Chromatic Excercises

Chromatic exercises for left hand dexterity and left/right hand coordination.

e||----------------------1-2----------------------||
b||------------------1-2-----1-2------------------||
g||o-------------1-2-------------1-2-------------o||
d||o---------1-2---------------------1-2---------o||
A||------1-2-----------------------------1-2------||
E||--1-2-------------------------------------1-2--||
  1: u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d
  2: d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u

e||--1-2-------------------------------------1-2----||
b||------1-2-----------------------------1-2--------||
g||o---------1-2---------------------1-2-----------o||
d||o-------------1-2-------------1-2---------------o||
A||------------------1-2-----1-2--------------------||
E||----------------------1-2------------------------||
  1: u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d
  2: d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u

e||----------------------2-1----------------------||
b||------------------2-1-----2-1------------------||
g||o-------------2-1-------------2-1-------------o||
d||o---------2-1---------------------2-1---------o||
A||------2-1-----------------------------2-1------||
E||--2-1-------------------------------------2-1--||
  1: u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d
  2: d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u

e||--2-1-------------------------------------2-1----||
b||------2-1-----------------------------2-1--------||
g||o---------2-1---------------------2-1-----------o||
d||o-------------2-1-------------2-1---------------o||
A||------------------2-1-----2-1--------------------||
E||----------------------2-1------------------------||
  1: u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d
  2: d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u

e||--------------------------------1-2-3--------------------------------||
b||--------------------------1-2-3-------1-2-3--------------------------||
g||o-------------------1-2-3-------------------1-2-3-------------------o||
d||o-------------1-2-3-------------------------------1-2-3-------------o||
A||--------1-2-3-------------------------------------------1-2-3--------||
E||--1-2-3-------------------------------------------------------1-2-3--||
  1: u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
  2: d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d

e||--1-2-3-------------------------------------------------------1-2-3--||
b||--------1-2-3-------------------------------------------1-2-3--------||
g||o-------------1-2-3-------------------------------1-2-3-------------o||
d||o-------------------1-2-3-------------------1-2-3-------------------o||
A||--------------------------1-2-3-------1-2-3--------------------------||
E||--------------------------------1-2-3--------------------------------||
  1: u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
  2: d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d

e||--------------------------------3-2-1--------------------------------||
b||--------------------------3-2-1-------3-2-1--------------------------||
g||o-------------------3-2-1-------------------3-2-1-------------------o||
d||o-------------3-2-1-------------------------------3-2-1-------------o||
A||--------3-2-1-------------------------------------------3-2-1--------||
E||--3-2-1-------------------------------------------------------3-2-1--||
  1: u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
  2: d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d

e||--3-2-1-------------------------------------------------------3-2-1--||
b||--------3-2-1-------------------------------------------3-2-1--------||
g||o-------------3-2-1-------------------------------3-2-1-------------o||
d||o-------------------3-2-1-------------------3-2-1-------------------o||
A||--------------------------3-2-1-------3-2-1--------------------------||
E||--------------------------------3-2-1--------------------------------||
  1: u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
  2: d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d

(repeat up and down with 1-2-3-4 and 4-3-2-1)

(again with alternate picking starting on upstroke once, and downstroke once)
     ^       ^       ^       ^       ^       ^       ^       ^       ^       ^
e||--------------------------------------4-3-1-2--------------------------------------||
b||------------------------------4-3-1-2---------4-3-1-2------------------------------||
g||o---------------------4-3-1-2-------------------------4-3-1-2---------------------o||
d||o-------------4-3-1-2-----------------------------------------4-3-1-2-------------o||
A||------4-3-1-2---------------------------------------------------------4-3-1-2------||
E||--1-2-------------------------------------------------------------------------4-3--||

Invent similar chromatic exercises by mixing up the order of the fingers and adding string switches. Play them up and down the neck. You can also invent odd-numbered things like:

e||----------------------------------------------4-2----||
b||------------------------------------4-2---2-1-----3--||
g||o-------------------------4-2---2-1-----3-----------o||
d||o---------------4-2---2-1-----3---------------------o||
A||------4-2---2-1-----3--------------------------------||
E||--2-1-----3------------------------------------------||

and vary the rhythm (quintuplets, so every note is the same length; first three notes faster as 16th triplets and the other two as regular sixteenths; etc etc).

You can also add position shifts on string changes if you want, either up or down. E.g. the previous exercise could become something like:

e||---------------------------------------------1210----||
b||-----------------------------------10-8--10-9----11--||
g||o-------------------------8-6---8-7-----9-----------o||
d||o---------------6-4---6-5-----7---------------------o||
A||------4-2---4-3-----5--------------------------------||
E||--2-1-----3------------------------------------------||

String skipping can be worked into these as well.