The Finger Gym (Guitar Lesson TE-001 ) How to play

[kohversohver]

you rock

[Abhinil1]

I am haing problems to use my little finger.....

what should i do ???

:(

[chiligreeen]

@Abhinil1 That's normal. Just really (I used to skip the "slow-part" , but it really is sooo important) try to slowly build up your speed from 30 bpm and try to make it sound loud and clear. After some weeks (depending on how much you spend in practice-time) you will notice an huge improvement. Just really stick to, slow! and clear!.

The pinky is a lil' sucker in the beginning, just keep on exercising ;)

[Abhinil1]

@chiligreeen Thanx Bro.......

[jihr19]

Hey!  Where is the weird animal of the end?

[3r1c1290]

12 23 34 13 24 14 123 234 124 134 1234

[nice3omar]

Dude, you're awesome. :D

[retrobananaguy]

THIS VIDEO IS IN 240p!..........ROSS MUST HAVE BEEN FILMING THIS

[mac10productions]

i cnt use my pinky when i hammer on a striing :( is that normal at first?

[jasperwoods]

240p suc ks

[EvilLamas]

@jasperwoods lesson is amazing though, so shut up.

[911xShadowlessx911]

i cant wait till i'm old enough the use this fingering technique on women :L

you rock justin \m/

[Freeasabird1979]

It's a great exercise, but couldn't you make a better video with a close up of the hands? I really feel the "flicking" is hard to see.

[hellsSG]

@Freeasabird1979 It's just pull offs

[trebacebedo]

thanks justin. this what i'm lookin.

[Dynamik5]

I watched this a couple years ago, it's the shit! It's an absolute must that I do this exercise every day now, It will make you surprise yourself, really. Thanks a lot for this one Justin!

[AVangarDIsrael]

"-make- -sure- -you- -keep- -the tempo- -nice- -and even-" 6:24 to summer the things up :D

[skanderlinko]

thank you justiin.....seriously man you'r the best

[satchfan2010]

Enough of these bloody ads on YouTube!!.

[rosyface2k]

@satchfan2010 got to firefox addons. get adblock pro. its free, and it means no more adds on youtube.

[zerouzaria]

what i learned today:

i dont need to play an awesome song to yell " I've got blisters on ma fingers"

I'm double joint in my pinky which makes the stretching reallll weird

[beatnik8tv]

For a sec I thought he said justin gets hard dot com. :p 

[SesaayGayeaa154]

ûhm_Äñy_gúÿs_wâNt_tO_chÅt_with­_mé

[Zashley4evaneva]

My pinkies refuse to obey..... it's infuriating. :(

[Amitai45]

@Zashley4evaneva Same. It sucks.

[mandowarrior123]

I've been playing for a few years, cam back to this and realized how difficult i found the second part of the first exercise! can really feel it in the back of my hand :D thanks Justin! I know how important these exercises are!

[Musicforliving1]

damn these stupid little fingers

[Totema1]

The 1-3-4 exercise is like part of the intro to "Roundabout" :D

[TheBfutgreg]

@Totema1 Or Live and Let Die

[disturbtheworlds]

it hurts a lot in the fleshy part of my thumb,

[kcnirvana6794]

my pinky is a bitch...i mean my wrist is killing me because of it being so weak...i can play a lot of songs, mainly the rhythm and some solos but i think my wrist and thumb position might be wrong cuz sometimes i hurts the hell outta me...so this is really helpful!great exercises justin keep it up man!

[GazzaLanzarote]

I'm starting over again after years of playing really bad & everyone who uses this site should give this fella 10E a month. He deserves it. His lessons are 1st class. Try this with an acoustic guitar, 60bpm & like he says, initially no more than 5 mins per day. It works like a dream. For the first time ever I'm starting to 'feel' like I'm playing the guitar rather than just struggling along as I do with most solos. If Gods existed Justin would be one, lol:) Saludos desde Lanzarote!!!

[peraas89]

PROPER HARD!

[lllcainlll]

@peraas89 My thoughts exactly.

[IncisalEdges]

This excersize is the most sensible Ive found for finger strength (and finger independance as he points out). It covers all the muscles you need in your left hand, and its not complicated.

