Hi, everyone. I wanted to start us off with a comment to get the ball rolling. I would LOVE it if you could leave a short comment introducing yourself to the other members. I’m Dan Thorpe, from Birmingham, UK (not Alabama!). I love fingerpicking – Paul Simon, James Taylor, Tommy Emmanuel and about a gazillion others! My favourite thing about playing guitar is having some quiet time to play for myself (music is a great outlet for everything in life) and to jam with my 4 year old boy, Archie! I used to be terrible at guitar but after years… Read more »
Hey everyone, I would love to know what lessons you would like to learn. More on fingerpicking, Travis picking, chord changes, theory, jamming???… you name it, leave your ideas below!! This is the place to do so.
Hi Dan, I am an intermediate player, but am fascinated about finger style, and very anxious to get started. But i must admit i do struggle a bit with the dreaded Barr Chords, but am improving a bit. I am a Viet Nam vet, who suffers from PTSD, I am very private, so if you don’t hear much from me please understand. Thanks
Steve
Hi Steve, thanks for getting in touch. It`s great to have you here. Barre chords are tough but do make sure you take your time and use good technique with them.
No problem at all regarding being private and I hope you are doing well regarding the PTSD. Just know that the comments section and the mini-forum is there for you when needed. All the best.
Cool, for sure, let us know some more details. What sort of slaps and slides? The crazy stuff or solid on beats 2 and 4 type thing? What sort of guitarists have inspired this? (I ask, so I know I’m on the right path). 🙂
No particular artist comes to mind but I would say on beats 2 and 4 nothing crazy (yet). Slapping all the strings I find okay, it’s the thumb slap I have trouble with on the low E A strings.
I have come across slaps in the odd piece of music, done right sounds amazing. Just something I would like to add to my repertoire.
Ah, okay cool, thanks for letting me know. The slaps on beats 2 and 4 are very cool. The grooves these can add are great. Will get something ready on this. 🙂
If you would like to submit a video, you can add it to your comment by including a video LINK (for example, a YouTube, Vimeo, or Dropbox link). (Email Dan for help if you get stuck uploading a video)
YouTube and Vimeo links are the preferred video format. Make sure that your links are set to unlisted (not private!) and then only we will see it.
Hopefully, you have all noticed the new comments section at the bottom of each page in the DTAA! I would love for you to comment, ask questions and say “hi”!
This was challenging even though I know you have been working us up to this exercise. I felt a bit overwhelmed trying to remember patterns and piecing things together. I ended up choosing a D chord and tried different patterns and hammer-ons. That worked. Baby steps….
It’s on my list to memorize the words of Danny Boy. I used to know them, but I can now apply two great strum patterns to them while I sing. Can’t wait to get to Level 3.
I had so much fun with this lesson. I was pretty spot-on with the ear training. However, I was enjoying the patterns so much that I started making up my own melodies. Lo and behold, the Bonus was a melody based on these patterns. I can play your melody AND mine. Thanks for the lesson.
This I found fascinating, convert a strumm pattern into a fingerpattern… blew my mind. A whole way to look at it. Thanks!
Now I’m not sure… I was planning to cycle back into finger101 after i complete this, now I dunno, may a strumming course? Ack! Decisions decisions lol.
The exersize makes a nice little melody. Ear training is coming along slowly, along with fretboard familiarity. I haven’t been forcing it, rather, I’ll sit with a string for maybe 5 minutes or so and run thru circle of Fifths, or maybe ccw around the other way to do 4ths. Sort of like the Em and E string studys, just different intervals. Slowly starting to ‘get a feel’ where intervals/notes fall, w/o pressing. (Also ended up memorizing the circle 5th/4ths-oops, lol). I dunno, just what i’ve been doing.
Mmmmm 🤔. The difference between 3/4 and 4/4 time is clear to me. But I’m struggling to see the difference between 3/4 and 6/8. I think I’ll have to put a bit of extra research into this one.
Oh,oh…a new finger picking pattern for me, and did I muck it up! I kept on reverting to more familiar patterns. So, back to basics…slow it down, use the newly discovered metronome….but it’s still tricky. But stick at it and it will become easier. I love the chord progressions and being able to move up and down the neck. I really am learning so much in these lessons. So I’m reviewing this lesson now after a couple of days and…..the pattern is starting to fall into place, with less mistakes. I have found that if I struggle with something that… Read more »
And another first time for me – I have never used a metronome before, honestly! But I did really enjoy the discipline and am pleased to say did not find it too tricky 😀.
So now I must buy a metronome as I cannot record myself and use metronome app on phone at same time 🤣.
