BOOK AND VIDEO PACKAGE
Limitation Exercises for Guitar
By Luke Lewis
$22.99
The concept-driven guide to creative practice. By applying intentional constraints to melody, rhythm, technique, and harmony, this book helps you uncover habits, refine musical control, and develop a more personal and confident voice on the instrument.
122 Page Book
HD video and audio examples
Transcriptions with TAB and notation
Available in PDF & Paperback
Optional paperback available
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Unlock the Power of Limitation Exercises
Some of the Exercises You’ll Explore in the Book
Target Limitations
Start & end on same note
Rhythmic Limitation
Begin all phrases on an up beat
Rhythmic Limitation
Alternate between straight & swing feel
Articulation Limitations
Only pull-offs & upstrokes
Fretboard Limitation
Non adjacent strings
Melodic Limitations
5 note phrases
What you will learn 🎸
How to use limitations to unlock creativity and address weaknesses in your playing.
How to break habits and escape repetitive playing
Strengthen your musicality and sense of intent
Improve fretboard control and technical freedom
How to practice efficiently with limited time
How to create your own exercises for lifelong progress
Limitation Exercises
COVERING
- Fretboard Visualization
- Technical Freedom
- Melodic Control
- Creative PracticeÂ
- Phrasing Habits
- Rhythmic Vocabulary
- Expressive Control
- Practice Techniques & lots more!
✨ Bonus content: 90min video masterclass and audio & video of every example.
UNLOCK YOUR CREATIVE POTENTIAL AND
blast through plateaus with limitation exercises
Limitation exercises have been a secret weapon for musicians, artists, and writers for longer than we could ever know. They’re incredibly simple. They give you a prompt, a restraint, or a goal, and then force you to work within it to create and express yourself.
The problem is that while these limitations are obvious to advanced players, students are often left wondering what they should actually be focusing on and which exercises they should practise. In this book, Luke Lewis has compiled over 100 of the most effective limitation exercises across a wide range of areas to challenge you creatively, musically, and technically on the guitar.
YOU'LL WORK ON...
✔ Fretboard visualisation
✔ Dynamics and articulation
✔ Control of the instrument
✔ Musicianship
✔ Creativity, composition, and improvisation
✔ Improvisational skills
✔ Melodic and harmonic awareness
✔ Rhythmic vocabulary
On top of that, you’ll learn how to use the concept of limitation exercises creatively to challenge yourself even further, and how to apply these ideas to solve any problem that comes up in your playing.
THIS BOOK FEATURES...
✔ Over 100 creative limitation exercises
✔ Advice and insights on making lifelong progress
✔ Video, audio, and Guitar Pro files for musical examples
✔ A video masterclass
On top of that, you’ll learn how to use the concept of limitation exercises creatively to challenge yourself even further, and how to apply these ideas to solve any problem that comes up in your playing.
Luke Lewis
Look Inside
Available in Paperback and PDF
Course Overview
Introduction: The Power and Mindset of Limitations
This opening chapter reframes how you think about practice. You’ll discover why limitations are one of the most powerful tools for creativity, problem-solving, and long-term growth on the guitar. Rather than treating constraints as obstacles, you’ll learn how they expose habits, sharpen awareness, and help you get more musical mileage from what you already know. This chapter sets the mindset that underpins the entire book.
Chapter 1: Melodic Limitations
Learn how restricting note choice can radically improve your phrasing and melodic clarity. This chapter explores limitations based on scales, arpeggios, intervals, note counts, and melodic shapes. By narrowing your options, you’ll uncover fresh ideas, strengthen weak areas of your vocabulary, and learn how strong melodies are built. These exercises help you stop relying on muscle memory and start making intentional melodic decisions.
Chapter 2: Geographical Limitations
Geographical limitations focus on where you play on the fretboard. You’ll work with constraints involving strings, positions, fret ranges, and movement rules. These exercises challenge your visual habits, deepen fretboard awareness, and prevent you from defaulting to comfortable shapes. By learning to create music in unfamiliar physical spaces, you’ll gain confidence and flexibility across the entire neck.
Chapter 3: Technique and Articulation Limitations
This chapter isolates the physical side of your playing. You’ll explore limitations involving picking direction, articulation, dynamics, accents, finger usage, and attack. Rather than mindless drills, these exercises build control, consistency, and expressive nuance. By focusing on how notes are produced, you’ll develop greater sensitivity, cleaner execution, and a deeper connection between technique and musical intent.
Chapter 4: Cycling and Transitioning Limitations
Learn how to move between limitations intentionally to create contrast, structure, and development. Cycling limitations teach you how to change rules over time while staying musical. This chapter shows how players use limitation changes to shape solos, diagnose weak spots, and structure ideas. You’ll learn how transitioning constraints mirror real musical situations and help you adapt smoothly under changing conditions.
Chapter 5: Minimum and Maximum Limitations
Minimum and maximum limitations introduce upper and lower boundaries rather than fixed rules. You’ll learn how to control phrase length, note density, rhythmic activity, and intensity. These exercises are especially useful for correcting overplaying or underplaying tendencies. By working within flexible limits, you’ll develop better pacing, balance, and awareness of how much musical information is truly needed.
