How to Pick Individual Strings While Strumming Lesson on JustinGuitar

I like that one.

When you think about all the things we do with our hand when we can’t see what they’re doing, like undoing a bolt behind something in a awkward spot. Playing guitar should be as hard as it is. :grinning:

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What a great lesson! I went into it thinking it was going to be a lot harder than it was. I’ve by no means perfected it, but I believe that having done Justin’s blues lead course REALLY helped with the targeting of the individual strings for this technique. I believe his lesson on practicing scales with a metronome has helped with this as well. I absolutely love how everything I learn on guitar carries on to future techniques without me even knowing it.

Last night I randomly decided to watch Justin’s Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door lesson (BD not G’n’R one) and he specifically mentions THIS lesson. It is great song to put the technique into practice, especially since it’s a grade 2 and has only few chords with the same progression throughout.

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Hello

I made a Guitar Pro file, PDF and MP3 files (with and without a metronome) for this lesson.
It’s in a shared Google Drive

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EXx94l9eCabONjyN0XUbfX3FgTUhyniM?usp=sharing

I am new to making GP files, but I am pretty sure that I did it correctly.
I am sure someone will let me kindly :slightly_smiling_face: know if I messed up :upside_down_face:
It may not be the exact way Justin would have created the GP, but I think I have all the exercises, patterns, etc. correct.

Please let me know if there are any mistakes that need correcting or recommendations for formatting for any future GPs that I may make.
(Maybe I should have done a different speed(s) for the MP3s)

Thanks
Andrew

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You did it - good vibes and thanks Andrew. :slight_smile:

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Many thanks for being proactive and posting this for members to share.

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So, I’ve been on this for about two weeks now. It’s a bear! My question is, when you come across a lesson like this, does one want perfection or an understanding of the concept and some practice with the notion that you can revisit this later on. Sometimes I feel as if I spend way too much time on certain things. Do others have this issue and how do you handle it?

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For me, the point is, to have absorbed the technique, not absolutely perfectly, but reasonably well. A lot of techniques in Grade 3 need some more practice to sink in, so I keep them on the schedule or cycle back from time to time, whilst moving on. I guess, it’s a point of decision about your own direction too. Some skills might be more relevant for your individual development than others. Sooner or later, we all have to set priorities.

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Hi @jujumu ,

Two weeks isn’t long enough to claim there is a problem. I have been at this for about a year and it points right at my primary shortcoming to get resolved.

I tried a few methods to get accuracy in general working, expecting 2-3 weeks to show good progress, but nothing I tried showed substantial success. I finally asked for help and heard a common theme from folks that I am trying now. I see some progress, so maybe I can say I am over the stuck point, but progress is still slower than I like.

Here is a link to my question in case the feedback is useful for you:

When I run across something that is slow to pick up, I just keep it in my practice. Techniques come and go as I get comfortable with them, not because of how much time I have had them in practice. Once there is room in my schedule for something new, I watch the next module video and add that to my practice. This keeps me rolling along with fresh topics until I really need to clean out the tough stuff to make room for new. I then do a fairly dedicated practice to resolve the tough topics until I can call them “learned”.

Great tip! Thank you.

cheers

Nice one - thanks!

Strangely I found this one quite easy although I have been practicing Toby’s @TheMadman_tobyjenner finger picking efficiency exercise quite a bit which has probably helped!

6-5-6-4-6-3-6-2-6-1-6-2-6-3-6-4-6-5 and loop.
5-4-5-3-5-2-5-1-5-2-5-3-5-4 and loop
4-3-4-2-4-1-4-2-4-3 and loop

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I am finding it almost impossible to do the F-chord with the thumb over on the “riff in Am” part around 9:48…any tips?

I suggest using the Barre F chord, where your index finger bars all 6 strings at the 1st fret.

Using the thumb over the top to fret the low E string is something that many people can’t do, and is not a requirement.

Thank you… Jim Cunningham California.

great exercice.

Hello everyone,

I have a question regarding fingerstyle. I read some of you have been practicing this in fingerstyle but how?

For the down strums no problem, but for the up strums, should I use the index? If I do I don’t feel like it’s strumming and I’m missing the point of this training
If I use my thumb, should i use the top of my nail? Sounds awkward and feels like bad technique. The soft part then? Feels impossible to me

I’ve used a pick for this lesson, but I try to focus on fingerstyle to get closer to MK style.

Hope someone can help me clarify.

Cheers

Paul @Livelong
Are you sure you are not getting a few things mixed up. The lesson you mention is all about using a pick not your fingers. Fingerstyle is using your fingers as the name implies is another technique altogether. There is something called hybrid pick which uses a pick and fingers, is this what you are asking about?
Michael

Hey Michael,

I am trying to do this exercise without a pick. I never play with one and probably never will. I’d like to only play with my fingers like Mark Knopfler so I would like to be able to do this exercice with my fingers.

It feels impossible to me to strum with my fingers and pick individual note with my thumb, but reading this topic it seems some people manage to do it

Paul @Livelong
I have not checked in the earlier 50 odd posts what you say that others do. If you are wanting to strum with you fingers then Justin covers various techniques in the Grade 3 Strumming course however it is a paid for course.
Perhaps other can give you specific advice.
Michael