless other shapes we must get our fingers into, these little muscles that lie between the bones inside the palm must be carefully strengthened, so they can pull the fingers apart, and gradually stretch the sheath of ligament that surrounds these bones and holds them together.
Examine your own left hand action, and consider whether you may be having extra difficulty because of undeveloped hand muscles. When you do exercises that stretch the fingers apart, pay attention to this very important fact:
Invariably, as guitar students attempt to spread the fingers apart to deal with music they may very well get on their first lesson, tension problems begin, because they do not constantly reduce the extra tension that immediately forms in the hand, arm and throughout the body as this stretch is attempted. Develop your stretch slowly and carefully, always focusing on the whole body to reduce unnecessary tension as the fingers stretch apart.
The "Chromatic Octave Exercise" is one of the best ways to develop the "stretching" muscles of the hand. I give you complete, note by note details on how it must be practiced for maximum benefit. It is available for Instant Download!Product Details
Title: The Chromatic Octave Exercise
Author: Jamie Andreas
Publisher: Guitar Principles, Inc. (Copyright 2009)
Format: Instant Download
Language: English
Please note: This download is a zip file. After you download and save it to your computer, you may right click the file and select "extract", in order to unzip the contents of this download. Also, downloadable courses are non-refundable. If you need guidance on which course is right for you, contact customerservice@guitarprinciples.com