Success!

alchemyst21 · August 29, 2019, 11:59pm

omg I got through the full Billie Jean riff on slow without missing a note!! I feel like a mini badass with this accomplishment!!!

PamPurrs · August 30, 2019, 12:24am

That is indeed a tough number. Congratulations!

JoshFossgreen · August 30, 2019, 1:08am

Nice!!!

howard · August 30, 2019, 1:17am

Well done! that’s excellent. That’s a finger twister for sure.

Man that riff. It ends up being such a good technique practice riff. In fact I still use it as part of my main practice every day, and recently I have noticed I am getting sloppy and it is sounding bad when I play it (basically I’ve developed a buzzy pinky roll on it.) So, back to half speed with it for a while until I fix that. But amazing to me that it is still useful on a daily basis

Redneck · September 5, 2019, 12:33am

Great!!..had the same feeling first time I got thru Not Fragile by B.T.O. and it’s a lot more simple…but still for a beginner it made me feel like a real musician…heh

alchemyst21 · September 5, 2019, 1:08am

Thanks everybody! I’m working on Module 5, string crossings now. Challenging for my shorty fingers but every practice session feels better. I like Josh’s dance moves for the 80s tune. That string jump with eighth notes has been messy for me. I’m better at the funk riff. Not sure which riff has been my favorite so far… I love so many of them… the ska riff rocks!

howard · September 5, 2019, 1:15am

Well done! and yeah I really like the cross-section of music Josh picked for the lessons too!

PeteP · September 5, 2019, 11:27am

I was in some ways already beyond that level when I started the course (I took a deliberate step back and feel rewarded by it) but of course I was playing what I wanted, not what was prescribed, so I didn’t come up against anything too challenging.

Billie Jean has me stumped! I manage a few bars, even at fast pace, but then just as my mind says “I’ve got this!” my fingers say “Oh you think so, huh?” and it falls apart. My only consolation is that I’m able to pick it up again within a few notes without stumbling too much, so I’m obviously following something properly.

It’s that 1st-2nd cross, isn’t it? Finger roll, index/middle finger, fast single finger cross? Even @JoshFossgreen admits to changing the technique randomly, and that’s what’s happening to me. I suspect the secret is to keep working through those first few notes dozens of times until it feels right, then move on.

PeteP · September 5, 2019, 11:40am

As Jedi Josh may have said; “Note: Temporary jump up in difficulty this song is, stretch your ability to the max it will. Struggle with the slow workout you may. Fine that is – your best you must do and moving forward you must keep.”

Jazzbass19 · September 5, 2019, 11:51am

Ditto that, @PeteP . . . even after a few months, I’m still having problems . . .

Maybe it’ll take a few years . . . ?

Good old Billie Jean . . .

PeteP · September 5, 2019, 11:53am

Maybe it doesn’t really exist and so we will never master it. Wasn’t it actually two bass lines on the track, or a harmonic, or something else completely impossible.

Vik · September 5, 2019, 5:13pm

I like that ska riff a lot too - it’s a fun one to play as well!

PeteP · September 6, 2019, 9:39am

I’ve just done that lesson and I have to say I loved it too. IT really helps when it’s a genre that you connect with, doesn’t it?

eric.kiser · September 6, 2019, 9:51am

There seems to be some debate over the original recorded bass line.

There is a keyboard playing an F one octave lower over the first note.
or…
The bassist is playing the lower octave F on the first fret E string at the same time as the first note.

Either way, there is a low F in there. I haven’t dug into it to find out which one is true. It may just be a vehicle for people to make YouTube videos with inflammatory titles like, “You’ve Been Playing It All Wrong: Billie Jean Edition!”