We’re still in lockdown in Wales (UK), and we can only travel 5 miles. I’ve been busy teaching online lessons and also have done a lot of DIY projects around the house. I thought I would have had loads of time to update my blogs but I’ve been too busy! However, my students that have carried on have been burning through their grades and practicing more than ever. Here are a few scales warm ups I’ve been adding to their new practice plans, which I’ve been writing with google docs and sending the parents a link to so they can see updated practice notes whenever I add new things to it.
At the end of the post, there is also a bonus chord exercise challend for you to try.
These scales, arpeggios and chords exercises are good for any beginner or intermediate player that has been learning guitar for a while and has the ability to read tab. You might be used to reading proper sheet music, like on the rest of the website, but the tab is essentially the same. You have 6 lines (4 for ukulele), and the top line is the bottom string on the instrument. So the bottom line on the tab is the thickest string on the guitar. You’ll see tab elsewhere on the internet like on ultimate-guitar.com, so hopefully everyone will be able to read these.
Hopefully you can find these an enjoyable way to warm up whilst stuck at home. Run through all of these as a warm up so you’re not neglecting your scales, and then go and learn something else like you would in a guitar lesson. Perhaps learn a song or maybe some chord progression exercises or learn to play a guitar solo from a song you like.
Scales & Arpeggio Warm Ups – Guitar
4X forwards and backwards for each one
E Blues scale
———————————————–0–3–
—————————————0–3———-
—————————-0–2–3——————
———————0–2—————————-
———-0–1–2————————————
–0–3———————————————–
A minor pentatonic scale
Fret 5 = 1st finger, Fret 6 = 2nd Finger, Fret 7 = 3rd finger, Fret 8 = 4th finger
————————————–5–8——
——————————–5–8————
————————–5–7——————
——————5–7————————–
———-5–7———————————-
–5–8——————————————
G major scale
———————————————————5–7–8–
———————————————5–7–8————-
———————————-4–5–7————————
———————–4–5–7———————————–
————3–5–7———————————————-
-3–5–7———————————————————
A major arpeggio
Fret 4 = 1st finger, Fret 5 = 2nd Finger, Fret 6 = 3rd finger, Fret 7 = 4th finger
————————–5—-
———————-5——–
——————6————
————–7—————-
——4–7———————
–5—————————-
A minor arpeggio
Fret 5 = 1st finger, Fret 6 = 2nd Finger, Fret 7 = 3rd finger, Fret 8 = 4th finger
————————–5—–
———————-5———
——————5————-
————–7—————–
———-7———————
–5–8————————–
Scales & Arpeggio Warm Ups – Bass Guitar
4X forwards and backwards for each one
E Blues scale
——————————————————
———————0–2—————————-
———-0–1–2————————————
–0–3———————————————–
A minor pentatonic scale
Fret 5 = 1st finger, Fret 6 = 2nd Finger, Fret 7 = 3rd finger, Fret 8 = 4th finger
————————————————
——————5–7————————–
———-5–7———————————-
–5–8——————————————
G major scale
———————————-4–5–7—9—11–12—-
———————–4–5–7——————————–
————3–5–7——————————————-
-3–5–7——————————————————
A major arpeggio
Fret 4 = 1st finger, Fret 5 = 2nd Finger, Fret 6 = 3rd finger, Fret 7 = 4th finger
——————————-
————–7—————-
——4–7———————
–5—————————-
A minor arpeggio
Fret 5 = 1st finger, Fret 6 = 2nd Finger, Fret 7 = 3rd finger, Fret 8 = 4th finger
——————————–
————–7—————–
———-7———————
–5–8————————–
Scales & Arpeggio Warm Ups – Ukulele
4X forwards and backwards for each one
C minor pentatonic scale
——————-1–3———-
———–1–3——————
—0–3————————–
———————————
C major scale
———————-0–2–3—-
———–0–1–3—————
—0–2————————–
———————————
D minor scale
——————-3–5———-
———–3–5——————
—2–5————————–
———————————
D major scale
———————-2–4–5—-
———–2–3–5—————
—2–4————————–
———————————
E natural minor scale
—————————5–7——-
—————5–7–8—————-
—4–6–7—————————-
————————————–
Bonus Chord Exericse
How many times can you play these chords in 1 minute?
Set a countdown timer for 1 minute. Strum each chord once and then repeat when you have done all 3 chords. Count how many times you go around them in 1 minute.
Challenge 1: A, D, E.
Challenge 2: E, A7, B7.
Challenge 3: A7, D7, E7.
Challenge 4: Am Dm7 G.
Challenge 5: C F G.