I recently received an e-mail requesting a lesson on guitar exercises.  So I thought to myself, "you know, I think I'll write a lesson on guitar exercises!"  Please take in mind that these are just to get your fingers in shape and won't work well in songs.  Try them at different tempos too.  Well, here it goes.

This first one is focused on learning to use all your fingers in lead guitar so you won't be stuck sliding around the fretboard with your index finger.  Do the first note with your pointer and the last one with your pinkie, (you can fill in the blanks between there.)  When you get through it, do the whole riff backwards.  Start slow at first and build up speed as you are able to.  Here's a picture of how it's done, (those hot-dog looking things on the fretboard are fingers.)