[mandowarrior123]

@IncisalEdges yeah ive been playing years and i didnt realise how difficult i found it to hammer with my ring and middle finger :D pretty much over that with a few goes of this exercise :)

[WonderersWay]

my pinky does feck all lol, great exercise, ill keep at it

[pleckedpicker]

EVERYONE whom wishes to LEARN! Go ahead and waste your time on other sites just like myself. I have probably at least 100 dvd's of lessons which are great. Yet NONE are as good as Justin!! PERIOD!!! SO here I am! Get it yet?

[IncisalEdges]

@pleckedpicker Agreed. Ive been playing for over 20 years, and Im musically stupid so Ive never caught on to what my past teachers have told me. Justin is somehow simple while not leaving out anything important. My practice time is a lot more productive since my friend showed me his site.

[stulron]

I know im way late but you are a godsend! BE Good!

[jimmy2minutes]

this really does work, been doing it for a couple of week and im loads better. In fact I have given up my job to do it all day long. No not really. does work though.

[supercalifarious]

can do the last exercise after 2-3 weeks!! thanks Justin!!

[Xx0Mystic0xX]

This really did help I must agree. The way I took my finger strength further is playing the beginning to The Metal by tenacious D using all my fingers

[petar1987]

make-sure-you-got-the-tempo-ni­ce-and-even

legendary!

thank you so much for theese lessons, i think it will help a lot!

[TheNero2658]

WOW 764 people likes this video.. wow..

[xsamuhellx]

very nice exercise, thanks a lot

:)

[TheAvelon]

Another good addition to this exercise is a four finger up-down walk. Begin as with each of the other 'sets' on fret one, string one, finger one. Hammer from open to 1 with your first finger, then hammer the other three into the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th frets respectively. Keeping the same rhythm, flick those three off again and repeat the hammer/flick off for fingers 2-4 once more before flicking off your index finger. Hammer onto string 2. Go all the way up and down. It's also a good quick warmup. =)

[montezumasrevenge]

Stay off the weed man when you're making educational videos

[Elvyne963]

I don't understand the flick-off (or pull-off), it would be so nice if you would zoom on it.

1) Are you pulling down on the string to make it vibrate with the finger that pull-offs ?

2) Is the second finger pressing on the chord from the beginning or are you hammering on the string right after you pull-off the first finger ?

btw thank you so much for all your lesson, they're so good !

[TheAvelon]

@Elvyne963 The difference between a 'flick off' and a 'pull off' is that a pull off is simply lifting your finger off of the string, whereas a flick off is actually using the tip of the finger you are raising to pluck the string. For instance, with the first and second fingers, you would hold down the string with both fingers in frets 1 and 2. Pick with the right hand, and then pluck the string with your second fingertip as you remove it from the string. Hope that helps!

[GHj0e]

is it normal for this to really strain your left thumb?

[eliot468]

@GHj0e yeah that helps you out later also

[Ktaamable]

How do u guys do It? I cant do It with my litle finger.. cause when I move it I also move my ring finger,, so when I hammer on I do It with both fingers at the time.,. do I make any sense?

[MCboy1820]

@Ktaamable that's just at the beggining if you're a begginer, you will get it later with time ;)

[elgrau1]

hahaha he said pec deck sweet

[SR5127CL]

┌∩┐(◕_◕)┌∩┐ 4:11 - 4:14

[HELLO2YOU3]

you are my new best friend. would it be the same for electric

[growuppeterpan]

I love you Justin.

[armandahammer]

@growuppeterpan i love your username

[growuppeterpan]

@armandahammer Thanks :), I stole the name from the band called Adept.

[MrFatherfoley]

no u dont

[growuppeterpan]

@MrFatherfoley Great job federal agent

[GikeMoldberg]

it is a pull off. r u really so arrogant that yer goona rename a guitar technique? lmfao.

[TeamLegendz]

@GikeMoldberg Dude, it's just one word and it's gives the same idea. You say it like he's actually gonna pull it off as an actual term. lmao, 'pull it off'. Hah, self-criticizing humor feels better than arrogant, finger-pointing, immaturity.

[misstina88]

He's adorable. :]

[666drompi]

thanx 4 givin dis type of xrcise......its really gr8.

[bobos07]

How do you get the hammer ons to sound so loud?? Mine are very faint or I get no sound at all lol!

[bluesgurugod]

good lesson Justin. The commercial in beginning is atrocious though...

[FatalError2319]

My left arm is as sore as my right arm was when I first hit puberty. At least I know it is working.