This needed a bit of time. Initially I found it hard to see, or hear, much difference and it certainly required a bit of work. Now, having returned a few days later to review the lesson, it is a lot clearer to me. Another excellent lesson, and something I have never come across before.
Monday morning – a day of review and consolidation. I work Weds – Sun, so this is my first day off 😀. I’m really enjoying this course very much and look forward to each lesson. It is great to be able to print out the tab, and I have mine organised in a folder. This embellishment lesson is awesome and I really enjoyed it and then trying out different variations. Oh, I have received the Finger style 101 book which also looks brilliant 👍
Level Two was my favorite. This lesson along with the Terrific Time Signatures on Day 8 have made me pause. I don’t think I even register time signatures when starting a new song or finishing for that matter—too many other things to focus on in the beginning I suppose. But now I will be more mindful.
My first guitar was a classical along with a handful of lessons, still play it, keeping that neck up in posture always helps, especially now I am older.
Good stuff, warmups are super important for helping this and the good news is that simple warm ups can help improve dexterity in a low pressure kind of way too. 🙂
So far this has been the most effective set of Lessons I have come across, several new ideas l haven’t considered before, and I’m about the half way point. Great stuff
I love the creativity of this lesson. I will have to take it slow, but I was able to play all three levels. I’ve never been able to do interesting intros. I just play the chords a few times and then jump in. This will give me something to work on.
Great stuff. Pleased to hear it. Yeah, keep taking it slowly and enjoying the process. Having fun ideas to apply and use are so cool. Hope this inspires you to create your own too and feel free to adapt any of these ideas. 🙂
I enjoyed applying what we learned to something “new.” I decided to leave the bonus for another time in my quest to keep up with the 21-Day Bootcamp. I am looking forward to going back through this case. My biggest win is that the Travis picking is getting better.
That’s great. Yeah, no need to go and do the bonuses this time round (plenty of time to enjoy them later). Super pleased to hear it regarding the Travis picking too. Keep it up. 🙂
Great lesson, so far have watched it without a guitar in hand,looking forward to practicing away all those bad habits from my self taught days 60s band days, never too late
Good stuff and pleased to hear it, Malcolm. I’m glad you are feeling positive and inspired. Keep it up and I hope you see a noticeable difference in your playing when the guitar is in hand. 🙂
This was really fun! I struggled a bit hearing the finger picking rhythm in my head and matching to the strumming. But with a bit of practice, it was a lot of fun. It was cool then to do the secret bonus. We went from strumming, to picking, and then back to a version of strumming and picking. Each one different yet the same chords. I think my brain is starting to relax some and also has learned, so I am able to begin to “see” how I could change things up in the future and have a bit of… Read more »
Really pleasing to read this comment. Lots of fun to be had using just one rhythm and varying it in a lot of ways. Love that. What I really like is how you’re opening up and starting to be creative and believe in yourself – this is all key on the journey to being a musician and not just a guitarist. Keep it up. 🙂
Well…..I was not elegant or proficient in this exercise. Ear training seems impossible for me–I know lots of people can do it–but not me. I need to stretch my mind a bit and not be so stubborn or absolute in what I can or cannot do. I should delve more into DTAA and work on it.
No one is at first so please do not worry. Definitely have the mindset of you can do it – many people believe they can’t but ear training is another skill that has to be developed, and it takes regular practice. I do hope you enjoy the musical piece in this and keep coming back to it. You’ll nail it. 🙂
The tricky bit for me was meting the bass strings while letting the treble strings ring out. Enjoyed just hanging out trying to establish the rhythm consistently. Another fun lesson. 😀
That’s great you enjoyed it. Never easy doing stuff like that at first but you will get there I am confident. Keep working through it and keep having fun. 🙂
I’m still struggling with the Travis fingerpicking, so I decided to stick with Level 1 on this and come back to 2, 3, and the Bonus at a later time. I’m getting better with the muting, but I sometimes mute the G string as well, so I’m trying to get that worked out.
Good to stick with level 1 and immerse yourself with that. Lots of time to come back and enjoy the other levels and bonuses. Also, good you are aware of the muting – it’s likely a subtle movement of the hand placement needed and you will get there. 🙂
Hi Dan, taking extra days with each lesson now to try and get it as good as possible at this stage. Also trying very hard not to look at my hands. It’s a great course, thank you
Hi Lynette, good stuff. Pleased you are taking extra days to ensure it all sinks in nicely. Thanks for the kind words and super happy you’re enjoying it. 🙂
I definitely prefer the minor scale when noodling around. I’m still catching up on lessons and need to return back to last week’s, but scales caught my attention. I love scales!! 🙂 I’ll be all over that CAGED lesson soon. I don’t know why I’m so obsessed with that.
