Left Hand Strengthening – “6 Minute Trill Drill”

Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 17:30
31,116 views
15 comments

A great guitar exercise for strengthening your fret hand.

Long-time GuitarTeacher.com reader Mike(MJK) asked (via Twitter) “What is a good lesson to strengthen the fretting hand?” Following is one of my favorites for increasing left hand stamina and strength. It is called the “6 Minute Trill Drill”. I believe I learned this at an open counseling session with guitar great Gary Hoey during my time at Guitar Institute of Technology (G.I.T.) It is the guitar player’s equivalent of some extreme, P90X workout routine so I sometimes call it the “6 Minutes of Pain”! Try it and find out why! Here’s how it goes, with tab and explanation:

6minutetrill

Setup: Place your fret hand in the 5th position (1st finger at the 5th fret). Relax. BREATHE. Then begin.

Minute 1: Pick the 1st string at the 5th fret once. Now repeatedly hammer-on and pull-off (trill) between the 5th and 6th frets using fingers 1 &2. Try to maintain even volume throughout.

Minute 2: Now switch to trilling between fingers 1 & 3 at 5th and 7th frets.

Minute 3: Trill between fingers 1 & 4 – frets 5 & 8.

You think you are done. But think again!

Minute 4: Trill between fingers 2 & 3 – frets 6 & 7.

Minute 5: Trill between fingers 2 & 4 – frets 6 & 8.

Minute 6: Trill between fingers 3 & 4 – frets 7 & 8.

And, you’re spent!

Pace yourself until you can fill each of the six minutes with each finger combination. This may take some experimentation to find how fast you can trill before you fatigue. When I first worked on this exercise, I know my last hammer-on/pull-off combination of 3rd and 4th fingers were barely audible! If you a physically in pain, STOP! Shake your left hand (fret hand) out, relax, breathe, then try and continue.

Feel free to share this exercise with a guitar playing friend you hold a slight grudge against. Be sure to tease them with “Girly Man” taunts if they complain!

BTW, I will have news shortly of an upcoming eLesson series covering similar (but mostly less painful!) exercises to this designed to increase technique, coordination and strength for guitarists of all levels and styles. Hope this helps, Mike!

Printable version

About the Author

Storm has written 127 stories on this site.

Related Content

« Featured Guitar Lesson: “Hidden” Pentatonics

How to Play “La Grange” by ZZ Top »

15 Comments on “Left Hand Strengthening – “6 Minute Trill Drill””

MJK (Mike) wrote on 27 July, 2009, 5:30
Storm,

It has only been two days but this lesson is right on. My left hand is hurting and I am ready for more. I just need to make sure that I do my lessons on a daily basis but I am seeing some improvements. Doing scales, chords and now: “6 Minute Trill Drill”…
Never Too Late Guitar wrote on 17 August, 2009, 19:56
Just found this site. Very cool, I’ll be coming back. I posted my own finger excercises on my blog not too long ago. Anything to build up the strength and dexterity is what I need!
Storm wrote on 18 August, 2009, 7:24
@Never Too Late Guitar: Welcome! Thanks for the comment and the mention on your site. Good stuff there!
Storm wrote on 18 August, 2009, 7:26
@MJK (Mike) – Can you crush a tennis ball left-handed yet?
MJK (Mike) wrote on 18 August, 2009, 7:29
@Storm –

Not yet but I am working on it. I can definitely see a lot of improvement.
jamie wrote on 29 October, 2009, 8:56
that is fucking insane best lesson yet, my hand throbbing
JB (aka BenoA) wrote on 16 October, 2010, 7:16
Awesome lesson. Thanks for sharing this.

How fast should you start so the exercise is effective? What would be a good tempo for quarter notes
Kc Pirata wrote on 22 December, 2010, 16:35
Very good guitar lesson. But just a question. When I alternate the notes, do I play the two or just the first?
Joe wrote on 20 February, 2011, 17:55
Just found this site….been trying to co-ordinate the left hand, no luck till today. the hand and wrist hurts, but not as uncoordinated as yesterday
Joe wrote on 23 February, 2011, 11:13
Just wondering……do I do this exercise on all the strings, or just the first?
MJK (Mike) wrote on 23 February, 2011, 11:18
@Joe – for a good work out, I usually do the trill drill on all six strings…or for as long as I can take it.
Joe wrote on 24 February, 2011, 17:41
Thanks for your quick response….I’ve been doing the exercise the past couple of days and it’s beginning to take hold
avik saufana wrote on 30 January, 2012, 23:28
how to read tablature and how to play the melody
please return
thank you
David Gonzales wrote on 23 March, 2012, 16:10
Just found your website.. I have only been using the 6 min trill two days now. I can already tell a difference. The 6 min trill is all I use now for warming up. Thanks.