[Aawsy]

@FatalError2319 HAHAHAHAHA

[bradlaypamp]

@FatalError2319 LMao!!!

[fleetwoood75]

im only new to guitar but i definitely like your FLICK . until now i tried pulloff and it served only to mute and kill but the flick technique in my opinion should be called so, esp for beginners. shall be donating, your darfur stuff is also excellent. mother theresa material in a modern way. Justin "too cool" Sandytoes

[fleetwoood75]

im only new to guitar but i definitely like your FLICK . until now i tried pulloff and it served only to mute and kill but the flick technique in my opinion should be called so, esp for beginners. shall be donating, your darfur stuff is also excellent. mother theresa material in a modern way. Justin "too cool" Sandytoes

[attiliol]

can i use this exercise for warming up?

[KungFuDAVE88]

Haha thats a really good work out, I shal try doin that about 10 min a day from hence forth :)

[Ashitaka255]

This really good, easy to follow and the effects are quite clear.

[rofllmfaoxd]

Does this work with electric guitars aswell? cause with that the strings are softer arent they?so its easier to press down. Maybe you just have to do it for a longer time

[NewMetallica]

@rofllmfaoxd Yes ofcourse it works for electric as well. I've been using this for my electric guitar playing, but this lesson is about finger independence not muscle strenght. Just do it slow and equally, then you will surely feel it in your hand.

[TapionXG3]

Dang, "feel the BURN!!", i have been playing for about a year and i can only do this for like 8 minutes, my pinky is on fire.maybe if i do 3 sessions a day i can get rid of those unsightly finger ounces.

[NewMetallica]

I just stumbled across a lesson because I wasn't able to do a specific solo ( actually it was the solo for Led Zeppelins Stairway to Heaven ). I've practiced this every day for about 10 minutes and now It really really has payed off!!! Damn should I discovered this about a year ago when I started playing guitar this would have been much easier. Thanks Justin, your the best free teacher, with the best personality. Donating is coming your way :D

[mistasopz]

Sometimes after I've practiced something for the 500th time my mind starts to wander. Then I start thinking about eating a peanutbutter and Jelly sandwich or something like that and then all of I sudden I think "Oh crap, I'm supposed to be concentrating on guitar" and then I forget what I was doing and screw up :(

[hometechnc]

Really appreciate the Technique, but on the down side, most of you guys who play well forget the learning curve of us beginners.

Within 45 seconds of the video, you are playing at speed that would take us months to accomplish!

Slooooooow Down Please........................

[TheANBart]

I cannot even reach 4th fret with pinkie. dammit.

[DamiensGuitarist]

@TheANBart Really?

[TheANBart]

Really :(

[DamiensGuitarist]

@TheANBart dude that sucks how big are your hands?

[TheANBart]

Yeah. i don't know xD But i'm 15 so i hope it will get better in few years :)

[AtlasOfRaven]

the problem maybe relies on how you position your hand, and open it, and not on the size itself

[TheANBart]

Thank you, I'm going to take some lessons, i hope someone will tell me what to do differently. :)

[DamiensGuitarist]

Im 13 and I have big hands so its fairly easy I can reach 4 frets with my ring finger

[jimmont2001]

Thak you very much your lessons are the best

[sonunshaan]

hahaha! 4:12

[DarknessMessiah91]

this got me confused. lol

imma try later

[rog271]

how do you stop your fingers developing grooves where you press the strings?--after five minutes mine are so deep i cant hold down the string and it sounds muffled or buzzes.

[mornar75]

keep doing it your fingers will develop thicker skin in time :)

[GNARKILL11]

keep playing you will grow callus. if they get sore its ok. the only time you stop is if theres pain.

[MrJackanthony]

I cant hammer on really well with my pinkie. Any advice? I guess I must just keep doing these.

BTW these are so much easier on an electric guitar

[riazdocrat]

that just takes time dude, eventually those grooves wont be so deep, the skin on ur finger tips gets thicker over time, gotta keep practicing!

[MistaGameandWatch]

You cant really stop your fingers devoloping grooves. After time you just get used to it and your fingers harden.

[wazzaz101]

Do you need to be able to multitask to play the guitar ?. Because i cant multitask for shit lol.

[jackthetriper]

Well actually you do, but don't worry i thought the same thing when I was starting, practice makes prefect :P

[MrJackanthony]

YOu don't consiously multitask after a while. -D

[vauxhall908]

Micheal angelo Bato does a exercise like this as a fast warm up thanks for your time Justin

[thepaidgamer]

Great video, very informative. Visit my channel for more hand/finger exercises.