Good stuff. The slightly darker and more brooding sound of the minor scale is always a joy to play. Ha, glad you enjoy scales – for sure a lot of fun to be had with them and great for learning the fretboard. Enjoy! 🙂
I love the second level. I couldn’t get the harmonic on the third, so this was the first day that I wasn’t able to do all three levels. Which is good! It gives me something to come back to…although I should probably keep a notebook to remind me of places to come back and try again.
Well, you have been doing superbly with the course so far and of course, no worries not being able to nail level 3 this time. Yeah, a notebook will be super handy (or you could make a note on the inside back page of Fingerstyle 101 if you’ve had it arrive. :))
level 3, on the G chord, that hi E string pluck with the ring finger, after the B string D hammer-on, that ring finger pluck pattern embellishment got me.
worked on it and is starting to work now.
Am pattern level3, same thing no issue. go figure.
bonus d scales, also no issue.
going to need more attention for the level 3 Gpattern, like the rest strokes a couple lessons back. coming along, just more focus
I’ve enjoyed each day’s lesson so far, but the last two days’ lessons have been SO worth the price of admission. 🙂 Excited to work on this stuff more! Thanks, Dan.
That’s great to know you are enjoying it and really pleasing that these two days are so much fun for you! Cheers, Sharon, and keep up the great practice. 🙂
Another excellent lesson. I enjoyed the exercise at the end moving up and down the neck. Not easy at first but started to fall into place with some practice, sort of 🤔.
The initial exercise is great for stretching the fingers as well as learning the notes on the strings, as they also apply to the low E string.
Great stuff and pleased to hear it. Really good how it’s all started to fall into place. Remember, for tricky stuff, you can always come back and use the course from the beginning in the near future. No doubt you’ll make more breakthroughs each time you use it. Pleased you’re enjoying it so far. 🙂
Good stuff, glad you are seeing how the various elements all work together and you’re applying the lessons like this. Really pleasing to know. Keep it up. 🙂
I loved the 6/8 pattern. I picked it up right away. However, the Travis picking is still hard for me. I need to put it on my list to do a little every day. I can get the hammer-on with the G chord, but haven’t mastered the Am chord yet. Will keep trying.
Glad you like it – such a useful pattern. Sounds like good progress with the Travis picking one too. Some movements will be harder than others but keep at it – good you have added it to your to-do list. Keep enjoying the process too. 🙂
This is such a brilliant lesson. I have just watched it for a second time before going onto Day 3. And I’m sure I’ll return to it as there is so much useful information. I find it more comfortable to stand when playing guitar and discovered the usefulness of a mirror by accident – it really is useful and allows you to see the positioning of your fingers easily and certainly saves any strain on the neck. My immediate takeaway from this lesson is the classical position. I am struggling with finger separation at the moment, especially between my ring… Read more »
I wish all hammer-ons could be like the Am–index finger is so much easier than trying to do the G. But the cool thing is that at this stage in my guitar playing, I can look for the “easier” embellishments to add while I keep working on harder ones.
Good stuff. Yeah, that is one of the unique things about playing guitar – the different chord shapes lend themselves to different embellishments and different ideas. Keep enjoying the process and keep at it. Sounds like you’re having fun. 🙂
Great stuff. Yeah, I wanted to keep all the lessons short so as not to be overwhelming but couldn’t help but pack this one with all the key details. These tips will help you throughout the rest of the course and super pleased the classical position is making such a good difference already. Well done applying it. 🙂
I’ve gotten a little hung up on this lesson because I love the sounds and want to get the chords and progressions right. But that’s okay. I love the way that you have set it up so I can fall behind a day and still be able to keep progressing.
Glad to hear it. Yeah, try not to get hung up on too much but feel free to take a small handful of lessons and practice them each day. Mostly though, remember that once you complete the 21 days, you can come back and re-start the course, or simply spend a week or so going through the lessons that need more attention, before restarting it in the future. 🙂
Good stuff – those patterns are all very useful but the most important ones are being used in this course (in a variety of fun ways) but I’m sure you are seeing that. 🙂
“Eagle and the hawk”, a good example of 6/8 time, a very waltzy feel. Took me a while to get that feel down when I first learned that song. Fingerstyle in 6/8, makes me smile. Fingerstyle in any timing for that matter, i’m easy. I can ‘get it’ if I can ‘hear’ a song, I find it harder to ‘count’ beats, especially if starting off of beat one. It’s still a work in progress, but I know it’s important, and i am working on it, learning to feel timing by counting beats. (Choir, with some of the syncopated parts, are… Read more »
Yeah, 6/8 is a time signature I found strange at first. I’d listen to music and struggle to feel the beat but once I learnt about it and could play a little 6/8 time patterns on the guitar – it made so much sense when I’d hear a 6/8 song! Hoping this lesson has the same effect. Cool about the John Denver song too 🙂
Love the sound of the decending chord pattern, a great study in emotions, building tension and release.
