Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
  • Guitars
  • Amps
  • Pedals
  • Drums
  • Synths
  • Software
  • Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Recording
  • Buyer’s guides
  • Live
  • DJ
  • Advice
  • Acoustic
  • Bass
  • About Us
  • More
    • Reviews
Magazines
  • Computer Music
  • Electronic Musician
  • Future Music
  • Keyboard Magazine
  • Guitarist
  • Guitar Techniques
  • Total Guitar
  • Bass Player
More
  • How to make an AI cover song
  • 30 beautiful acoustic guitar chords
  • 86000+ free music samples

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. Tuition

30-day guitar challenge, day 8: Improve your four-finger dexterity

By Total Guitar
published 8 August 2015

Four exercises for faster fingers

Introduction

Introduction

30-day guitar challenge: We're well into the 30-day challenge now, so this time we're going to look at ways of building up your physical ability.

Take your playing to new levels with four exercises designed to develop your finger independence, dexterity, and the brain power needed to coordinate tricky fretting moves.

Page 1 of 5
Page 1 of 5
Lateral spider exercise

Lateral spider exercise

This variation of the classic spider exercise is designed to perfect your accuracy across the fretboard.

It can easily be extended over the whole neck and on all six strings.

Lateral spider exercise audio

Page 2 of 5
Page 2 of 5
Chromatic twister

Chromatic twister

This lick is designed to get all four fingers moving.

The move from second to third finger is particularly fiendish, so take your time building up the speed.

Chromatic twister audio

Page 3 of 5
Page 3 of 5
String skip legato

String skip legato

This exercise is tough on the fret hand thanks to the string skips and hammer-ons.

Aim for a steady, even flow of notes. For more of a challenge, move the lick to lower strings.

String skip legato audio

Page 4 of 5
Page 4 of 5
Typewriter lick

Typewriter lick

The idea here is to play the repeating note with each of your fretting fingers, one after the other.

The repetition is a great way to check that your thumb is in the best position.

Typewriter lick audio

Page 5 of 5
Page 5 of 5
Total Guitar
Total Guitar
Social Links Navigation

Total Guitar is Europe's best-selling guitar magazine.

Every month we feature interviews with the biggest names and hottest new acts in guitar land, plus Guest Lessons from the stars.

Finally, our Rocked & Rated section is the place to go for reviews, round-ups and help setting up your guitars and gear.

Subscribe: http://bit.ly/totalguitar

More about guitars
Fender Play deal

Learn guitar for the price of a coffee - Fender Play is only $3.13 per month with this colossal 75% discount

Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn slams The Rolling Stones and their new album Hackney Diamonds: “Making exactly the same music but not that good. There must be no joy in doing something like this"

Latest
Sepultura drummer Eloy Casagrande is rumoured to be joining Slipknot

Sepultura announce split, so does this mean Eloy Casagrande is going to be the new drummer in Slipknot?

See more latest ►
Most Popular
Computer Music 328 December 2023: free downloads

By Computer Music25 October 2023

Learn how to slide and boogie like Keith Richards on The Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed album

By Steve Allsworth19 October 2023

How to design a glassy and ethereal pad sound

By Dave Gale13 October 2023

John Mayer's guitar playing: 5 things you can learn

By Richard Barrett3 October 2023

Learn 4 key guitar chords from classic grunge songs

By Leigh Fuge30 September 2023

Computer Music 327 November 2023: free downloads

By Computer Music27 September 2023

Learn 5 classic blues guitar licks from Albert, Freddie and BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton

By Leigh Fuge25 September 2023

10 famous rock guitar solos and what you can learn from them

By Leigh Fuge21 September 2023

How to design a punchy, radio-ready synth bass sound

By Dave Gale18 September 2023

How to liven up your mix with legendary Fairchild compression

By Andy Jones12 September 2023

How to add level rides to a mix

By Jon Musgrave11 September 2023

  1. Michiru Aoyama
    1
    Japanese ambient musician Michiru Aoyama has woken at 5am to record a new album every day since 2021 – he's now earning $3,000 a month from his music on Spotify and Bandcamp
  2. 2
    “The union passed a motion to ban the use of synths, drum machines and any electronic devices”: the day the 'Loony' Musician's Union tried to kill the synthesizer (which also happened to be Bob Moog’s birthday)
  3. 3
    Has guitarist Andy Wood just made the ultimate Eddie Van Halen pedalboard?
  4. 4
    Ableton’s Push 3 Upgrade Kit is here, and It looks like it’s incredibly easy to turn your MIDI controller version into a standalone instrument
  5. 5
    The story of Fairytale Of New York: “I sat down, opened the sherry, got the peanuts out and pretended it was Christmas…"
  1. udo
    1
    7 of the best new hardware synths in 2023
  2. 2
    “I don’t want to generalise and say that he made everything sound good, but he did”: Joe Satriani reveals his strategy for replicating Eddie Van Halen’s tone on upcoming Sammy Hagar tour
  3. 3
    Japanese ambient musician Michiru Aoyama has woken at 5am to record a new album every day since 2021 – he's now earning $3,000 a month from his music on Spotify and Bandcamp
  4. 4
    Has guitarist Andy Wood just made the ultimate Eddie Van Halen pedalboard?
  5. 5
    The story of Fairytale Of New York: “I sat down, opened the sherry, got the peanuts out and pretended it was Christmas…"

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.