Ascending Finger Exercises for Electric Guitar

Finger exercises in which one works their hand up the fretboard are enjoyable for me, personally. Many years ago I would frequently start every one of my solos down on the lower frets and then climb my way up the fret board using some type of basic pattern. I once vowed to start all my solos in this fashion so that hopefully it would become my "style." But I quickly abandoned this naive notion.

First we will begin this article with a simple scalar/chromatic pattern. I usually start down around the second fret and perform it upward until I hit about the 15th fret or so.

G string: {-2-3-2-3-5-3-2-|-3-4-3-4-6-4-3--}

G string: {-4-5-4-5-7-5-4-|-5-6-5-6-8-6-5-...-}

So you can see this is a combination of picking and a fretting hand exercise that continues its way up the neck as far as you'd like to go. Notice the simple 7-note pattern. If played enough, it should increase your accuracy for playing quick picking patterns on single strings. Be sure to execute it on other strings as well. And even though the exercise above is technically chromatic, since it moves up in half steps, it is still fairly musical as a finger exercise. You could use it for transitioning between different positions of the neck, if you like.

Our next ascending exercise however, falls into the "harsh-sounding" or "ugly" finger exercise category, and it should be restricted to bedrooms, garages, woodsheds, and other secluded areas; and NOT incorporated into your solos.

B string: {-1-4-1-2-3-2-1-|-2-5-2-3-4-3-2-}

B string: {-3-6-3-4-5-4-3-|-4-7-4-5-6-5-4-...-}

See, I told you it doesn't sound too good. But it works for building dexterity and increasing precision in the fingers and for improving fretboard shifts.

Our last ascending finger exercise will be one that you can definitely use in your solos. Even though it is chromatic by ascending in half steps, it is still musical enough to include in your single note excursions.

E string: {-5-8-5-} B string: {-6-} E string: {-6-9-6-} B string: {-7-} E string: {-7-10-7-} B string: {-8-} ...

It isn't denoted above well because I can't use normal tablature in this article, but it's basically a simple 4-note pattern that climbs the neck chromatically, and also ordinarily I will use pull-offs for the 8-5s, 9-6s, 10-7s, etc. You may find using the pull-offs easier too. Theory wise, I believe the notes of the ascending quadruplets above make up Minor Sharp 5th triads, but I'm not exactly positive. Move this lick quickly up the fretboard but keep the notes clean. While playing your hand should be in almost a constant motion. This exercise, if inserted into a solo, will build plenty of tension, which you can relieve at any point by stopping the ascension and going into another lick of your choice.

Reference:

"Finger Exercises," How to Become a Guitar Player from Hell, Jason Earls, Pleroma Publications, 2007.