A great example of the level one pattern in a song, the intro and outro portions of john denvers “the eagle and the hawk”. Strummed, with an interesting pattern.
The fingerstyle versions of these progressions taught here are quite lovely and interesting.
Pleased to hear it, Allan. Yeah, descending patterns do have a certain emotion to them I find and tension and release – so important in music. Glad you’re enjoying them. 🙂
Geez Louise…. this was a tad more difficult than it appeared. For the life of me, I thought my guitar was not in tune with Level 1 (Bmadd11/D). It did not sound right to me and could not wrap my head around it. It was because of the 2 – B notes. I agree w level 3 being easier. That one simple B note through me off.
Yeah, I find with more exotic sounding chords sometimes they can be a bit more niche – some people prefer the sound of straight up Major and minor chords and some love them. A lot of it depends on how familiar you are with those sounds. It’s like 7th chords – some don’t enjoy them at first but others love them. It’s a super interesting topic I remember reading about in the book Guitar Zero. The key thing though is, you enjoy and experiment, and have fun. 🙂
This whole bootcamp is great, Dan. I’ve not been able to play for the last week and I’m circling back slowly. I want to catch up since I’m a week behind, but then i realize, there is no rush! Through this bootcamp, I’m also learning that I’ve forgotten some of my monthly lesson learnings! ARGH. There are not enough hours in the day. I wish I could dedicate more time to guitar. Having a blast… through the frustration. 🙂
Cheers, Susan. Really pleased to hear it. Going slowly and working at your pace is a good idea – especially when you’ve had to have a break. You’re so right, no rush at all. Keep organised and track of the things you are enjoying/wanting to learn and keep going through it all methodically. 🙂
Your explanation and demonstration of the hammer on and pull off at the end was really great. It is the first time for me to see all the movements from beginning to end, and I was actually able to do and make it sound good! Thank you!
Cool, thanks for letting us know. Pleased you like it and it was helpful. Breaking down any technique into bitesize chunks is always useful. Well done! 🙂
Dan, really enjoying this course, look forward to each day’s lesson. have to tell you that you have converted me. started the basic fingerpicking course 3 years ago then joined the acoustic academy about 2 1/2 years ago. have read your thoughts on posture and the classic position multiple times but completely ignored that. oh me of little faith! when i started this course i thought let’s try good posture and the classic position and voila ! i found that it is much more efficient for fretting chords. noticed great improvement in the musicalitity of most of my chording –… Read more »
That’s great, John. Really pleasing that you are both enjoying and looking forward to each day’s lessons. Yes, one of the things I find is getting students to try the classical way – sometimes it clicks right away, sometimes it needs a few attempts at different times, but eventually, those who stick with it find they love it. Very good stuff and well done! 🙂
Great tips Dan super duper 😀
Cheers, Angie. Glad to hear you like the lesson. Keep coming back to it too. 🙂
Hi, everyone. I wanted to start us off with a comment to get the ball rolling. I would LOVE it if you could leave a short comment introducing yourself to the other members. I’m Dan Thorpe, from Birmingham, UK (not Alabama!). I love fingerpicking – Paul Simon, James Taylor, Tommy Emmanuel and about a gazillion others! My favourite thing about playing guitar is having some quiet time to play for myself (music is a great outlet for everything in life) and to jam with my 4 year old boy, Archie! I used to be terrible at guitar but after years… Read more »
Hey everyone, I would love to know what lessons you would like to learn. More on fingerpicking, Travis picking, chord changes, theory, jamming???… you name it, leave your ideas below!! This is the place to do so.
Hi Dan, I am an intermediate player, but am fascinated about finger style, and very anxious to get started. But i must admit i do struggle a bit with the dreaded Barr Chords, but am improving a bit. I am a Viet Nam vet, who suffers from PTSD, I am very private, so if you don’t hear much from me please understand. Thanks
Steve
Hi Steve, thanks for getting in touch. It`s great to have you here. Barre chords are tough but do make sure you take your time and use good technique with them.
No problem at all regarding being private and I hope you are doing well regarding the PTSD. Just know that the comments section and the mini-forum is there for you when needed. All the best.
I would love to see some lessons on guitar slaps and slides please. That is if you possibly find time in your busy schedule.
