I started using my 4th for the 1+2 string at the same time, because i saw it on a live version from pink floyd, is there a specific reason for this grip, or is it just a personal preference?
Donāt understand the complaints - the lesson was brilliant, yes a bit harder than the previous ones but challenges are good! Figuring music out by ear/by watching is a great skill. I sat down, listened, watched and rewinded as needed and wrote my own tabs in 15 minutesā¦ itās good practice! Guys these are free lessons by an amazing teacher! 
8 Likes
I think this is one of the most rewarding lessons in the beginners course, along with the C major solo lesson. Getting the hang of this riff was the first lightbulb, āI can really learn this guitar thingā moment, and then the first solo over the provided backing track, whilst terrible, genuinely made me go āyeah!ā
8 Likes
You really need to have a description of where to pick where to strum well youāre going through the lesson because even after stopping going back-and-forth numerous times through the video itās almost impossible to capture what youāre saying so that we can practice that really should be updated
Iād think with the amount of complaints and frustration expressed, Justin Staff would take to him and the would implement something to add an updated video with slowed down clear instruction with finger placement. Look at the number of people saying slow down, go back and forth, and time stamp. Itās clearly too difficult. Iāve spent 3 days trying to figure out this Riff.
I would argue that this is a piece that can be very simple or very complex and we are best off working it out ourselves. I have been working on this for over 6 months now, still not where I want it and I continue to learn from it as I go.
If we ever want to actually play guitar and not just mechanically copy something, we have to sort some stuff out ourselves.
I agree this is definitely a challenge for a beginner, but it grows as you grow!
7 Likes
Listening to the bits in Effective Practice | JustinGuitar.com where Justin talks about the importance of learning to be able to use your ear to transcribe things, Iām beginning to think that the challenges in the this lesson might be deliberate.
Iāve learned how to write tab as a result of trying to make sense of this, I probably wouldnāt have bothered otherwise! I guess itās a lesson that rewards persistence.
5 Likes
Yup, persistence with some frustration will get you there in the end.
Probably not the best song to tackle as a beginner but many of us want to learn
it out of the starting gate. Could not begin to say how many hours and repetitions it took me to nail it down.
1 Like
Good observation and question. The TAB shows what Justin actually plays in this simplified beginner version.
The riff has single notes on the 6th and 5th strings before that Em7 chord you mention. The strum after is a 4-string strum. You can absolutely make it a 6-string strum if you form the full Em7 chord.
Hope that helps.
Cheers 
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Approved Teacher
Do you mean playing the stuck 3&4 type chord with a little finger barre on the two thinnest strings?
If David Gilmour does it then it canāt be wrong. However, as a beginner it is not a recommended approach because you need to be training your fingers to work on these particular chord grips and to change from / to them separately.
Cheers
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Approved Teacher
Tips that have helped me with the Wish You Were Here Riff:
-
keep your strumming hand moving in an 8th note down strum rhythm
-
when starting the song, always count in to the first note (on the āand of 3ā), strumming in the air
-
Justin picks individual notes with all downs, but I find it better to pick the 16th (on the āe of 4ā) with an up-pickā¦that keeps my hand in time. (In the original song, this is a hammer on.)
-
Justin doesnāt mention it in the video, but if you watch him during the strumming sections, he often does an air strum on the notes that are held
-
if you canāt do the strumming patterns, just do a down strum on the beat, with an air strum in between (I still have to do this in the Em7 - A7sus4 section)
Iāve been working on this - on and off - for months, and it still isnāt at the point where it āfeels goodā to play. But Iāve learned a tremendous amount by tackling it, and know I will get it eventually.
Hope this makes sense, and helps some of you!
-Tom
2 Likes
One of the goals for the module featuring this riff is āHave fun with Wish You Where Here Riffā. Iām a little unclear on how well I should be able to play it before moving on?
If its the only thing stopping you and you meet all the other criteria, donāt let it hold you back. BUT carry it forward with you and keep on working on it until you reach what you consider to be a good rendition - or record yourself and post in AOVYP and ask for advice/feedback.
I would suggest this for any lesson or song folk struggle with, carry them forward. This doesnāt seem to be discussed as much these days but on the old Classic Beginers Course, it would be common to be working on songs from previous stages or some troublesome techniques, whilst learning new material. The key being not to drop thing completely but keep working on them until you get them right/good whilst still moving forward. I am sure that is something that should still be encouraged.
My only caveat would be, if you have more material in you C/F column than on your current module practice list, it may be time to stay put and consolidate, so you wipe some of the slate clean.
But hey just MHO and what do I know.
8 Likes
I agree. Iāve come to feel that the lessons, especially after Grade 1, arenāt supposed to be mastered before moving on. They expose you to basic concepts that you can take with you on your journey. The lessons fill your tool box and you use and perfect the knowledge as needed. There so much information being presented and so many songs and riffs throughout the beginner courses that if you tried to carry it all forward all at once, youād never finish.
As for that riff, itās a bit finicky. Lotās of stuff going on and itās not easy to perfect. I believe the goal is to expose you to the concepts and techniques used in the riff, not to master it. If youāve played it during practice and can struggle through it, youāre probably good to go. If you like the song, as I do, you keep at it as you progress.
5 Likes
Thank you all for the feedback. Iāve usually kept at it with the previous lessions/riffs as I progresses. But in this case the riff was much more challenging so I wasnāt sure. I can get quite eager so I just wanted to get a sanity check that I wasnāt trying to move too fast.
What is the āC/F columnā?
1 Like
Iāve been watching this conversation for a while. Hopefully my experience with this song & lesson will help others who feel like theyāre struggling.
I was really happy when I saw that learning this song was part of a lesson, because it was the first song I really WANTED to learn, as opposed to all the other practice song suggestions which felt more like a less-boring way to build hand strength and basic skills to me.
Like most people, I really struggled to get my middle finger to go where I wanted it to, to get the strumming and picking pattern solid, to stay on tempo, etc. After about a month of having this lesson be a part of my practice routine, I decided that I would move practicing this song into my ārepertoire revisionā time (5 minutes at the beginning of each practice) and move forward.
Iāve been following Justinās lessons for about 19 months now and I practice about 30-40 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Iāve been on Level 3 for about 3 months now.
So, hereās what it sounds like now after at least a year of practicing it, warts and all. This is actually take 2, because I had a brain-fart and completely missed a chord change during take one (yes, it still happens 
)
Ed
16 Likes
Well done Ed! You did well. Such a beautiful classic, and one of my all time favourites. Certainly one to keep with you in your journey.Time to have a go at the intro solo now!
Cheers, Shane
Carry Forward.
1 Like
Thanks for sharing Ed, really inspiring to see the song played so nicely, makes me want to spend more time learning this song! I got so flustered by this lesson and this module that I came back to it give it a proper go! And then I saw your video. - the snowball effect of daily continuous practicing! Ive been playing since 9 months but Iāve been learning very slowly like 5-10mins a day for a lot of the time but im feeling more driven to do a bit more every day. Only because Iām finding it more interesting and fun to learn 
3 Likes
He goes slowly over the first part and then flys through the rest. I wish the entire thing was as slow and clear as the beginning. I really want to learn this one!
1 Like