@artax_2, that is definitely the hardest part. Well, that and contorting my wrist so that my thumb is pointing perpendicular to the neck.
2 Likes
You may do this already but remember to pull back with your arm rather than relying entirely with pressing with your fingers, it helped me
2 Likes
I try this over and over and I canāt get any strings fretted that way. Iād have to pull back so much it would have to be incorrect, and it doesnāt feel relaxed at all. That part of doing F is a mystery to me.
2 Likes
I found I needed to move my finger up about 1-2mm, not using the very tip on the low E. That helped get the joint crease of my finger off the b string so it could actually be fretted. I also made sure to slightly rotate the finger so it lays just a touch on its side.
I donāt know if that is what will help you, but maybe try a small change in where you place the barre.
6 Likes
This sounds really useful!
I spent a few minutes looking for it on Tomoās YT channel, but no luck.
Can you point us to a specific video?
1 Like
Tomo mentions it as a side note in a few of his videos, but I think this is the one where he gives it the most time:
2 Likes
Wow! Popular topic JK!
Hardest thing is definitely un-learning bad habits from years of self teaching without any structured course. I thought I knew how to Travis pickā¦ turns out I donāt quite do it the right way & to stop playing the wrong way & get it more correct is incredibly hard. Same thing with how I fret certain chordsā¦ Justinās suggested fingering is really, really hard when youāve been using different fingers for years.
Next is string muting/palm muting. I didnāt realize how important this is until I started power chords on the electric with the gain upā¦ if my muting isnāt good it doesnāt sound good at all. Iām having a very hard time getting the palm mute consistent. Itās either too much or not enough. As one of my long-term goals is to play surfer tunes, this skill is going to be key to getting the āsoundā, & even though I work on this every practice session, itās not happening!
I also struggle with sticking to the practice routine & not noodling my practice time awayā¦ playing an OMC exercise & thinking āOH man, thatās part of THAT songā & trying to work out the next chordsā¦ then my timer goes off & itās time to do something else!
Lastly is The Backbeat Hitā¦ Love this sound! The technique is straightforward & fairly simple but performing this & staying in timeā¦ forget it!!!
I know practice will eventually pay off & these hills will be climbed, it just seems to be taking too long! 
Tod
2 Likes
Its not as bad as it was when i started, but Iāve been practicing it since last September or so!
1 Like
For me itās the blues bending and vibrato. The hardest thing I have encountered since starting with Justin around 2 years ago, except for of course that dreaded(for most of us) Barre F chord!! Still working on that F, but itās coming along nicely after almost 10 months practice or soish!!! I will not give up!!! Oh and ear training is a bugger for me. But that has come along a wee bit. Yepp, the hard for me things. I have not gotten into transcribingā¦yet. Although I really shouldā¦so busy ā¦
So many good ones here.
Rock on all!
Darren
1 Like
It was Basket case, Jeff. Though I have now recorded it and put it to bed
They do do their songs very well.
Glad to read that your power chords are getting there. 
2 Likes
For posterity, Iām adding to my list:
Smooth chord changes after a mid-beat up-strum - at speed. As I understand it, an accepted ātrickā is to make that last up-strum in the bar with fretting fingers in mid-air, and nobody will notice the open strings. Iāve gotten decent doing that at lower speeds, but if I get up around 120 bpm, it still doesnāt buy me quite enough time to get to the next chord. Oddly, I donāt seem to have a problem if I just omit the last up-strum.
Iāll get there. I continue to be amazed by the things I can do that I couldnāt even contemplate a few months ago.
3 Likes
Iām backing up to catch some things I missed that I thought werenāt useful for me. Now my brain is upside down & inside out! I LOVE the finger picking styles & jumped to Lesson 15 while still practicing the Beginner Modules on Lesson 3. And, I added a finger style teacher online. I would suggest not going all those directions at once, it takes away the fun of learning & becomes a job! Iāve also discovered that everyone has their own way! Until I get to lesson 15 in Intermediate with Justin, Iām using a really old book called, Hansenās Popular Finger-Picking Guitar Method along with Justin Guitar.
1 Like
Right now its Major scales in 3rds , after playing around a lot doing this in thirds is hard! Just needs more time to get it under my fingers