Billie Jean is a Wicked Mistress

[mawalton]

Thanks! Will check it out!

[Rob5589]

Welcome to the frustration

[MikeC]

As has been said time and again, Billie Jean is a rite of passage.

[johnnybarefeet]

I actually came across a YouTube video earlier today with Billy Jean playing in the background, and I could not skip it fast enough.

[faydout]

@mawalton

I was trying the finger roll but i kept getting fret buzz.

If you feel like you need to, try using your ring and pinky finger there instead of trying to roll that pinky. I can roll on the D & G strings with my pinky but if I try doing it on any higher strings than that, the higher string always seems to hit the joint. As much as I can, I use my ring and pinky or I’ll roll it with my ring finger.

[StefTheCat]

In the first iteration of the course, this was a normal lesson and having it as a benchmark lesson makes a lot of sense.

I am going through the course for the second time and this lesson is soooo much easier. I have no doubts you will get it down in time, just be kind to yourself about it and really do treat it as a benchmark lesson to come back to. I marked all the hard lessons when I went through the course the first time, so I could go back to them and not interrupt my progress and get stuck.

Hope that perspective helps your journey somewhat

[BeerBaron]

@faydout

If you feel like you need to, try using your ring and pinky finger there instead of trying to roll that pinky. I can roll on the D & G strings with my pinky but if I try doing it on any higher strings than that, the higher string always seems to hit the joint. As much as I can, I use my ring and pinky or I’ll roll it with my ring finger.

This is what really unlocked it for me.

I ended up doing a sort of hybrid movement. I fretted the higher string with my pinky and lower string with my ring finger, but I kept those two fingers stuck together as sort of a single unit and used a rolling motion to shift between strings. Rather than using them completely independently.

[Gio]

@mawalton

Aaaaaand now I hate it! Hahaha

We all find ourselves in this thread eventually! Welcome! It’s kind of like the BassBuzz equivalent of being jumped in.
You’re officially a member now.

[DirkTungsten]

Well, I finished Module 7 and decided to revisit Billie Jean. On my first time trying it I couldn’t even keep up with the workup at the end of the lesson, but now I can play the slow workout. I’m not quite nailing it yet (I’m sometimes getting some fret buzz in that spot where the pinky and ring fingers overlap unless I really focus on my technique there) but I’ve definitely made progress. It helps that there’s a pattern to it that finally clicked in my head.