Ahhhh excellent, thank you.
Glad it wasn’t just me being thick, it was something I hadn’t come across before.
Thanks again
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@Richard_close2u
I am pretty late to this comment here. Haha. But I have been wondering the same so far in my journey. Do I need to know all the strumming patterns before I can fully move on from a module? I give all the strumming patterns a try at least a few times and try my best to work them out. But how crucial is for instance moving on knowing the “easiest” pattern and moving on from there?
Hopefully my question makes sense, I just want to make sure i’m not moving to far ahead in a sense.
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See my answer here: Free Fallin' by Tom Petty Lesson - #7 by Richard_close2u
learning the above had a problem moving from the A to B power chord so changed the fingering use fingers 234 to form the E then move fingers 34 to form the A then slide fingers 34 down and use finger 1 on the B works a treat.
Hi John,
If you have a question specifically about a lesson, you can ask your question in the topic that concerns it, this makes it easier for people to answer your question if necessary, and it keeps things a little clearer.
You can find these topics by clicking on ‘Discussion’ next to the learn more button …and scroll further down and you will find 'view full discussion…
Hope this helps, 
https://community.justinguitar.com/t/free-fallin-by-tom-petty-lesson/3383
Kind regards,Rogier
The first power chord shown in the diagram should be an F5 (F and C), with fretting for the fifth (C) on the 3rd fret of the A string, not the second fret.
Boy, @jwilbanks and @Shodan summarised my experience perfectly. I’m finding this very simple strumming pattern absurdly difficult to implement. I had Wonderwall and Wish You Were Here down pretty solidly after a few days but haven’t much to show on Free Fallin’ after two weeks. I’ve slowed it down to 40 bpm and can eventually get the pattern on muted strings (most of the time). I can even do that while playing the D chord, but add the chord changes, and it all falls apart. I call that progress. Maybe today I’ll get the D to G worked into it.
My other issue is these three chords require enough of a shift of my hand that I often inadvertently bend the B string, making the D chord sound a bit off. Then, the Asus4 often doesn’t sound great because of the index/middle fingers crossing awkwardly. I sometimes wonder if reversing them might end up being easier.
This song is a great teacher of many lessons.
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This is certainly one of those songs that I feel it’s good to get the basic version down then keep working on it and improving it as time goes forward. Justin’s demonstration of working on song dynamics was tremendous and I’m really going to focus on it once I get the basics down.
I absolutely love learning this song, the rhythm is so compelling and lovely! What is helping me make the rhythm click atm is strumming all the notes, counting along out loud, and feeling out where the chord changes are in there. After I got that down, I tried the actual pattern again, and it suddenly was much easier.
But how do I keep my first and third finger from falling off after a while, and my second finger from twitching when it knows it’s got to do something, but doesn’t remember where to actually go? Maybe it’s my guitar, that the strings are too far from the frets, or I’m using too much force, but man, first and third finger just ‘nope’ out on me half-way through, and after the first four repetitions, second finger forgets. Anyone else got this problem?
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That’s why it’s important to start slowly, that develops muscle ‘memory’ so you no longer need to be focusing on fingers 
. Do it slow over and over the gradually increase speed a few beats until you start messing up again. Back off sped a little and keep at that speed over and over then increase beats a little. Rinse and repeat till you are playing at speed without errors.
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I was wondering what the strumming pattern is in the chorus? Justing says smth about a consistent srumming, so I tried doing all ups and downs, but it sounds quite awful. Any help?
I had a quick look at the lesson. Justin does suggest consistent up-down strumming (16th notes) for the chorus, but the key here is to keep the heavy accents that make up the basis of the strumming pattern used in the verses.
He mentions using that bare-bones pattern in verse 1 (i.e. what he shows at 8:00 of the lesson video), then adding in some extra strums in verse 2 and then for the chorus add in all the rest of the strums. Note that the added strums are softer than the strums in the bare-bones pattern. So, the effect is you hear constant strumming, but you also hear the underlying main strum pattern at the same time. Hope this makes sense.
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Absolute legend. Thanks!!! for the quick response
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Using this as a pallet cleanser while leaning the blues, not touched my acoustic in a while and forgot both how good it felt and how great it sounds
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Hey, I’ve noticed an error in the chart shown on screen - ie at 10:50, in the second bar, the third strum is shown as on the 2 - but it’s actually on the + after 2.
Wanted to get an opinion regarding strumming and counting. I finally got the strumming pattern down and now that I am speeding it up, counting either in my head or out loud disrupts the actual strumming. Should I go by feel or is it important that I can count each down and upstroke as I play?
Hi Adam - Welcome to the forum!
Ultimately (if you are ever going to sing or perform the song) you want to get the pattern in muscle memory so you don’t have to think about it at all, certainly not counting. That said while you are learning it, it’s important to start slow and not to make mistakes and if counting is what works for you then do that until you have it down. I tend to use my ears when working on a new pattern rather than counting - unless it’s really complicated, but many people will start out counting initially. Do whatever works to learn it, but then get it into muscle memory so it’s automatic.
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Makes sense. Thanks!
I had the same problem with counting but as I know the song well I just used my ears and going slowly at first to get the strumming right.
I think there’s an error in the Tab.
Surely the last two notes in Capo on III Rhythm Pattern should be Down Up and not Up Down?
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