Outstanding @JoshFossgreen and thank you so much. My extra two cents would be adding a singing section. Meaning , just like you are saying index / middle , sing the root note every time you pass through the root during the exercise.
For me personally , have mentioned this throughout the forum , I wish that I would have practiced “singing” 5 years ago after joining BassBuzz. But again , this particular exercise you have shared with us is useful on so many levels. Thank You Josh Man. Thank You For Everything.
It is interesting how these exercises look simple when watching Josh’s video. But then I tried the first time, and in no way could I fret those notes in the right tempo, and I got lost in the end. But, I’m a beginner and I usually (with a few exceptions) can’t play a new song right away at the right tempo.
I decided to film myself, and oh pluck, I hated watching it My fretting hand looks like a lost and undecided spider.
I wasn’t aware my pinky springs upwards while the other fingers are down. Sometimes it is straight up, sometimes rolled like a frightened armadillo. And sometimes some fingers seemed to shake or vibrate slightly while I was thinking of where they should go.
I guess it would be a good idea to film myself playing more often to watch for these things.
I bit late to the party as usual but I’ll be giving this a go from today.
I love how you always make the effort to make these exercises musical. It turns them from, “oh, this looks useful but it’s going to be dull and painful” to “oh, that’s a neat tune, I want to be able to play that”
Didn’t post yesterday, but day 2 went pretty well.
Did exercise 1 on hard mode. Lost track of it a couple times by missing notes, but overall it was smoother. Exercise two, I had to go back to the video and hear Josh play it to get the timing right. Still a lot of clankers, but it got better as I pushed through. Exercise 3 continued to feel straightforward, though I really need to go back through the video and focus in on the open string muting recommendations. My left hand is okay about getting around the fret board, but something about aligning those lefty mutes with right hand plucks is tough.
Day 3 - Had a lot of stumbles in hard mode on exercise one. Just missed notes and sloppy playing that got my timing off, but I got it back towards the end. Exercise 2 I tried again, but couldn’t get the timing and ended up back at the video to review. Got it down, but still some clankers. Getting better. Again 3 felt easy, but I know I could be doing better. I need to go back and rewatch the full video to get a reminder on what I should be focused on here.
1st time through it showed me what I need to work on-
1st-was pretty good at-string crossing foul ups-it will help with that
2nd-I’m an economy plucking non-barrer-as you said be good at all types of fingerings. This single exercise will be great for using other valid techniques to expand my skills with both hands.
3rd-right away it told me I’m a plucking hand muter-and I’m terrible at fretting hand muting-this will be great to work on for a month and see progress. This was the biggest surprise for me as far as exposing holes in my technique. I thought I was a great muter lols.
Took my first crack at this today. Since Josh says to just spend 10 minutes on this a day, I only got through the first exercise. Took me about that long to get the pattern under my fingers. Did one runthrough of the playalong track at 50%, and then another at full speed. Still getting my fingers twisted up especially at the start of measure three where you use the middle finger on the ninth fret of the A. My brain wants to say that since it was ring on the ninth fret of the D, then middle finger "has to be" on the 8th or 7th fret.
Another element this routine is helping me with-I don’t play along with drum tracks at all-this is a whole new element that’s both fun and educational. I play with a metronome a lot but not actual drums. It’s fun-and I’m not good at it but I already feel like I’m getting used to the “groove” of it.
I finished recordings of all 3 exercises (before) videos and have been practicing daily for at least 10 min and he’s my feedback so far.
I wasn’t sure at first, because Josh makes it look so easy in his demo video but these exercises are ideal for the challenges I’ve been experiencing since finishing B2B (x2). Especially since, I’ve been struggling with my weak ass ring and pinky fingers, and the dystonia in both of my hands.
Watching/hearing myself play has been a huge leap forward overcoming personal fear, as well as learning hurdles I was struggling to get over. It’s a totally humbling experience seeing and hearing the mess.
Exercise 2 has been the most challenging and rewarding, as I didn’t even realize how bad my plucking technique was. I love the ability to switch between 6 different plucking styles: index first, middle first, index first rake, middle first rake, 3 finger pluck (index, middle, ring) and 3 finger pluck (using thumb, index, middle).
Playing guitar previously in life, I had developed a thumb plucking style that I was having trouble breaking and this exercise really helped eliminate that. Especially when I focused on one plucking style per practice session. Once that muscle memory kicks in, you can really get into the ‘zone’ and it almost feels automatic.
So I just wanted to say thank you for giving us the opportunity to test this out and I’m really looking forward to seeing the progress at the end of the month!
I found it super helpful too! I finally did my first Render in REAPER and learned how to sync the video with the recorded audio <3
I know Josh suggested to spend 10 minutes a day with these exercises, but I always end up spending much more time than that.
So far my progress has been the following:
Exercise 1: it took me some days to play it without getting lost. Today it was the first time I managed to play it with the background track and it felt nice.
Exercise 2: sometimes I can do the finger roll with the pinky (and only on the G string), but for some reason it isn’t working. I tried the ring finger, and finger stacking (pinky and ring finger). This slows me down so I can at the moment play this only in slow motion. And, these 2 fingers’ tendons started to hurt. So I can’t do this exercise long enough. Also, for some reason my wrists started to hurt, and I don’t know if it has anything to do with the exercises at all, it could be some other reason.
Exercise 3: a very useful exercise and I feel I really need it. I learned to mute the strings with the plucking fingers, and they just do that by themselves (it is hard not to do it). So sometimes during this exercise I pluck with only one finger so that it would make it easier to be aware of not muting with the plucking hand (I also consider using a pick if that doesn’t work). It is hard for me to mute with the left hand, but this exercise is very useful for that.
I’m considering changing the order of the exercises, and start with the 3rd, then the 1st, and leave the 2nd for last, otherwise my hands get tired and I can’t continue.
My fretting hand looks like a lost and undecided spider. 
