Welcome to the Guitar Challenges. Each ‘challenge’ is basically an open invitation to anyone and everyone to play a song, an improvisation, a study-piece etc and post a recording – just for the fun of it.
So, whether you are a relative beginner learning the basic chords and strumming pattern of a song, a more experienced player adding a little fancy fretwork, if you want to do a little finger-picking, or you want to sing and play at the same time … you can join in with these challenges.
Important:
The challenge is to yourself.
These are not competition threads.
There are no prizes for making the ‘best’ recordings.
There is no shame for being at the beginner stages.
This is for FUN!
If you do want some constructive advice and feedback on your playing then that is cool. Just ask. Otherwise this is all about positivity, encouragement and having a go.
These first posts are collected from the original Forum and were posted between July 2009 and December 2021.
Yesterday I started to practice the song in shorter sections. At first I copy the tab linked in the post on a blank tab paper, then put it on my music stand and start picking. I try to do it with looking at my hands as little as possible.
The most difficult thing so far is to move my 3rd finger on the D string close enough to the frets so that the strings ring out clearly and I don’t lose the time. I started out slow - not super slow but slower than the original recording.
Today I covered bars 11-20 which are almost the same as the first 10 bars but with some variations. I think it’s coming along nicely, so if I’ll be in the mood, I may do the next 8 bars as well today.
The only inconvenience so far is that the fingertips on my fretting hand are getting a rough treatment compared to what I usually do. It feels almost like when I was a complete beginner
If I won’t have to work too much overtime next week, I think I’ll be able to play the song reasonably well by the end of the week.
Hi,
I’ve also dived into this…just back…relatively simple I’ve read here and there …
Well not very nice this, if you have a pinkie like the guitar teacher on this forum/community …there will come a day when I play this on my electric guitar without too many mistakes…i will be back…
How are yoy doing it @Jozsef ?
I do it on my acoustic as I just don’t like the sound of the lower register of my electric guitar with fingerpicking.
So far, I managed to memorize about 95% of the piece, but beats 22 and 26 (right after the C chords) give me a hard time with the little figure on the 2nd string. However, it’s not terribly difficult to me… sure, the pinky gets a bit of a stretch, but I found that if I keep my thumb roughly behind my 3rd finger it’s easier to play.
I hope to work on it this week and probably post a recording at the weekend or sometime next week.
Hi,
It definitely sounds better on an acoustic, but that is (still?) a bridge too far for my back, then I sit just a bit differently and he doesn’t want that after 5 minutes or so…and then I have to take a break for a day playing guitar,…and I don’t want that …it’s a compromise.
Good luck and have fun recording,…I’ll be a happy person if I’m going to record it end next month,…and then probably with my very bad phone quality, so I’ll put it in a learning log… …if then…i really need to play something desendtly all the way to the end ,…but as many of you experience that is a bit boring sometimes,so now i’m just putting this “half promise pressure” on. …
Maybe I should agree with myself that I’ll buy a new pick… another white one , it stands out better when I put it on the amplifier. And then also a matching guitar for the pick maybe.
Hi all, my first attempt at a self video, I’ve been trying to master this tune for years, without much success playing from start to finish. So decided to give it a real go, it still needs a lot of work, I’m mindful that my fingerstyle technique is not very good and I’m using only thumb and index finger but I can’t get my middle and ring fingers to work yet! For background, I’ve played with guitar for years but I’m still very much a beginner and currently working my way through Justin’s beginner grade 2. Hope the link works and any feedback welcomed. Thanks, Mike
Hey Mike that was really nice! Even though fingering might be unusual in terms of your picking hand it still allowed you to play all the notes and make it an enjoyable tune to listen to. Last chord was a bit muted on few strings but with some more work I am sure you will polish it out all the best.
Nicely done, Mike. You didn’t let the middle and ring finger issue stop you!
For that descending part (q.v., the end of bar 31 and all of bar 32 in my sheet music or tab arrangement linked above) you might try a different fretting hand fingering. I play that part like this:
EDIT: Wow, you can really see how badly I need to change my strings…
Hi Jason,
Is it true that your tabs have a different way of this piece?..first the B-string and then the G-string?..I had first learned this quite differently through someone else…later by another adjusted differently, and different since last week because of you… my fingers are getting more and more tangled because of the adjustments
Anyway … I don’t get it anymore so?
Okay clear, you also type that it was your arrangement, but I was confused for a while because you played it just differently…I’m going to keep it that way for a while, it’s a little easier for me…and I think it was already difficult.
Greetings
…
…it’s a compromise.
,…but as many of you experience that is a bit boring sometimes,so now i’m just putting this “half promise pressure” on. 
…
…I’ll practice on the electric guitar,
