2020 GUITAR WORKOUT

New Year, new you? How about New Year, new groove! If one of your resolutions is to improve your playing, you’re in luck – TG’s new workout plan is here to help!

- CHARLIE GRIFFITHS, CHRIS BIRD

Whether it’s fingerpicking or sweep picking, fretting focus or strumming stamina, we’d all like to be a bit more consistent and confident with our playing, right? So, as we enter the new decade, what better time than now to work on some of the everyday techniques us guitar players try to stay on top of as we work towards mastering this fine instrument? For many of you, a number of these lessons will be well-trodden ground, but sometimes revisiting even the simplest of exercises helps us notice shortcuts and inconsistencies in our playing that can be improved. Follow each lesson slowly, example by example, and see if you notice a difference over time.

01 CHORD CHANGE CHALLENGE…

Start your workout with some essential chord changes

Say ‘open chords’ and most guitarists will quickly identify the easiest shapes – C, A, G and so on. Does that mean you can’t improve this area of your playing? Well, we’d argue that you can. With so many ways to play our favourite instrument, different styles, techniques and so on, even the simplest changes can throw up a challenge here. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ method, but these three exercises will get you started. Try out the easier first and second tab examples before building up to the final challenge.

02 ARPEGGIOS FOR RHYTHM GUITAR …

Aim for shimmering cleans and tighter picking with TG’s arpeggio exercises