Cool, for sure, let us know some more details. What sort of slaps and slides? The crazy stuff or solid on beats 2 and 4 type thing? What sort of guitarists have inspired this? (I ask, so I know I’m on the right path). 🙂
No particular artist comes to mind but I would say on beats 2 and 4 nothing crazy (yet). Slapping all the strings I find okay, it’s the thumb slap I have trouble with on the low E A strings.
I have come across slaps in the odd piece of music, done right sounds amazing. Just something I would like to add to my repertoire.
Ah, okay cool, thanks for letting me know. The slaps on beats 2 and 4 are very cool. The grooves these can add are great. Will get something ready on this. 🙂
If you would like to submit a video, you can add it to your comment by including a video LINK (for example, a YouTube, Vimeo, or Dropbox link). (Email Dan for help if you get stuck uploading a video)
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Post your video below…
Hopefully, you have all noticed the new comments section at the bottom of each page in the DTAA! I would love for you to comment, ask questions and say “hi”!
This was challenging even though I know you have been working us up to this exercise. I felt a bit overwhelmed trying to remember patterns and piecing things together. I ended up choosing a D chord and tried different patterns and hammer-ons. That worked. Baby steps….
I loved this nice comfortable strum. It was a little hard at first to get from the D back to the G, but it’s coming along. This is such a great song.
It’s on my list to memorize the words of Danny Boy. I used to know them, but I can now apply two great strum patterns to them while I sing. Can’t wait to get to Level 3.
I had so much fun with this lesson. I was pretty spot-on with the ear training. However, I was enjoying the patterns so much that I started making up my own melodies. Lo and behold, the Bonus was a melody based on these patterns. I can play your melody AND mine. Thanks for the lesson.
This I found fascinating, convert a strumm pattern into a fingerpattern… blew my mind. A whole way to look at it. Thanks!
Now I’m not sure… I was planning to cycle back into finger101 after i complete this, now I dunno, may a strumming course? Ack! Decisions decisions lol.
The exersize makes a nice little melody. Ear training is coming along slowly, along with fretboard familiarity. I haven’t been forcing it, rather, I’ll sit with a string for maybe 5 minutes or so and run thru circle of Fifths, or maybe ccw around the other way to do 4ths. Sort of like the Em and E string studys, just different intervals. Slowly starting to ‘get a feel’ where intervals/notes fall, w/o pressing. (Also ended up memorizing the circle 5th/4ths-oops, lol). I dunno, just what i’ve been doing.
Hi Dan, just completed lesson 7, love the tune, doesn’t quite sound like yours at the mo but will keep practicing.
Mmmmm 🤔. The difference between 3/4 and 4/4 time is clear to me. But I’m struggling to see the difference between 3/4 and 6/8. I think I’ll have to put a bit of extra research into this one.
Oh,oh…a new finger picking pattern for me, and did I muck it up! I kept on reverting to more familiar patterns. So, back to basics…slow it down, use the newly discovered metronome….but it’s still tricky. But stick at it and it will become easier. I love the chord progressions and being able to move up and down the neck. I really am learning so much in these lessons. So I’m reviewing this lesson now after a couple of days and…..the pattern is starting to fall into place, with less mistakes. I have found that if I struggle with something that… Read more »
And another first time for me – I have never used a metronome before, honestly! But I did really enjoy the discipline and am pleased to say did not find it too tricky 😀.
So now I must buy a metronome as I cannot record myself and use metronome app on phone at same time 🤣.
This needed a bit of time. Initially I found it hard to see, or hear, much difference and it certainly required a bit of work. Now, having returned a few days later to review the lesson, it is a lot clearer to me. Another excellent lesson, and something I have never come across before.
Monday morning – a day of review and consolidation. I work Weds – Sun, so this is my first day off 😀. I’m really enjoying this course very much and look forward to each lesson. It is great to be able to print out the tab, and I have mine organised in a folder. This embellishment lesson is awesome and I really enjoyed it and then trying out different variations. Oh, I have received the Finger style 101 book which also looks brilliant 👍
Very nice melodic Intros, but the thought process you shared in developing them was gold. Thanks!
Level Two was my favorite. This lesson along with the Terrific Time Signatures on Day 8 have made me pause. I don’t think I even register time signatures when starting a new song or finishing for that matter—too many other things to focus on in the beginning I suppose. But now I will be more mindful.
My first guitar was a classical along with a handful of lessons, still play it, keeping that neck up in posture always helps, especially now I am older.