[veteaz]

J'ai 25 ans de guitare derrière moi et je pense que j'aurai jamais fait le tour de cet instrument !

Aprés avoir intégrer ces exercices ( Finger, Minimum movement, Spider ... ) dans une pratique journaliére quotidienne ...

Et bien, je progresse grace à ces exercices sur bon nombre de points ...

Dans une pratique trés scolaire avec métronome, et bien j'ai conscience des "mauvaises" habitudes que j'ai pu avoir durant toutes ces longues années !

THANK YOU MISTER JUSTIN !!

Alain - France

[walber1560]

Excellent video.

I knew the site recently, and despite not speaking English very well (I'm Brazilian) classes are helping me a lot.

Thank you very much

[afroturfmince]

Hey Justin,

You're an amazing teacher!!! Love your humility... very talented / zero cockiness about it.

Any possibility to show us all how to play Angie by the Rolling Stones?

Thanks, I'll be donating soon:)

[TimBuktu666]

great lesson

done this first time today. for 5 mins. works good. than stop. grabd whith the left hand for my coffeecup and than....

watch out, your hand gonna be weak...

[zacharyjrsman]

I thought i was a decent guitarist... then this vid came. Definitely a workout. Anxious to see how well this works!

[mrno69]

Hey I have a major problem separating my fingers 2 and 3. I can do it when not bent, but when i bend them to play i have to move hand in order to play the next fret with fingers 2 and 3 because they are so close together...is there any exercises i can do to practice separating them or can i just do this exercise and eventually ill be able to separate them. Or lastly am I just fuked due to genetics and generally will have to learn to deal with this shit? Thank you so much for these vids.

[ashishbatista]

:O all i can say is DAYUM!!! u did this for an HOUR a day for a YEAR!!?????? wooot!! kudos to u!! i'ma do 15 mins for like a month, then maybe increase! thx Justin,,, u always rock!!! :)

[Monchi2006]

ive been looking for that pdf thing in ur site and cant find it urgh!!!post the direct link please you got a lot of things here

[Marseille5]

I've improved a lot thanks to this lesson. Advice for all the beginners : do it every day.

[billyjack201]

amazing...and it needs a lot of patience...but slowly gradually ye really start enjoying it

[r1ku97]

pro player

[traidorg]

you can also do 0h1

[tooprettyfor]

you... are a hero! = D

[The39thFret]

Hey Justin, Firstly BRILLIANT SITE!

The Guitar Gym is absolutely BRILLIANT and has relaly benefited my hand strength. Although here comes a question:

When playing 2nd & 4th my 3rd finger always wants to get in on the action! I though this was just intially due to lack of finger stranght - Im a complete novive! However after 3 weeks I still cannot control 3rd finger.

Any tips??

[sah3193]

Fucking awesome....Thanks justin....

[jaworskibros]

holy shit i started doing this and it fucking works,, check out my vid

[laytonkim]

thanks justin !! u make the world a better place

[Flagxx87]

the "flick off" with three and four are really damn hard !

but thanks alot though !!

[Franshesca03]

...hello, can you show please a video tutorial about how to play" stigmatized "(by the calling) on guitar ???

bye..

[ajrocks24]

I cant get a very loud note when i hammer on the second note. I am pushing hard on it too. Any help would be great. Thanks

[gotears2listen]

Is the action set ok? If the distance between the string and fret is too high it makes things difficult. Make sure you have a low action - good luck

[HcGgirl84]

Thank you SO much for this video!! I'm really anxious to try this out! I need to improve my dexterity...my fingers keep touching other strings and when I try to form a chord I can usually get 1 or 2 fingers right but when I add a 3rd finger I lose my positioning!

[DuskY1991]

Awesome, really helpfu, thank you! =)

[Mrguitarshredder95]

great work man appreciate all you do

[Justin011794]

Thanks a bunch Justin! I've been doing this exercise for 5 minutes a day since 2 weeks and my fingers are already a lot stronger! You make honor to my name lol

[lucilinburhuc666]

I have problems holding my hand straight, feels weird when I try to do it. Can someone give me advices what I should do? thx

[oshheen]

it mayy be a great excercise but hell its boring to practice

[CleverDjembe]

@oshheen

Why are you playing guitar if you find it boring?

