Why do you teachTechnical Exercises.

     While the title may seem pretty straight forward, most teachers do not place emphasis on this subject.  We have our students play these exercises over and over... but why?  What is the point of these exercises and how will they benefit the student must first be asked.
     I do a few exercises as warm-ups with my students.  You wouldn't play football or run track without warming up, so then why would you play your guitar without a short intro.  Studies have proven that getting the fingers loose before playing can help efficiency and precision.  But how do you choose the approach?
     I remember one teacher who would say, "Play all the major and minor scales as fast as you can, and see if you can beat your previous time."  WHY, I want to ask him.  What is the point of this?  Choose exercises for specific reasons, not just internal bragging rights that lead to poor technique.
     So, I would like to talk about a few of the many exercises I focus on with my students.  For the right hand we have speed bursts, taken from Scott Tennant's book.  This exercise increases speed and technical precision.  But more importantly, we change the fingers we work with.  So many students do well when they are working with only the I and M fingers, and fall apart when the A finger is included.  This little exercise forces the student to make all fingers competent, and to be able to access them when needed.
    For the left hand, we have "contrary motion," from John Petrucci's book.  This exercise forces the left hand fingers to work independently of each other, in arrangements that are pretty common but rarely practiced.
    These are only two of the many exercises that come up during my lessons, and new ones are constantly being integrated as faults are identified.  In addition, make sure to express to students the point of these exercises.   This will help them grow as both a student and eventually as a teacher.