March 1, 2019

the butterfly exercise on guitar

Walking Across The Strings With Light Fingers

 When guitar fingers are moving from one note to another, they must be light and relaxed as they move. To teach our fingers how to move and stay relaxed, we do this simple exercise. 

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW TO SEE THE EXERCISE

guitar finger placement not good
good guitar finger placement
  • 1
    We set up all the fingers on the 6th string, curled and separated. This is called "All Aboard". .
  • 2
    We keep the fingers light, not pressing the strings
  • 3
    We move the first finger to the 5th string
  • 4
    We then move the rest of the finger to the 5th string, keeping them light. 
  • 5
    We continue across the strings until we reach the first string. 
  • 6
    We then travel back, leading with the first finger and keeping the finger light, but curled and separated

Congratulations! You have taught each of your fingers how to be relaxed, curled and separated on the guitar strings. This is the first essential step in getting real control of your fingers. 

Now you're ready for the next step in your left hand transformation - making the finger firm and adding the arm weight to them with the Heavy Arm...

Patricia Hubbard

guitar student

Jamie's Guitar Principles of Correct Practice has been amazingly helpful to me. I have been struggling with guitar off and on for 30 years, and her guidance has allowed me to reach a level of skill and enjoyment I could never find before, and allowed me to break through the "wall" that I kept hitting on my own.

Past teachers - even those who were conservatory trained- somehow missed the boat. Many thanks to Jamie Andreas!

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