[jaku13]

thank youuuuuuu!

[yourtubelovesmytube]

thanks so much mate!!

[Skwarekkk]

He is amazing! He puts every lesson he made for free on his webiste... I love you mate

[loko3000000]

nice video mate

but im double joined on my fingers

so my pinky glitches

[BJ219]

he sounds sick

[GodOfWar251]

thanx

[corkedmachinima]

dude i seriously can't see myself playing as much as you have in my lifetime...that sucks..i wanna be that good. DAMMIT!!but thanks for putting this stuff up.

[conthemon]

lmao my pinky is so retarded when you first try this!

[pisserke8420]

OMG mine is too haha, it can't push :D Like Cleabard-The-Reatard-Pinky haha XD My pinky is small too, I think! But my fingers put themselves in an angle, tips? Maybe I'm holding my left arm in a wrong way or...?

[mabitazan]

i have the same problem.... send me some tips too :) thanks

[Grensinlos]

role your left shoulder up

i had that problem too

[pisserke8420]

How do you mean, "role it up"?

[nickstemoeilijk]

I too have the problem of an angled finger position. I've got really small hands and my pinky is nearly non-existent. Unlike what's said in the video, I get a better reach and stretch by angling my left hand. I'd like to get some tips on this as well.

Superb exercise btw, I can feel it in my hands after 15 minutes straight hammers and pulls (flicks :p).

[bardoneccia]

ZeppelinFloydRoses ..... uv got way 2 much time on ur hands

[ZeppelinFloydRoses]

Lol true :) but i spend that time playing guitar and seeing my gf.

[ZeppelinFloydRoses]

LOL!!!! 4:11 - 4:14

Haha watch his face.

[gdbguitartuition]

Great lesson Justin - as always! I remember you at GI! Great teacher, keep it up dude! GDB

[xDAHVEEDx]

haha thanks man this is really hurting my fingers and i do it only 10 mins a day. this really feels like spider crawls just without strumming every note lol. thanks mate

5/5 :D

[artienda12]

my pinky is hardly to move ... hahaha...

[glitchystudios]

so would this serve as a warm up as well, or would i need to do that separately?

[samfrombelgium]

great excercises from justing here :) , anyway do you have to feel the pain in the in your under arm?and should you doing it until you say lik aaargh from the pain and then stop :)

[cutevil]

I don't think you should feel pain. You may feel muscle fatigue and soreness afterward if your forearm muscle never had any work out before. Soreness is different from pain. Pain is never a good sign and it mean something is wrong (except the fingertip pain for beginner)

Try to keep your wrist fairly straight.

[downhill240]

I'm thinking Carpal Tunnel Syndrome here. I would say start it slowly and limit the excercise to a reasonable period.

[MarijuanaBlazer]

lol do u think that 75 min on this is too much, cause ive been doing that time for a shit load of months

[basilebl]

lol haha the info

[guitarmonkey36]

Hey! It says in the description about doing it for 5 minutes a day. Ive been doing it for like 40 mins. I dont plan how long i do it for i just do all the combinations about 20-30 times and it takes me that long. Do you think im going overboard??

[HateEndsUsAll]

My girlfriend is my finger gym

[greendayddd]

hahaha!

[benhoward1]

lol you just reminded me of something.

[JustinGuitarStudent]

@HateEndsUsAll HAHAHAHA!!

[Optimus376]

@HateEndsUsAll could i borrow her my fingers need a little extra excersie too.:)LOL

[1911manbdarby]

good exersise

[mikeyFear0n]

i find that if you dont have a guitar at hand, squeazing tenis balls or strss balls regularly is a great way for improving strength

[JonnyEvans11]

Are you stoned lol

[nik0BELLIC08]

another great lesson from you justin :) btw your website is awesome :D

[shalemana]

i use a combination of this and guitar hero :P

[waallpaper]

People may rip it out you for saying that man but i agree !!!

It does give your fingers a good work out

[DjoopMeanen]

very nice, and very usefull. thanks!

[kenzi64]

what do i do if i want speed for sweeps or somthing not strength?

[moodyhamoudi]

i 2nd that motion

[mikeyFear0n]

coffee

[guitbox4326]

you're a great teacher man these exercises are definitely worth while

[SavagesInMyTown]

you need to lose those illuminati symbols you have for your logo.....good vid by the way

[textilemill]

my little finger is weak! lol