The Stuck 3&4 Chords

Amazing class!!! I loved it. When I heard the A7sus4 chord it instantly reminded me of the song “Talk Tonight” by Oasis.

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This kind of thing is hard to diagnose without a video. If you finger the chord and play each string one at a time, do they all ring out?

If not, you need to make adjustments.

Pressing down really hard is never the right answer.

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Small Town By John Mellencamp is a great one for the Big G, Dsus4, and Cadd9. Having a blast playing it.

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This lesson is too long. There’s way too much to process.

I’ve paid for the app (which is where I watched it) and came here hoping to find some offline learning materials. I didn’t see anything outside the pictures of the chords themselves.

Official or fan-made, are there any PDFs with the Stuck 3&4 chord sequences?

I watched the video and really couldn’t keep up.

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I wouldn’t call 21 minutes too long for a guitar lesson.

I’m not sure what you’re after. Justin has provided images of all the stuck 3&4 chords. You can use them to make up any chord progressions you like. At the end of the lesson he advises you to find some songs you like and play them using the stuck 3&4 chords from the lesson.

The intro Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd uses stuck 3&4 chords. Justin has a lesson on playing that.

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Nothing wrong with the video or the length of it!.
You are allowed to watch the video again. :wink:

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Hi @mysticole928, just wondering what you mean when you say you are lookingfor “chord sequences”?

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I understand this feeling. This is the first Grade 2 lesson, and the information density in it is a huge step up compared to the Grade 1 lessons. This is around the point I switched primarily to the website from the app, as the written resources were invaluable.

Stephen, you’ll find from here on out, these more information dense lessons are more common. You might have to rewind and rewatch parts, or at times watch the lesson again.

The chord sequences you’re after are songs to learn, and you’ll find them in a later Module 8 lesson, SOngs for Module 8: https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/songs-for-module-8-b2-807

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In the top photo it looks like your first finger is muting the A string. You don’t need to mute the 6 string with G chord. If you lower you thumb further onto the back of the neck (rather than over the top) you should be able to curve your fingers more without bending your wrist any further. This will get you more up on your finger tips rather than just the flat part of your fingers.:slightly_smiling_face:

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Edit: @MorseMooseGreyGoose I forgot to put, when I wrote my reply, thank you for taking the time to comment.

What I’m looking for–and I should have been more specific–are some Tabs for the various chord progressions.

Justin mentioned that some of them go well together. It would be nice to have them as a reference for self-study/practice.

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Edit: @kimlodrodawa I forgot to add… Thank you for taking the time to reply. I appreciate it.

There’s nothing wrong… for you.

For most people, the brain science/research says otherwise.

Most people have an attention span for learning that lasts about 12 minutes. This is related to how much time is between commercial breaks in television programs.

The pedagogy of learning (or, for adults, andragogy), involves “chunking.” It was long-believed that, on average, people can chunk up to 7 pieces of information at a time. (Which is why, without area codes, phone numbers in the USA are 7 digits long.) More recent research suggests this number is close to 4. Once information is understood, it can be compressed into a single “chunk.”

Also, human brains can only handle about 4 pieces of information before overload happens. This is why, after eating three bites of any given food in a row, they can’t taste the fourth bite. If you drink something or take a bite of something else, it will restart the counter and the food can be tasted again.

So, it would be better for most people to have no more than 4 chords in a single learning session.

I am allowed to watch the videos again. That’s true. What I’m asking for is some help removing the friction from learning.

The material, I think, is exceptional. I’ve tried multiple teachers both in-person and online. I think that, by far, Justin’s approach is the best.

That said, at times, it could be improved.

For anyone that’s interested in the science of learning:

I highly recommend:

  • Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
  • A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley
  • Brain Rules by John Medina
  • Brain Rules for Work by John Medina

A note about A Mind for Numbers: It’s poorly named. There’s almost no math in it at all. Instead, it’s an excellent book about how to approach learning.

