Exercises for Your Fingers
It can be a challenge to form some chords and an even bigger challenge to change chords smoothly. Building finger strength and dexterity will make chording and changing chords a bit easier. Overall, it will make a big difference in the quality of your uke playing.
Work through these exercises and choose just one to really focus your development over a few weeks. Once you see progress with one exercise, try the other one for a few weeks. Either one makes a great warm-up before playing!
When to Exercise?
It’s a good idea to warm up your hands and fingers before every practice session. Start with the stretching exercises and then add one or more of these dexterity exercises to your practice routine.
“Walking the Frets”
Walking the frets helps your playing in several ways, giving you more dexterity, finger strength, and finger independence. And that means more accurate chord forms.
Begin with 1st finger (index), 4th string, 1st fret, then pluck the string.
Then 2nd finger (middle), 4th string, 2nd fret, then pluck the string.
3rd finger (ring), 4th string, 3rd fret, then pluck the string.
4th finger (pinky) 4th string, 4th fret, then pluck the string
Try the same pattern on each string moving across from the G (4th string) to the A (1st string – the one nearest the floor) and “walking up the frets” from the 1st fret to the 4th fret.
This is great practice for your fingers!
NOTE: Walking the frets helps your playing in several ways.
First, it helps you find the appropriate pressure to put on the string to sound a clear tone.
Second, it builds finger strength, dexterity, and flexibility.
Third, it helps your fingers become accustomed to the fret distances.
You can expand this exercise by walking the frets and then walking them in reverse! Starting at the 4th fret, then the 3rd, then the 2nd, then the 1st on each string.
Building finger dexterity, independence, and strength takes just a little time each day. The progress is incremental but the results can be surprising!
Starting with the 1st finger, on the 4th string, 1st fret
2nd finger, 3rd string, 2nd fret
3rd finger, 2nd string, 3rd fret
4th finger, 1st string, 4th fret
Reposition your starting point to begin 1st finger, 4th string, 2nd fret, and then continue across and down with the other fingers in that same staircase pattern. Keep moving the starting fret down one until the 4th finger reaches the 12th fret.
This is a good exercise for finger dexterity and helps with finger placement within frets as they grow narrower up the fretboard.