Have fun with this easy riff for beginners! You only need to use one finger. :)
View the full lesson at Seven Nation Army | JustinGuitar
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I didn’t have too much trouble remembering the order. For me, it’s the having to drag my finger up and down the string instead of being able to pick up and place down fast enough but I assume that will come with practice.
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It kinda sounds cool when you drag your finger sometimes. When I did this lesson I tried to concentrate on fret recognition the most.
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What is the reason behind one finger? I found it a lot easier to keep up with the rhytm when I use my pinky on the 10th fret
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Not everyone has dexterity yet to stretch fingers between different frets so this is sort of get out of jail free card playing with one finger. Plus it teaches you accuracy while sliding around the fretboard- making sure your fingers stops where it supposed to.
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Can we do this without trying to mute the strings with the fretting hand?
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You can do but you need to be accurate with the pick. Otherwise you will get a lot of unwanted sound from other strings. It’s okay at the start of your journey but while you develop you try to limit amount of unnecessary sound from other strings to 0.
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Do I take my finger completely off the string when I’m moving between frets ? Or do I slide on the string ? I find that sliding creates a sound which is not heard while Justin is playing.
Thank you.
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Acoustic tends to create a lot louder noise while sliding over the string than electric guitar. Try to minimize it by slightly letting finger off the string and by quickly sliding. Don’t kill yourself over it though, it might not be entirely possible at the early stage of learning to eliminate it entirely.
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It is really easy and fun to play, but I would like to learn the power chord for it!
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Welcome to the Community Sophia
There is a search function on the website. This is what it brings up For Seven Nation Army
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Here’s another song that can be played with only one finger most of the time: Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets
I’ve come back to this again, reviewing what I’ve done before. What you may find useful later on is to name the fret you’re on as play, on fifth string e e g e d c b , e e g e d c d c b, then on sixth string gggggggg aaaaaaaa . Will be helpful later to learn the fretbaord.
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Sliding the finger with the one finger is a good intro to the skill needed to play power chords later, particularly becoming familiar with their fret markers and hand position.
I still find it easier to play this riff in the standard way of keeping the hand in the first position and starting with fretting the 5th string 2nd fret, picking twice and then picking the open 4th string, back to 5th string 2nd fret, picking open 5th string and then 3rd and 2nd fret of 6th string. (Just 3 fretted notes and 2 open string notes). Playing the riff that way can be done with your eyes closed.
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Hello @SteveL_G99 and welcome to the Community.
Yes, the riff notes can be found elsewhere as you have discovered. It works in several places, each sounding subtly different.
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Moderator, Guide & Approved Teacher
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How to make that ringing sound when Justin slides his finger from the 2nd fret to the 7th fret? I’m on an acoustic guitar.
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Is learning how to mute the strings you’re not playing an important skill if you can play the riff without hitting other strings?
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If you can play this particular riff without muting it’s fine, but there will come time when muting will be required as it will sound bad without any
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I find muting extremely difficult. My understanding is that you’re lightly placing the index finger on the remaining strings (almost like a feather touch) so they’re muted but if you press too hard those strings end out producing the sound, especially the 5th and/or 6th string. I’m guessing we don’t need to mute all the way down though. Learning the riff was much easier than using the muting technique.
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You should be pressing with only tip of your finger on a string you want to ring out, there shouldn’t be any pressure from the rest of the finger on remaining strings. If I want those strings to ring out I need to apply a more than a bit of pressure so perhaps by accident you are more of a barring with your finger rather than muting? It all goes down to practice and eventually after a few riffs and songs you learn it will click. Try playing over B string and mute only bottom string see if it works. If it does move up a string and mute strings bottom e and B. And so on until you reach your home string for this riff 
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