Also, John Medina put created a companion website for his Brain Rules books. Lots of great (and free) information about how the brain works is there. It augments the books but can be watched without buying/reading the books.

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Edit: @jacksprat I forgot, when I wrote my response to your comment, to say thank you for taking the time to reply.

The brain science says lessons of any kind are best kept to about 12 minutes. (Plus or minus.)

21 minutes–non-stop–is too long. Yes, I can stop/pause. However, that’s true of all asynchronous learning. I’m asking/suggesting for ways to minimize the friction involved in learning.

Playing the guitar is a hands-on activity and not a spectator sport. It’s true of all learning. So, what I’d like to do is observe some and practice some.

It’s the Johnson & Johnson school of music theory. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

I can–and will–play the songs. That’s not the point I’m trying to make. I want to practice what I saw before I try to struggle with the songs.

Again, I am trying to reduce the amount of friction.

I only have so many hours for practicing. I need to make them count.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

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@mysticole928 Welcome to the forum Stephen

There is always the option of pausing the video and practicing what you’ve learnt in small chunks.
If you know your basic chords from the previous lessons the stuck 3/4 chords are just a variation of these chords. Also the website has all the chords so you can copy ant paste them onto you computer.

So there really isn’t all that much to learn. All you do is keep you pinky and Ring finger in the same spot and play the lower notes in the chords.
as for chord progressions you can use any chord progression that you have already learnt For example D C G substitute Dsus4 C9 and Rock G or Big G.

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Pause at 12 minutes and continue when you feel ready. It’s really that easy. :wink:
We all have different capacity. Learn how you learn best and please don’t blame the lessons and videos for your lack of capacity.
All the theory you provide for your claim is useless, it’s just theory and not hard facts. Besides that, it’s not my brain having the limit, it’s my mind :wink:

With all the effort you have used writing me a reply, you could have used learning the lesson, maybe taking 8 minutes chunks, just to be sure you where within the limits of the theory you live by. Cheers mate, wish you a continuous lovely guitar journey. :heart: :pray:

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If that was true I would never have been able to learn to fly a plane. I simply don’t believe it’s true. And I believe you are way overthinking the brain-science thing. Relax.

If 21 minutes is too much for you, watch 12 minutes then take a break. Then come back to the lesson. You menioned TV advertisments. Think of the break in your lesson as a commercial break on TV.

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Hi @mysticole928

One combination that comes up regularly is the Big G, C add9 and the D sus4. They are often played together and so this would make a good practice exercise. Then there are the song lessons featured later in the module (make sure you read the comments as there are many great user suggestions for these chords).

The other thing I would add is that this lesson is less intimidating than it looks if broken down. What you are really learning is just one concept. In my opinion learning those three chords I mentioned plus having a knowledge of the Em7 and A7 sus4 is all you really need.

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I really enjoyed this lesson but was wondering if at 12’57" if you were telling us what you really think Justin? (only joking!) best, Danny

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That’s odd because I have this vague memory of when phone numbers were shorter, many decades ago, and numbers were only added as more and more of the populace were able to afford phones not for some weird memory thing. Possibly also had to do with phone centers mostly being run with switches and cables and human switchboard operators as computers were in their infancy. But, whatever. I’m not having any trouble with the lengths of any of the Module 8 lessons, my brain must be ignoring the science I guess. :laughing:

I’d like to know how long it took people to be able to play that Em7 because my 2nd and 3rd fingers just DO NOT want to separate! I have to admit I’ve only been trying for about 4 days, still waiting for my pinkie finger to stop crying.

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you had me at “big g” :joy:

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Should I be able to change between all the stuck 3&4 chords 30+ times a minute as I would with open chords?

Currently learning three chords at a time so I don’t overwhelm and confuse myself, I haven’t watched the entire video so I might’ve missed something Justin said regarding chord changes between them.

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