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Different Groupings &
Finger Independence
by Francesco Artusato

One of the most essential things that a guitar player can try to develop is the independence of his fretting hand digits (equal control over every finger). There are lots of exercises that help to achieve this, and I think one of the best ones is the common 1-2-3-4 chromatic exercise across all strings. It can seem simple, but playing all the different permutations (1-2-3-4/1-2-4-3-/1-3-2-4/1-3-4-2/1-4-3-2/1-4-2-3/ and so on) with a balanced touch and good time awhile only using hammer-on’s and pull-off’s can be really demanding. In the long run however, such control can be truly effective, and will open many doors that allow for more freedom over difficult and often awkward permutations/phrases.

I would suggest starting with 3-note patterns (1-2-4/1-4-2/2-1-4/2-4-1/4-2-1/4-1-2), to move on eventually to 4-note patterns like 1-2-4-2, and of course groups of five, six, and seven notes, in essence always expanding on the last group you left off on! It’s a lot of work, and to cover all this material (hundreds of permutations) might take a long time, but it’s a fight worth investing your time and effort into!

The step that should be followed after the previous one is mastered is to find our own favorite combinations , trying to put them together in a more creative and musical way. Example 1:

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