Glad to hear it. Nice that you still play it and glad you appreciate how useful the classical position is too. 🙂
I have a touch of arthritis in a couple fingers, warmup help keep it at bay
Good stuff, warmups are super important for helping this and the good news is that simple warm ups can help improve dexterity in a low pressure kind of way too. 🙂
So far this has been the most effective set of Lessons I have come across, several new ideas l haven’t considered before, and I’m about the half way point. Great stuff
Thanks, that’s really pleasing to know. Great stuff, Allan. Happy its helping and keep up the great practice. 🙂
I’m always happy when I open up a lesson and dyad is in the title–always a fancy/more complex pretty sound that only requires two fingers.
That’s great to know. Yeah, I love simple and pretty music and dyads are so cool – it’s like stripping back a chord to its core beauty. 🙂
I love the creativity of this lesson. I will have to take it slow, but I was able to play all three levels. I’ve never been able to do interesting intros. I just play the chords a few times and then jump in. This will give me something to work on.
Great stuff. Pleased to hear it. Yeah, keep taking it slowly and enjoying the process. Having fun ideas to apply and use are so cool. Hope this inspires you to create your own too and feel free to adapt any of these ideas. 🙂
I enjoyed applying what we learned to something “new.” I decided to leave the bonus for another time in my quest to keep up with the 21-Day Bootcamp. I am looking forward to going back through this case. My biggest win is that the Travis picking is getting better.
That’s great. Yeah, no need to go and do the bonuses this time round (plenty of time to enjoy them later). Super pleased to hear it regarding the Travis picking too. Keep it up. 🙂
Great lesson, so far have watched it without a guitar in hand,looking forward to practicing away all those bad habits from my self taught days 60s band days, never too late
Good stuff and pleased to hear it, Malcolm. I’m glad you are feeling positive and inspired. Keep it up and I hope you see a noticeable difference in your playing when the guitar is in hand. 🙂
Dan, what strings do you use?
For most guitars I play, including this one, it’s the D’addarrio “Silk and Steel” strings. 🙂
This was really fun! I struggled a bit hearing the finger picking rhythm in my head and matching to the strumming. But with a bit of practice, it was a lot of fun. It was cool then to do the secret bonus. We went from strumming, to picking, and then back to a version of strumming and picking. Each one different yet the same chords. I think my brain is starting to relax some and also has learned, so I am able to begin to “see” how I could change things up in the future and have a bit of… Read more »
Really pleasing to read this comment. Lots of fun to be had using just one rhythm and varying it in a lot of ways. Love that. What I really like is how you’re opening up and starting to be creative and believe in yourself – this is all key on the journey to being a musician and not just a guitarist. Keep it up. 🙂
Thanks Dan course was very very good will practice as per your directions looking forwards always, never back
Mark Sedunary
Adelaide
Australia
Awesome stuff, pleased to hear it, Eric. Keep enjoying the sunshine in Adelaide and keep having fun on the guitar! 🙂
Well…..I was not elegant or proficient in this exercise. Ear training seems impossible for me–I know lots of people can do it–but not me. I need to stretch my mind a bit and not be so stubborn or absolute in what I can or cannot do. I should delve more into DTAA and work on it.
No one is at first so please do not worry. Definitely have the mindset of you can do it – many people believe they can’t but ear training is another skill that has to be developed, and it takes regular practice. I do hope you enjoy the musical piece in this and keep coming back to it. You’ll nail it. 🙂
Really sounding nice, fun.
Cool, thanks, pleased to hear it. 🙂
The tricky bit for me was meting the bass strings while letting the treble strings ring out. Enjoyed just hanging out trying to establish the rhythm consistently. Another fun lesson. 😀
That’s great you enjoyed it. Never easy doing stuff like that at first but you will get there I am confident. Keep working through it and keep having fun. 🙂
I’m still struggling with the Travis fingerpicking, so I decided to stick with Level 1 on this and come back to 2, 3, and the Bonus at a later time. I’m getting better with the muting, but I sometimes mute the G string as well, so I’m trying to get that worked out.
Good to stick with level 1 and immerse yourself with that. Lots of time to come back and enjoy the other levels and bonuses. Also, good you are aware of the muting – it’s likely a subtle movement of the hand placement needed and you will get there. 🙂
Hi Dan, taking extra days with each lesson now to try and get it as good as possible at this stage. Also trying very hard not to look at my hands. It’s a great course, thank you
Hi Lynette, good stuff. Pleased you are taking extra days to ensure it all sinks in nicely. Thanks for the kind words and super happy you’re enjoying it. 🙂
I definitely prefer the minor scale when noodling around. I’m still catching up on lessons and need to return back to last week’s, but scales caught my attention. I love scales!! 🙂 I’ll be all over that CAGED lesson soon. I don’t know why I’m so obsessed with that.
