intensive 30 minute guitar workout

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Will Wallner

Bent Out of Shape: An Intensive 30-MinuteGuitar Workout for Musicians On the GoPosted 03/03/2015 at 6:22pm | by Will Wallner

Whether you're a professional guitarist or ahobbyist, finding time to practice can bedifficult.

We all have busy lives and responsibilities thatdistract us from our playing. For this reason,I've developed a quick, intensive guitar"workout" that can be completed in 30 minutes.You can use this by itself as a quick practicewhen time is limited or incorporate it into alonger practice session. Either way, thisworkout will help develop your playing in a

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number of important areas.

The workout involves playing a diatonic scalewith specific sequences chosen to improveimportant areas of your playing. You willimprove your knowledge/theory of the scaleacross the whole fretboard and also improvethe speed/accuracy of your picking technique.For this workout, you are going to need ametronome.

For my examples, I am using the A minor scale.You will play each of these sequences to ametronome; when completed, you will increasethe tempo and repeat all of the sequences

again. You want to begin at a slow tempo, around 80 bpm, and after completion increase by 10bpm (90, 100, 110, 120, etc.).

The sequences are of varying difficulty, and as soon as one becomes too difficult, you should dropthat sequence and continue with the rest. You should make a note of the highest tempo reachedfor each sequence so you can chart your progress over time. I have included target bpm's foreach sequence. If you start at 80 bpm and take each sequence to its target, you should completethe workout in around 30 minutes. Of course, if you are an advanced player, you might be abletake each sequence much higher than the target tempos.

For each sequence, I've given you the tab and an audio example playing the sequence at 80 bpmand then at the target bpm.

Linear Sequences (Target: 160 bpm)

These sequences focus on playing the diatonic scale as "four-notes per sting" instead of the usual"three-notes per string." The idea is to use all four fingers when fretting the scale, as highlighted inthe first sequence.

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Interval Sequences (Target 120 bpm)

These focus on playing the diatonic scale in intervals across three octaves. For this workout, weare using 3rd's, 4th's and 5th's. Note: Advanced players also will be able to play the scale in 6th's

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Arpeggio Sequences (Target 120 bpm)

You've probably seen the previous sequences before, but here's something I came up with that's

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fairly unique. These sequences involve playing the scale across two octaves as arpeggios. Thefirst sequence is played as triad arpeggios (I-III-V). The second sequence is played as 7tharpeggios (I-III-V-VII).Cookie policy

These sequences could be applied to any diatonic scale in any key. After mastering A minor, tryexperimenting with different scale. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave mea comment. Good luck!

Will Wallner is a guitarist from England now living in Los Angeles. He recently signed a solo dealwith Polish record label Metal Mind Productions for the release of his debut album, which featuresinfluential musicians from hard rock and heavy metal. He also is the lead guitarist for White

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4 Comments + Add a Comment

hydemanOctober 10, 2013 at 8:22pm

Best training ever !something on chords theory could be nice too :)

balthazar4bJune 13, 2013 at 7:28pm

Nice workout. I've been working on only the first sequence for just the past few weeksand have returned today to move on. I've always meant to break out of my horizontalmethod of playing scales and this is just the thing I needed. It also allows me to stretchmy fingers and I can see the development that has been made after returning to a fewsolos I have been studying. Thanks!

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WWallnerApril 24, 2013 at 3:31pm

You are most welcome! I will be doing some more workouts to supplement this one inthe future, cheers.

pikmanApril 23, 2013 at 9:13pm

Pretty killer workout bro,thanks for this....

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intensive 30 minute guitar workout

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