Hello Thanks.
Good to know it took you about year to master it and you still screw up from times to times; That gives hope. I am in Lesson 2 of Beginer Grade 1 , since 12 months. I know how to swear yes! and screw up often. Right now trying to get a F bar 
take care
Iāll add a variation on the issues raised about this lesson. As others have mentioned, the video starts off being very clear and laying out each note, then speeds up. But in addition, he starts mixing in different terminology for the strings - āD stringā instead of ā3rd stringā e.g. Hard enough to keep up without switching between different names for the same thing. While not the hardest lesson so far, this was probably the least enjoyable ā¦ which is the opposite of the intent. Of the ones Iāve done, this is the only one I really wish would just be redone from scratch.
Its ok to be frustrated this stuff is difficult .
This tune has been a struggle for me over the last couple of days.
I made good initial progress up to the point in the video when Justin says āwe did something different thereā
Iām somewhat embarrassed to say I donāt actually know this song despite it being quite famous apparently, which isnāt helping me Iām sure.
Itās the last couple of sections where, not knowing the song, Iāve had to pause/unpause the video so much Iāve almost stabbed my finger through the iPadās screen!
I will persevere. The mix of picking/strumming sounds quite cool and makes me feel like a better guitar player than I actually am!
Zed
Have you listened to the original ?
If not I would strongly suggest doing that. This is a great lesson as a starter as are the others in the Song section but you need to be familiar with the full song to nail this. FWIW I bought the album the week it came out, so it was already ingrained and still is nearly half a century later. This may be why a lot of people struggle with this lessons, as they are only relating to what Justin plays at the start. It needs the context of the original. I would say the same for all the āriffā lessons in Grades 1 and 2, find the OT and study.
Cheers
Toby
Hi Zed,
I stumbled on this number for weeks, and now after a few months I started playing it again yesterday and it is very difficult again to get the exact strum and notes right a bit later in the intro Exactly as Justin does itā¦ Itās an easy song to do a little good, nice for the listener and yourself, but for the right performance as presented,ā¦well thatās quite a challenge whether this song is carved in your brain (as with me) or not ā¦ good luck and small stepsā¦ very small steps and then it will be fineā¦
Greetings,Rogier
Ok, had another bash today and Iām 99% of the way there with the basic pattern. Need to tidy it up of course, but itās there.
Iām quite sure that e.g. ādifferent terminologyā for the strings was used in grade 1 as well (the D string is the 4th string as they are numbered from the thinnest to the thickest).
Anyway, you can always go back to earlier lessons to consolidate + rewind and rewatch the videos as many times as necessary to be comfortable with the content.
Really glad of Justinās brief but helpful digression into 16th note counting in this lesson. Very timely given that Iād just followed the last lesson on āSongs for Module 8ā by investigating Tom Pettyās Free Fallinā ā and found ā1 e + a 2 e + aā etc on the screen. Quite happy to know itās supposed to be beyond me at this point in time ā Iāll look forward to meeting it again at intermediate level 
āYou need to do the Vulcan greeting to improve the separation between fingers 2 & 3ā.
@mar2112 You may have posted this in jest, but you gave me an idea for a tip for the Em7 chord stretch.
This is a modification of the tip I posted in the grade 1 finger stretch exercise module.
This is an exaggerated pose to maximize the separation between the 2nd and 3rd fingers and for me to make a Em7 stuck 3&4 chord with my small fingers and limited mobility. Donāt use this if it causes pain in your hand. Over time I hope I can get better flexibility in my fingers.
@Matt125 Thanks for the heads up on this tip. I was aware of the feature but didnāt realize it was pitch adjusted. Tried today for the first time to check the details of this intro and it really helps in focusing in on the transitions between riff and strumming and the air strums that Justin puts into the strum.
The riff for this song in the lesson now has the tabs but as a beginner I am unable to understand what the bracketed chord and the pull off kind a thing connecting two chords means. Highlighted in the image. Can someone tell me please?
Also seems like for Emin7 it the chord diagram in the tab does not say that I need to hold fret2 of 5th (A) string. Is this a mistake in tab or should I play as shown?
Also is there any other Justin video or tutorial on reading tab. The one which was in beginning of previous lesson did not go very much in details like this.
Hey Rohit,
It basically means you let that chord ring over that next beat. The bracket means you dont strum it.
@itsthistime
Hereās the lesson on reading tabs How To Read Guitar TAB | JustinGuitar.com read all the text under the video as well.