Chapter 6: Expanding and Shrinking Limitations
This chapter focuses on gradual change over time. Expanding limitations teach you how to grow ideas without losing focus, while shrinking limitations help you taper intensity and create resolution. You’ll learn how to systematically add or remove options to shape long-form solos, endings, and transitions. These tools are invaluable for learning control, contrast, and musical direction.
Chapter 7: Rhythmic Limitations
Rhythm is one of the most overlooked areas of guitar practice. This chapter develops rhythmic accuracy, vocabulary, and feel through focused limitations. You’ll work with subdivisions, syncopation, play-rest ratios, phrase placement, and rhythmic interaction. These exercises help you lock in with grooves, create stronger rhythmic identity, and contribute more meaningfully in ensemble settings.
Chapter 8: Takeoff and Target Limitations
Strong phrases begin and end with intention. Takeoff and target limitations train you to plan phrase direction by controlling starting points and destinations. You’ll explore constraints involving notes, fingers, strings, beats, techniques, and registers. These exercises dramatically improve phrasing, voice leading, and harmonic awareness, helping your lines sound purposeful rather than accidental.
Chapter 9: Phrasing Limitations
This chapter zooms out to the shape and structure of musical ideas. You’ll explore phrase length, density, contour, call-and-response, motivic development, and formal structures. By learning to think in complete musical sentences, you’ll move away from stringing together licks and toward expressive, narrative-driven improvisation that sounds composed and confident.
Chapter 10: Feature and Checkbox Limitations
Feature and checkbox limitations help you integrate new ideas into real music. Instead of isolating concepts, you’ll learn how to require specific elements to appear naturally within phrases, solos, or entire performances. These exercises are ideal for transitioning ideas from the practice room into your personal style and ensuring long-term retention.
Chapter 11: Avoidance and Inverse Limitations
Sometimes progress comes from removing options rather than adding them. This chapter explores how avoiding techniques, fingers, positions, or habits can unlock unexpected creativity. You’ll learn how many great players developed their voice by leaning into constraints, disadvantages, or omissions, and how doing less can often lead to more distinctive musical results.
Chapter 12: Chordal and Rhythmic Limitations
Voice leading limitations focus on how notes move between chords. You’ll explore constraints that encourage stepwise motion, sustained common tones, and controlled harmonic movement. These exercises deepen your understanding of harmony, improve comping clarity, and help your lines connect smoothly across changes with a more pianistic, musical approach.
Chapter 13: Playing Over Changes
This chapter shows how limitation exercises can simplify one of the most challenging aspects of improvisation: following chord changes. By targeting specific notes, connections, and transitions, you’ll learn how great players internalize harmony without overwhelming complexity. These tools apply to jazz, blues, rock, and beyond, wherever chords move and music evolves.
Chapter 14: Real-World and Performance Limitations
Practice doesn’t always prepare you for the pressure of real situations. This chapter introduces limitations designed to simulate performance, recording, and live-playing constraints. You’ll work with reduced takes, unfamiliar material, tonal restrictions, and physical challenges. These exercises build adaptability, confidence, and reliable decision-making when it matters most.
Chapter 15: Trigger and Conditional Limitations
Trigger limitations activate only when specific musical events occur. You’ll learn how to attach limitations to chords, rhythms, registers, or ensemble cues. This approach helps integrate new material into real playing more quickly by switching between freedom and constraint in context, accelerating the transition from practice concepts to musical instinct.
Chapter 16: Active Listening Limitations
The final chapter shifts focus from playing to listening. You’ll explore limitations that train your ear, awareness, and musical sensitivity while listening to recordings. By narrowing your attention to specific elements, instruments, or relationships, you’ll develop deeper musical insight that directly feeds back into your playing and creative decision-making.
Conclusion: Building a Practice System for Life
The conclusion ties everything together and emphasizes self-reliance. Rather than mastering a fixed list of exercises, you’ll learn how to create your own limitations based on your goals and weaknesses. This chapter reinforces the idea that limitation exercises are a lifelong framework for growth, creativity, and musical problem-solving.
By the End of This Book…
You’ll have a flexible system for practicing, improvising, and creating music with clarity and intent. You’ll know how to design your own exercises, diagnose weaknesses, and make consistent progress without relying on endless new material. Most importantly, you’ll be equipped with tools that support lifelong development, musical confidence, and personal expression on the guitar.
START YOUR JOURNEY WITH
Limitation Exercises for Guitar
By Luke Lewis
$22.99
Got questions?
Is this course for beginners, intermediate, or advanced players?
This guide is designed for intermediate to advanced guitarists who have some familiarity with lead playing but want to expand their vocabulary and creative approach to soloing. The progressive structure ensures a clear path from foundational concepts to more complex techniques.
Does the book come with audio and video files?
Yes, both the digital and physical versions of the book include access to a complete set of supplemental materials. This includes all audio, video masterclasses (over 6 hours!), and Guitar Pro files for every example, lick, and solo, making it a complete multimedia course.
What’s the difference between the PDF and the paperback version?
The primary difference is the format. The PDF is a digital-only version that you can view on any device. The paperback is a physical, printed book. Both versions include identical content and grant you the exact same access to all accompanying audio, video, and Guitar Pro files.
How do I access the bonus video masterclasses?
Instructions for accessing all bonus content and media files are provided inside the book. You’ll find a URL that directs you to a private, members-only page where you can download or stream all the included resources.
