Finger independence exercise 1-3-2-4 for guitar
The chromatic walk in a 1-3-2-4 order the hand doesn't fall into by habit. Each finger has to move on its own instead of dragging its neighbour along, the 3rd and 4th most of all, as they're tied together in the hand. That control is what lets you reach any note of a scale or a lick with the finger it needs.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with the metronome on, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 90 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 90 bpm
- Starts at
- 54 bpm
- Length
- 3 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
How to play it
Slow enough that no finger lifts before the next one lands.
The hand sits in the same place as the chromatic warm-up, one finger per fret from the 5th, but the order on each string is 1, 3, 2, 4. On the way back from the high E it's reversed: 4, 2, 3, 1.
The order makes the 2nd and 3rd fingers swap places in the middle of each string, which is the move the hand finds awkward. Slow it down until each finger lands where it should without the others twitching along with it.
Mistakes to watch for
- The 4th finger lifting off whenever the 3rd moves: they share a tendon, so watch them and keep the 4th relaxed and close.
- Losing count of the order and falling back into 1-2-3-4. Say the numbers in your head for the first few loops.
- Uneven notes: the 2nd-finger note after the 3rd often comes out late and quiet.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 54
- 59
- 63
- 68
- 72
- 77
- 81
- 86
- 90
That's 16 loops and about 3 minutes before you're playing at 90 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play Finger independence 1-3-2-4?
The goal is 90 bpm in 16th notes, which is 6 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 54 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
What other orders can I practise?
Any order of the four fingers works the same way: 1-2-4-3, 1-4-2-3, 2-4-1-3 and so on. The 1-3-2-4 here is a good first one because it's awkward without being impossible.
Should this feel hard?
Yes, at first. It feels clumsy because the fingers are being asked to move apart from each other. After a week or two of a few minutes a day it gets noticeably easier, and the same control shows up in your scales and licks.