bottom of the neck , and that I ’ m using the tip of my finger and not the base of my fingertip . You can practice this away from your guitar if you hold a pencil and pen with all your fingers ( thumb in the back and fingers in the front while holding it up ). I like to warm up for at least 5- 10 minutes . This step is crucial , if you don ’ t warm up , your fingers can lock in place or feel slow while playing .
WARM UP RHYTHM HAND While warming up my fret hand I am also warming up strumming my hand . Warming up the strumming hand is equally important , if not more at times . Both hands must be at the same level of consistency and synchronized for your technique to improve . While chromatic exercises do help a lot with the strumming hand , it does fall short overall , so I like to incorporate some of the warm ups . I ’ ll start with a metronome on 90 bpm just strumming down on the downbeats , then I start to subdivide and use eighth notes to strum up on the upbeats and down on the downbeats , then I ’ ll strum to
16th notes and play down on the down beat , up on the E beat , down on the And beat , and up on the A beat . Then I ’ ll strum triplets just continuing the up down motion on ever triplet beat . I will continuously do this while moving the metronome BPM higher over time . I also do this between 5 to 10 minutes . Make sure to use your wrist and not your arm for these rhythm exercises .
WARM UP TO SONGS SLOWLY Lastly , I will warm up to the most challenging songs , licks , and riffs I know slowly . This usually includes Mike Sterns Chromazone , Chick Corea ’ s Got A Match , or any complicated songs we ’ re playing at church at the time , but I play them SLOWLY . Meaning if a song is originally at 120 BPM I will play it at half the BPM ( in this case 60 BPM ), not only to make sure I will play it right , but to also practice timing and rhythmic analysis as perfectly as I can , which means I hold every note the correct amount of time and not rush everything . This immensely helps my muscle memory and helps my fingers feel better .
IN CONCLUSION In conclusion , these are not only great tips to help you play better but this will help your overall guitar technique improve , this does take time and patience so please do not rush through anything . If we try to jump to the highest and hardest songs without working on our technique , we will cause injury . It ’ s like trying to run a marathon without ever going out for a jog . Remember as Christians we want to do our best for the One who gave us the talent and desire , and when we play at church we want to make sure we ’ re giving Him our best ; including warm ups and proper technique .
Chris Rocha Chris Rocha is an American Christian producer , guitarist , business owner and pioneer in the Spanish Christian music industry . He is a two time Dove Award winner , has worked on two Grammy award winning records and has produced or recorded guitars on 5 Grammy nominated albums .
Jonathan Diaz Jonathan is a guitarist who is not only involved with his local church , but is also the director of School of Rock Cocowalk and instructor of CR Online !