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

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.

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

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

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

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.