Guitar Lesson 3 - Guitar Finger Exercises

Note: For beginners the following might take some time to get through. Play each part in the lesson till you've got it down. Try playing without having to look at the hand that's pressing down the frets of the guitar. Be patient, practice and take your time to work through this lesson.


3rd Guitar String Exercises

The third string, G string (no pun intended), is different than the first two strings, and unlike all the strings this one will only use one note which will be A. Also, we will be using our second finger for the first time.


Tab Video 
E|-------------0-1-3---3-1-0-------------|
B|------0-1-3-----------------3-1-0------|
G|-0-2-------------------------------2-0-|
D|---------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------|
View Lesson 3 - Part 1.2 Video

Part 1:
1. Play the 3rd string, G string.
2. Use finger 2 to press down on fret 2 of the G string and play the string. This plays an A note.
3. Play an open B string, then frets 1 and 3 with fingers 1 and 3 respectively.
4. Play an open E string, then frets 1 and 3 with fingers 1 and 3 respectively.
5. Reverse direction!

Remember to use your 2nd finger to play the 2nd fret - very important.



D string

Tab Video 
E|-----------------0-1-3---3-1-0------------------|
B|-----------0-1-3---------------3-1-0------------|
G|-------0-2---------------------------2-0--------|
D|-0-2-3-----------------------------------3-2-0--|
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|
View Lesson 3 - Part 2.2 Video

For this part we will now add the D string to our lesson. Similar to the G string we will be playing the second fret, which is, can you guess the note? An E note. We will then play the next fret, fret 3, the F note.


1. Play the 4th string, D string.
2. Use finger 2 to press down on fret 2 of the D string and play the string.
3. Like we have before, continue to hold the 2nd fret and use finger 3 to press down on fret 3 of the D string and play the string.
4. Continue ascending, then descend.
Notes:
Play this up and down till you got it. Like Part 1, practice going from the D string all the way to the E string.

A string

Tab Video 
|---------------------------0-1-3---3-1-0----------------------------|
|--------------------0-1-3-----------------3-1-0---------------------|
|---------------0-2-------------------------------2-0----------------|
|--------0-2-3-----------------------------------------3-2-0---------|
|-0-2-3-------------------------------------------------------3-2-0--|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
Video:View Lesson 3 - Part 3.2 Video

The 5th string is the A string, fret 2 is a B note and 3 is a C note.


Part 3.1:
1. Play the 5th string, A string.
2. Use finger 2 to press down on fret 2 of the A string and play the string.
3. Continue to hold the 2nd fret and use finger 3 to press down on fret 3.

Notes:
Play this up and down until you got it.


E String (Top), Putting it all together

Tab / Video 
|-------------------------------0-1-3--3-1-0------------------------------|
|------------------------0-1-3---------------3-1-0------------------------|
|-------------------0-2-----------------------------2-0-------------------|
|-------------0-2-3-------------------------------------3-2-0-------------|
|-------0-2-3-------------------------------------------------3-2-0-------|
|-0-1-3-------------------------------------------------------------3-1-0-|
Video:View Lesson 3 - Part 4 Video
The 6th string is the E string, fret 1 is an F note and 3 is a G note.


Part 4.1:
1. Play the 6th string, E string.
2. Use finger 1 to press down on fret 1 of the E string and play the string.
3. Continue to hold the 1st fret and use finger 3 to press down on fret 3.

Notes:
Get this down and that's it! It's time to put this all together: (shown below)

Practice a lot. Try timing yourself and then beat that time, once you get real good at it, you should be able to play in less than 10 seconds...

Next Lesson: Lesson 4 Guitar Chords E and Em