What do you do when you pick up the guitar?

A fundamental question to ask is, “What do I normally do when I pick up the guitar?” Make a list. It might look like this:

1. Strum a favorite chord progression
2. Noodle around with the pentatonic scale
3. Start learning a new song/solo

Doesn’t matter what it is. Just write it down. Now ask yourself, “Which of the things on the list really get my brain working?”

From the list above, number 3 is the most obvious. 

Number 1 is you doing something you already know how to do.

Number 2 has some potential, but only if you’re thinking about what you’re doing. Noodling implies that you’re zoning out, and just letting your fingers move around. Some people do this in front of the tv.

To create new neural pathways, you need to consciously make your fingers do something they don’t normally do.

So number 2 needs a sub-list of things you normally do when you play scales. This could be any number of things, but just for argument’s sake:

1. Alternate index and ring fingers on a single string
2. Bend notes on the first string using my ring finger
3. Hammer-on, pull-off from index to ring finger

Now, for the sake of this exercise, don’t do any of that. 

But what do you do? 

Using the list above, try varying those things. 

Instead of alternating index and ring finger on a single string, try doing that while moving between different strings. 

Bend notes on the first string with other fingers. Bend notes on all of the strings using whatever finger you want.

Hammer-on, pull off using every finger combination.

Can you think of any other variations?

I’m not giving you examples using notation because the idea here is to get you to work these things out on your own. To create new neural pathways.

I’ll talk some more about how to look at scales in my next post.