Good stuff. The slightly darker and more brooding sound of the minor scale is always a joy to play. Ha, glad you enjoy scales – for sure a lot of fun to be had with them and great for learning the fretboard. Enjoy! 🙂
I love the second level. I couldn’t get the harmonic on the third, so this was the first day that I wasn’t able to do all three levels. Which is good! It gives me something to come back to…although I should probably keep a notebook to remind me of places to come back and try again.
Well, you have been doing superbly with the course so far and of course, no worries not being able to nail level 3 this time. Yeah, a notebook will be super handy (or you could make a note on the inside back page of Fingerstyle 101 if you’ve had it arrive. :))
I learned this piece very quickly, and now I’m memorizing it so I can put it on my repertoire list. It is such a pretty little piece.
Super stuff – that’s great on both counts. Keep it up and well done! 🙂
This was a fun lesson, although I’ll have to work on it a bit to get it up to tempo. I’m glad to have the slide and hammer-on notes to practice on.
Good stuff, yeah they are both fun and practical things to enjoy. Keep taking your time with them and have fun! 🙂
level 3, on the G chord, that hi E string pluck with the ring finger, after the B string D hammer-on, that ring finger pluck pattern embellishment got me.
worked on it and is starting to work now.
Am pattern level3, same thing no issue. go figure.
bonus d scales, also no issue.
going to need more attention for the level 3 Gpattern, like the rest strokes a couple lessons back. coming along, just more focus
very lovely patterns.
Good stuff, Allan, sounds like it is clicking nicely and the practice is paying off. Keep it up – lots of fun to be had here for sure. 🙂
I’ve enjoyed each day’s lesson so far, but the last two days’ lessons have been SO worth the price of admission. 🙂 Excited to work on this stuff more! Thanks, Dan.
That’s great to know you are enjoying it and really pleasing that these two days are so much fun for you! Cheers, Sharon, and keep up the great practice. 🙂
Another excellent lesson. I enjoyed the exercise at the end moving up and down the neck. Not easy at first but started to fall into place with some practice, sort of 🤔.
The initial exercise is great for stretching the fingers as well as learning the notes on the strings, as they also apply to the low E string.
Great stuff and pleased to hear it. Really good how it’s all started to fall into place. Remember, for tricky stuff, you can always come back and use the course from the beginning in the near future. No doubt you’ll make more breakthroughs each time you use it. Pleased you’re enjoying it so far. 🙂
It was nice spending time with the patterns we learned yesterday.
Glad to hear it – that’s one thing I wanted to make sure we do in the course. I.E. Use the patterns in a variety of fun ways. Pleased you liked it. 🙂
level 3 makes a nice little melody.
comparing Emajor vs Eminor this way is very visual, good for my ‘ear’ and fretboard visulation.
good for practicing that ‘rest’ stroke as well. Onward!
thanks.
Good stuff, glad you are seeing how the various elements all work together and you’re applying the lessons like this. Really pleasing to know. Keep it up. 🙂
I loved the 6/8 pattern. I picked it up right away. However, the Travis picking is still hard for me. I need to put it on my list to do a little every day. I can get the hammer-on with the G chord, but haven’t mastered the Am chord yet. Will keep trying.
Glad you like it – such a useful pattern. Sounds like good progress with the Travis picking one too. Some movements will be harder than others but keep at it – good you have added it to your to-do list. Keep enjoying the process too. 🙂
I have a good understanding of time signatures, but I enjoyed applying the fingerpicking patterns to these key signatures.
Glad to hear it. Always good to have a little refresher, and of course, some practical application of them. 🙂
This is such a brilliant lesson. I have just watched it for a second time before going onto Day 3. And I’m sure I’ll return to it as there is so much useful information. I find it more comfortable to stand when playing guitar and discovered the usefulness of a mirror by accident – it really is useful and allows you to see the positioning of your fingers easily and certainly saves any strain on the neck. My immediate takeaway from this lesson is the classical position. I am struggling with finger separation at the moment, especially between my ring… Read more »
I wish all hammer-ons could be like the Am–index finger is so much easier than trying to do the G. But the cool thing is that at this stage in my guitar playing, I can look for the “easier” embellishments to add while I keep working on harder ones.
Good stuff. Yeah, that is one of the unique things about playing guitar – the different chord shapes lend themselves to different embellishments and different ideas. Keep enjoying the process and keep at it. Sounds like you’re having fun. 🙂
Great stuff. Yeah, I wanted to keep all the lessons short so as not to be overwhelming but couldn’t help but pack this one with all the key details. These tips will help you throughout the rest of the course and super pleased the classical position is making such a good difference already. Well done applying it. 🙂
I’ve gotten a little hung up on this lesson because I love the sounds and want to get the chords and progressions right. But that’s okay. I love the way that you have set it up so I can fall behind a day and still be able to keep progressing.
