Fretting Hand Strength Building Exercise

Picking exercises are great alone and do wonders for both hands, but depending on the exercise that has been designed, the fretting hand can be left out.

I recently was trying to figure out a good exercise that would do wonders for the fretting hand, that I could share with everyone.

I found it, and it didn't take long, because I knew what needed to be done. I knew that this exercise would require three factors.

1. Healthy stretching for the fretting hand.

2. Integration of all fingers for the fretting hand.

3. A good rhythm that could be circulated, over and over again.


I have practiced with these types of exercises for years, but almost forgot to share them with you guys. Sorry, but there is a lot of ground to cover. I will be posting more exercises like this in the future.

Also note, that this exercise is wonderful for developing fluid movement across the neck.

I'll repeat myself as I usually do. Start slow. Pick evenly. The fretting hand can very easily be damaged do to excessive straining. So, in other words, when your fretting hand starts to hurt, stop! give yourself a minute or two and then resume.

This exercise is meant to be circulated continuously and evenly. I stop at the peak of it in the video, but that is because I could have played it endlessly and it would
have made a really long video, hehe.

Use alternate picking as usual. Down, up, down, up, or up, down, up, down. Either approach is copasetic.

The key to speed development is to have a relaxed picking hand, so don't push it. Make small movements and pick lightly, using as little of the plectum (tip) of the pick as possible.

Avoid digging too much of the pick into the strings. Seriously, order some Stylus picks - they are really cheap and do wonders for the picking hand.





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