Trying to learn Dont Think Twice by Dylan. Using tabs from his site and Iām having real trouble learning the pick. Itās a strange version of travis picking. The pick changes with every measure and doesnt follow a pattern. I can Travis pick but this has me fumbling a lot. Anyone else tried this song and have any pionters or do I just need to quit whinning and learn it?
Second problem isā¦I acquired a les paul and I still cant play like Jimmy Pageš
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Iām just listening to the song.
I donāt know it, now I do.
I can be no help to you other than to say sounds to me like a pretty hard song to learn. Very fast pickin.
Only thing I can think is to slow it way down. Learn the intricacies of the pickin.
fwiw, Iām trying to learn a much less hard song. Fire and Rain. I just got the tabs off line. When I started, I couldnāt play one measure of it. After a month or so into it. Itās starting to sound like fire and rain. But, where there are intricacies I fail, so I keep going back to them parts, slowing it down and keep trying. Iām now to a point where āsometimesā I think I get it right. But in my mind, I have a long ways to go. Itās not fluid yet. I need to do it so many times that it starts to become natural for me to do it w/o thinking about it.
Iām gonna guess, perhaps year or so and maybe Iāll start to have it down. Maybe.
imho, your working on a really fast song, and that aināt gonna make it any easier I donāt think.
Perhaps, slow is your friend?
As for the LP. Your trying to play Donāt Think Twice and aināt hip that the guitar donāt make the artist. The artist uses the guitar as a tool to make his music on. I (we) will never be our favorit artist just because we have the same gear as them. Myself, I got a casino. Iām not gonna be George or John, or Keith, or whoever. I will be me. I just choose the casino as my tool of choice, you choose the les paulā¦
Good luck. Hope ya get some better replies than mineā¦
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Thanks for the response. Yeah the Jimmy Page thing was kind if a bad joke. I know the tool doesnt make the man. Appreciate the advise on slowing down and I amplayin it at a very slow pace. But when uour used to a pick with a consistent pattern this becomes a real challenge.
interesting comment.
Iām only learning to try finger pickin. Iāve learned a song or two. When I play other songs, I find myself using them patterns I picked up from learning the finger pickin song. Like ya say, a challenge to ānotā do that.
fwiw, I did get your joke actually. What I wrote was kinda hard, sorry about that. It wasnāt meant that way.
Good luck at your song. 1 measure at a time 
Iām with you, just a different songā¦
Your song sounds a lot harder to meā¦ Man, itās really moving along.
edit. Man, you got a great looking cat. I just looked at your avatar. What a great looking cat!
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Are you familiar with the lessons on Fire & Rain from the man himself? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTjd4sna_4o
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This is actually true of many fingerpicked songs, especially in the blues/folk/country genres.
Iām a huge Dylan fan and have looked at Donāt Think Twice and itās pretty advanced, I would say. I have a number of fingerpicked blues and folk songs under my belt, but I have shelved Donāt Think Twice for when I am better.
Have you learned other fingerpicked songs? If you want to try some easier Dylan, have a look at Girl From the North Country (the original version from Freewheelinā, not the strummy duet he did with Johnny Cash. Also, Boots of Spanish Leather is essentially the same chords and picking as Girl From the North Country.
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Hi
Thanks for the suggestionsā¦ good songs to learn. Yes I fingerpick other songs but most have a pattern. Like The Boxer from Simon and Garfunkle. Yes the notes change with the chord changes and sometimes there is a slight variation to the pattern. But really, its pretty straight Travis pickin. Iām pretty stubborn so I will continue to learn the song in a slow pace, while not eating up all my practice time on the lessons and skills that I get from Justins coursesā¦
I do really appreciate the feedback and ideas.
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That is cool. Great piece and a great lesson. Thanks
Not one to post other instructors lessons normally but this should be of help to you. If you are just starting your finger picking journey, this song is quite advanced and the picking is fast.
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Thanks Toby. Your the best!
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Six string fingerpicking is a good site for song lessons. He is detailed and slow.
When I try and learn these complicated fingerstyle songs that are beyond my skill level ( which I am known to doš¤¦š¼āāļø) I break them into small chunks, sometimes a bar or two. I familiarize myself with the melody and the bass separately, then combine them. I work on a few bars like this until I have the picking memorized, then add a bar. I work up until a reasonable small section that can sound musical is mostly memorized, then I start then next section the same way, going back to work on the first and refine it frequently. Eventually, I am consolidating and memorizing several musical sections (5-10 bars maybe) and stringing them together. It just takes a loooong time.
Thanks Toby. That site has helped me a lot. Having a blast.
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ā¦ spoiler alert, nobody ever will ā¦ . although certainly a role model to learn from. Like all the greats they learned from others, and created their own āsoundā.
Dylan too, more often acclaimed for his song writing, he is quite a player as well. I agree that this is a tough starting place. Perhaps look for more simple chord arpeggio type songs rather than more complex fingerings with H/O & P/O.
I canāt access specific resources right now, but Justin, along with Lauren Bateman, GZ2H, et al on YT have great introductory sessions.
If you think youāre beyond the basics, take a step back and do some slow deliberate practise; small chunks as suggested.
Imho focussed on one song is not the best use of time; mix it up with other songs, theory, skills. You might be surprised how much you learn/ remember of a song; even when not focussed on it 100%
Anyhoo, good suggestions above, and keep the fun level to the fore ā¦ 