# Exercises — build technique

> Interactive page: [`exercises.html`](exercises.html)

Once your hands are awake (the [Drills](drills.md)), these longer exercises build even fretting, a locked right hand, and the coordination that turns a four-minute drill into real playing.

**Technique path:** [Drills](drills.md) · Exercises (this gym) · [Folk](exercises-folk.md) · [Island](strumming.md) · [Fingerpicking](fingerstyle.md) · [Classical](exercises-classical.md) · [Break rut](break-rut.md) when stale

> **Golden rules:** (1) *Slow first*. (2) *Metronome on* near 60. (3) *One skill a day* — left hand, strum, or fingerstyle. (4) *Stay relaxed*.

**Sources (two-check):** Hal Leonard Ukulele Method Book 1 · Berklee uke-lab click habit · Carcassi / Sor / Giuliani for *pima* · island strum and first-position scales.

## Suggested order

1. Chromatic 1-2-3-4 and across strings.
2. Spider · Stretch 1–4 · Hammer-on / pull-off cell.
3. Alternate down-up · String cross · Mute / ghost / ghost eighths.
4. Hands together — then boom-chick through a change.
5. Pick *one* style: [Folk](exercises-folk.md) · [Island](strumming.md) · [Fingerpicking](fingerstyle.md) · [Classical](exercises-classical.md).
6. Scale / mode maps: [Scales](scales.md) · [Modes](modes.md).
7. Only when stale: [Break rut](break-rut.md) — one uke loop cell.

### Three tracks

- **Beginner** — chromatic · boom-chick on G · open-string names. Stay near 60.
- **Intermediate** — spider · island C–Am–F–G or Travis seed. Click at 70–80 when even.
- **Advanced** — independence or fingerstyle · first-position scale with a rest · one first-piece map.

## Left hand

Same primer as [Drills · Hands](drills.md). Chromatic, spider, stretch, hammer/pull. Deeper: [Drills · hopo](drills.md).

## Right hand

Island and mute contrast: [Island](strumming.md) · [Folk](exercises-folk.md). Classical: [Classical exercises](exercises-classical.md).

Open-C down-up, string cross G→C→E→A, palm-mute eighths. Subdivision variants: eighths / triplets / sixteenths (no gallop track).

## Hands together

Eighths + fretted A-string notes · boom-chick through G–C–D · thumb + i–m. See [Piano · hand syncing](/piano/exercises.md).

## Method books

Public-domain doors on [IMSLP](https://imslp.org/) — titles only: Sor Op. 60, Carcassi Op. 60, Giuliani Op. 51 / 120. Pair with [Classical exercises](exercises-classical.md).

## 10-minute routine

1. Wake-up — chromatic or spider.
2. Right hand — down-up or mute at 60.
3. One style gym (Folk / Island / Fingerpicking / Classical), or one Break rut cell if stale.
4. Matching drills page.
5. One loop on [Play along](songs.md).

## By style

- [Folk](exercises-folk.md) · drills [Folk](drills-folk.md)
- [Island](strumming.md)
- [Fingerpicking](fingerstyle.md) · [Classical drills](drills-classical.md)
- [Classical exercises](exercises-classical.md)
- [Scales](scales.md) — fills and intros

## Break rut (optional)

Demoted on purpose. Eight uke cells: uneven island, ghost &s, mute chick, campanella, thumb independence, thumb vs fingers, chord-melody cell / fill. Full lab: [Break rut](break-rut.md).

Continue: [Drills](drills.md) · [Play along](songs.md) · [Resources](resources.md)