Hey everyone, I just got a bit demoralized by Module 4, Lesson 2 “With Or Without You”, just trying to maintain alternate picking at the slow workout.
The issue I’m having is that at a random point in the exercise, one of my fingers will not respond, then I lose the beat while I try to get my other finger to try to jump back in.
So, sometimes I’m getting I/M/I/M/I/M//skip/skip/skip/I/I/I/I/I/M/I/ M/I/M/M/M/ until there’s a rest break and I can reset. It doesn’t seem to be a predictable pattern either; it’s like a short circuit somewhere.
Just went back and watched the video, maybe it would help if you could explain where you’re getting tripped up? Is it during the transition between the A & E strings or earlier in the riff?
If you are struggling to maintain I/M/I/M while on the A string then my guess is you’re focusing too much on the fretting hand.
I would just practice alternating on any open string until you don’t even think about it, then adding the fretting hand while maintaining the pattern
I’m not consistently getting tripped up in any one specific spot. Sometimes I’ll lose one of my alternating fingers while cruising along on the A string, sometimes it’ll happen in the middle of the G on the E string, and if I’m really lucky, I can do a single loop without losing my plucking.
The note transitions with my left hand are relatively smooth, forgiving a weak pinky finger, but that’s just practice and development to fix.
I was thinking something similar with going back to an open string, so I reviewed M4-L1 “Chugging”, and I seem to be losing a finger now and again at the slow workout on the open E string too.
The very boring answer @ThatSteveGuy is very very slow deliberate practice.
We have all been exactly where you are now. The answer is that by very and I mean painfully slow practice you start to develop neural pathways in your brain. The slow repetition of this motor skill reinforces the pathway.
Fast forward to a year later and you won’t even think about it.
The temptation is to rush it. So maybe put on some music or watch tv and just practice alternate plucking on as previously suggested an open string. Just slow almost mindless repetition to bake in the process.
Hmmm, I’m not sure what other advice I could give other than to practice slowly on an open string until it feels natural. You shouldn’t be thinking about alternating when playing, it should just come to you.
You’ll notice that it is actually impossible to play anything at high speed with one finger, so maybe a better exercise for you would be to try to play as fast as possible on an open string, maybe your body will force your hand to alternate in order to get the sound right
@ThatSteveGuy if the metronome drives you nuts after a while. The sound I mean. There are lots of free drum apps you can find to make the practice a little more interesting.
I’ve been playing 2 years now and it’s a long old road but it’s not a race. Just have fun, put in the work and it’ll suddenly be ‘oh this is easy’
One last suggestion - you can always practice without a bass! When I am in my car listening to music I know the bass lines to, I will pluck along with my hand resting on my center console.
Plucking technique is certainly something that I think I may have been focussing too much on in my playing. For some reason (and I’m not sure where I picked this up) I always thought you had to alternate your plucking like I/M/I/M - but in practice I was finding doing this was really stifling my playing ability. The replies here have made me feel better and have quashed whatever nonsense that my brain thought was the “correct” technique.