So I am coming along pretty well with this riff. Today was my first attempt at it, and I gave it a good couple of hours. Itās tricky! Itās not the memorization that is hard for me- its the brain/hand coordination that is challenging. But I am really happy to learn because it sounds like I am really playing actual guitar!
As this is the first rather complex thing weāre being taught, I am finding a few things challenging.
Iām a piano player, so the whole concept of open notes mixed in with fretted notes is tough for my brain. When I am hearing notes in my head, I forget that āopenā notes exist. When I want to play a different note, I am used to moving the finger to a different piano key. So the concept of picking a string twice to get different sounds (once fretted, once open) is really pretty weird. My brain gets confused.
My brain is still learning which pitch is higher on a given fret (open or fretted), and my fingers almost always fret when the string should be open and vice versa, so the sound will be wrong! And of course, hitting the right string with the pick seems to get harder and harder to do!
I am familiar with the song, so the strumming timing and picking timing is not much of an issue for me EXCEPT for one particular part, and wouldnāt you know it, the one thing Justin doesnāt spend hardly any time talking about is the trickiest thing for me. Around about 11:50 in the video when there is a variation on the riffās opening pattern, and the G note is removed, I am having trouble right there. Itās the timing there, seeing as the one note is gone. As I am fumbling through it, it just sounds like the timing is off for that one short pattern, and then it gets back on track. If I remember, this variation is only played one time in the entirety of the riff. It doesnāt sound off when Justin plays it, though.
I must have a fat pad on my middle finger on my fretting hand because I almost cannot play the G note on the thick E string without barely muting the next string down. I can push my wrist forward, but that lessens my ability to hold down the thinnest strings with 3rd and 4th fingers. So its tough on that Stuck 3/4 G chord for me.
Playing the first three frets on the thickest strings. 
It hurts my fingers a lot on my acoustic, and I have 11g strings on it instead of 12g. I am about 2 seconds from moving to an electric, especially with this particular riff. I try to not press down harder than I have to but it seems like I have to press pretty hard.
Other than those handful of things, I quite liked this lesson, and Justin is right that this riff teaches a lot- there are several things that need to be learned to get that riff sounding good.
Hello Stacy, Iāve started learning this riff two days ago, and yes, thatās a fantastic piece of music 
. Itās not easy to learn, and I had the same problems with the bit, where the G Note is removed. I had to watch this part of the video again and again. But finally I managed to play it the right way - very slowly 
.
The sound of my stuck 3&4 chords definitely has to improve, but right now, Iām too focused on just hitting the right strings at the right time 
.
I wonder about your current progress with the riff. Is it still part of your practice routine?
I also started learning the rest of the song, as verses and chorus appear to be much easier 
. Iām really looking forward to the moment, Iāll be able to play the whole song - and sounding good 
.
I also watched this part many times. I did find the right timing to make this sound right. It took practice and I had to get the whole riff sequence memorized first, but once I did, I could then focus on the timing in that spot. It was one of the last pieces of the puzzle but everything did start coming together eventually.
Im happy with my progress but still need to work on three things. 1 - not muting strings unintentionally. (I switched from an acoustic to an electric, and the strings are closer together, I think. Suddenly Iām muting strings.) 2 - I still hit the wrong strings at times (may have to do with string spacing). And 3 - wrist position is all over the place with this riff and I donāt know if itās ok for it to be.
But itās sounding pretty good when I can get through it with no mistakes.
The more you practice the Stuck 3/4, the better this riff will get. Or vice versa! Youāre braver than me if youāre learning the whole song. It will be very impressive to anyone watching you play!
Wish you were here Beginner lesson Grade 2
Justin demonstrates the Riff for this lesson
Keeping fingers 3 and 4 down throughout the riff.
Starting with second finger on fret 3
Then he plucks the open A string
Then plucks A string at fret 2 with finger 1
He then plays the D string open
However in the video it seems he is keeping finger 1 down
On fret 2 and removing it once he plucks the D string
He then plays open D
This is where I get confused
He ends the riff by plucking the D string at second fret with finger 2
Does he keep finger 1 on the second fret of 5th string then pluck D string
And remove finger 1 from second fret once he plucks the D string and then
Play D string open again before plucking second fret with finger 2
Thatās great 
. Right now, I manage to hit the right strings the whole riff through, but the stuck 3&4 G and EM chords definitely need much more practice. They still sound awkward 
. But I played the riff to my son-in-law, and he immediately recognized which song it was . So, I guess, it wasnāt that bad .
This is without a doubt one of the most satisfying bits of the beginner course, when you get it it feels amazing. Well done guys!
