INSIDER SECRETS

INSIDER SECRETS

Fingering hand
20
gymnastics

by
ROBERT MINCHIN

©2002 Robert Minchin

This publication is protected by United States Copyright. Any attempt to copy in whole or part
will be vigorously prosecuted.
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The ideas that follow are

professional level techniques
and concepts gleaned from
over 35 years of performing
jazz and classical guitar and
studying from the masters.
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“Art dictates the

technique, the
technique does not
dictate the art”

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The quote on the previous page represents what I believe about musical technique,

and especially about guitar technique. Do not let a lack of technical ability determine

what and how you play. Develop the necessary technique so that your artistic, musical

ideas will be expressed the way you want. Tear out that page and tape it to your wall

so you can be constantly reminded to practice, practice, practice!

The exercises in this volume of INSIDER SECRETS are devoted to developing

fingering hand independence and flexibility.

These exercises will put you on the road to fingering independence and help you to

develop the agility required in order to instantly grab unusual chords, and easily

finger one chord to the next no matter how difficult the chord.

The final result of this type of study is for each finger to develop a mind of its own

so to speak, so that reaching for the perfect chord is easy. And quickly moving from

one chord to the next becomes effortless. The perfect example of this is Wes

Montgomery’s block chord solos during his improvisations. Listen to any recording of

Wes Montgomery, and you will hear the most amazing chord solos on record. He

plays them fast and furious, just like single note runs.

In order to develop this type of facility on the instrument, one needs to practice the

type of exercises in this book.

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P RO C E D U R E

Method The method is quite easy. Choose an exercise, play CHORD 1 then

instantly finger CHORD 2. Move up one fret and play the same CHORD 1 followed by

the same CHORD 2. Repeat the procedure all the way up to the 12th fret. Reverse

directions and move down to the lower frets playing the same chords.

It is important to do this slowly and to try and finger the chord perfectly the first

time. Establish a rythym and finger the chords in tempo. You will probably find that

these forms are not that easy to finger. Just take your time and practice slowly. Let me

repeat, practice slowly. Only in this way, will you be able to train the many muscles of

the fingering hand to learn these new movements.

Practice the same exercise for several days before moving on to the next group of

chords. As you become advanced you can actually play through all the exercises in

one session.

After you have mastered these exercises be creative and alter these chord forms to

solve certain technical problems you might be having.

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Finger the chords exactly as shown. Do not try to apply barres to the chords. In other

words, finger each note of a chord with a different finger. Later on, in actual playing

situations, you can finger chords any way you desire. But during your practice

sessions, discipline your fingers to move in new ways. Keep good form by fretting the

strings on the fingertips. The more disciplined you are in these matters, the greater

will be your ability in actual playing situations to make your fingers do what you

want them to do. We all get a little sloppy with our technique under the pressure of

playing with others, so focus on good technique in practice, so it becomes second

nature in playing situations.

Diagram Key

Frets

Fingers

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EXERCISE EXERCISE

CHORD 1 1 CHORD 2 CHORD 1 2 CHORD 2

EXERCISE EXERCISE

CHORD 1 3 CHORD 2 CHORD 1 4 CHORD 2

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EXERCISE EXERCISE

CHORD 1 5 CHORD 2 CHORD 1 6 CHORD 2

EXERCISE EXERCISE

CHORD 1 7 CHORD 2 CHORD 1 8 CHORD 2

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EXERCISE EXERCISE

CHORD 1 9 CHORD 2 CHORD 1 10 CHORD 2

EXERCISE EXERCISE

CHORD 1 11 CHORD 2 CHORD 1 12 CHORD 2

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EXERCISE EXERCISE

CHORD 1 13 CHORD 2 CHORD 1 14 CHORD 2

EXERCISE EXERCISE

CHORD 1 15 CHORD 2 CHORD 1 4 CHORD 2

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EXERCISE EXERCISE

CHORD 1 17 CHORD 2 CHORD 1 18 CHORD 2

EXERCISE EXERCISE

CHORD 1 19 CHORD 2 CHORD 1 20 CHORD 2

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Aside from the exercises in this book, when fingering chords, the most practical way

is to find at least one finger that is common to the chord you are playing and the next

chord that you want to play. That way you can simply slide that finger(s) to the

appropriate fret and simply place the rest of the fingers on the other chord notes.

1. Bdim 2. Cmaj7 3. Dmin7 4. G13

5. Db9 6. C6
Notice how their is at least one
common finger to all the chords
shown here. This makes it physically
easier to move from chord to chord.
Apply this principle to actual playing
situations. However, for the purposes
of this book, be sure to follow the
fingerings exactly as shown for all
exercises. Again, we are training the
fingers to become independent and
flexible so that later, we can
effortlessly move from chord to chord.

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Final W ords

These are terrific exercises. Do not neglect them in

your daily practice. Devote 10 to 15 minutes a day to

these. In a few weeks you will gain tremendous

agility. Remember to practice slowly and keep your

hands relaxed. As soon as you become tense, take a

deep breath, exhale, shake your hands out, relax your

whole body, and then continue playing. Do not get

discouraged if you find these difficult. Pick one

exercise that you feel comfortable with and practice it

until it becomes very easy before moving on to the

next group of chords.

Most of all, remember to have fun and create!

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