Glad to hear it. Yeah, try not to get hung up on too much but feel free to take a small handful of lessons and practice them each day. Mostly though, remember that once you complete the 21 days, you can come back and re-start the course, or simply spend a week or so going through the lessons that need more attention, before restarting it in the future. 🙂
Nice.
I need to get those patterns in your ‘101’ book under my fingers, I have the book in my kindle
Good stuff – those patterns are all very useful but the most important ones are being used in this course (in a variety of fun ways) but I’m sure you are seeing that. 🙂
And just like that, shazam, I got a hardcopy of the fingerstyle101 in the mail. Much easier than the Kindle book thank you!
Very pleased to hear it. Yeah, I’m old school and prefer real books generally, and spiral bound are even better. Enjoy! 🙂
“Eagle and the hawk”, a good example of 6/8 time, a very waltzy feel. Took me a while to get that feel down when I first learned that song. Fingerstyle in 6/8, makes me smile. Fingerstyle in any timing for that matter, i’m easy. I can ‘get it’ if I can ‘hear’ a song, I find it harder to ‘count’ beats, especially if starting off of beat one. It’s still a work in progress, but I know it’s important, and i am working on it, learning to feel timing by counting beats. (Choir, with some of the syncopated parts, are… Read more »
Yeah, 6/8 is a time signature I found strange at first. I’d listen to music and struggle to feel the beat but once I learnt about it and could play a little 6/8 time patterns on the guitar – it made so much sense when I’d hear a 6/8 song! Hoping this lesson has the same effect. Cool about the John Denver song too 🙂
Love the sound of the decending chord pattern, a great study in emotions, building tension and release.
A great example of the level one pattern in a song, the intro and outro portions of john denvers “the eagle and the hawk”. Strummed, with an interesting pattern.
The fingerstyle versions of these progressions taught here are quite lovely and interesting.
Pleased to hear it, Allan. Yeah, descending patterns do have a certain emotion to them I find and tension and release – so important in music. Glad you’re enjoying them. 🙂
Can’t call this one complete. Have to go back and practice the “Outside In” pattern for a while. Nice addition.
Yeah, remember, no need to nail the full levels of lessons first time round. Glad you like it and keep enjoying the process. 🙂
Geez Louise…. this was a tad more difficult than it appeared. For the life of me, I thought my guitar was not in tune with Level 1 (Bmadd11/D). It did not sound right to me and could not wrap my head around it. It was because of the 2 – B notes. I agree w level 3 being easier. That one simple B note through me off.
Yeah, I find with more exotic sounding chords sometimes they can be a bit more niche – some people prefer the sound of straight up Major and minor chords and some love them. A lot of it depends on how familiar you are with those sounds. It’s like 7th chords – some don’t enjoy them at first but others love them. It’s a super interesting topic I remember reading about in the book Guitar Zero. The key thing though is, you enjoy and experiment, and have fun. 🙂
This whole bootcamp is great, Dan. I’ve not been able to play for the last week and I’m circling back slowly. I want to catch up since I’m a week behind, but then i realize, there is no rush! Through this bootcamp, I’m also learning that I’ve forgotten some of my monthly lesson learnings! ARGH. There are not enough hours in the day. I wish I could dedicate more time to guitar. Having a blast… through the frustration. 🙂
Cheers, Susan. Really pleased to hear it. Going slowly and working at your pace is a good idea – especially when you’ve had to have a break. You’re so right, no rush at all. Keep organised and track of the things you are enjoying/wanting to learn and keep going through it all methodically. 🙂
Your explanation and demonstration of the hammer on and pull off at the end was really great. It is the first time for me to see all the movements from beginning to end, and I was actually able to do and make it sound good! Thank you!
Cool, thanks for letting us know. Pleased you like it and it was helpful. Breaking down any technique into bitesize chunks is always useful. Well done! 🙂
Dan, really enjoying this course, look forward to each day’s lesson. have to tell you that you have converted me. started the basic fingerpicking course 3 years ago then joined the acoustic academy about 2 1/2 years ago. have read your thoughts on posture and the classic position multiple times but completely ignored that. oh me of little faith! when i started this course i thought let’s try good posture and the classic position and voila ! i found that it is much more efficient for fretting chords. noticed great improvement in the musicalitity of most of my chording –… Read more »
That’s great, John. Really pleasing that you are both enjoying and looking forward to each day’s lessons. Yes, one of the things I find is getting students to try the classical way – sometimes it clicks right away, sometimes it needs a few attempts at different times, but eventually, those who stick with it find they love it. Very good stuff and well done! 🙂