I just tried this and with me the issue is not with the pinky, I can lift it and keep the rest of the fingers down, but when I try the same with ring finger, the pinky automatically wants to come up too.. 
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I often feel like my brain knows the techniques and all, but my hands just don’t seem to care about the stuff my brain knows. While everything seems to fit perfectly well together in my head, my hands still say “nope, we’re not that far”.
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i listed a few things a few weeks ago which im working on, but the latest is just ‘pentatonic overload’ 
i printed off @Gio’s fret diagrams for static and shifting in both major and minor patterns, which also include copy and paste versions. im also re-doing lukes ‘become a bassist critical mass bass line challenge’ which goes over ‘double pentatonic’ shapes, and i just get all mixed up with whats available above and below the root.
id like to get to a point where if a know i need to be playing in whatever major or minor chord, i could seamlessly know what shapes and notes are available for it and work out a rhythm/pattern for myself.
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I’m still getting some fret buzz using only my pinky, especially on the A and E strings. Working on a four fret exercise using all four fingers vs three fingers. When I back up my pinky using my ring finger I get more control but need to do more shifting. Trying to use micro-shifting better.
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I’m practicing the 10 Minute Routine, level 1. I’ve tamed the buzz when playing the note, but when I lift up my ring finger on the 9th fret of the A string to go to the index on the 7th fret of the E string, I get buzz on the A string. Is this normal or is it something I’m doing wrong?
In my experience the faster you lift a fretting finger the less likely you are to get a buzz.
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What kind of bass do you play?
I ask that because there’s a design flaw in some fender and fender adjacent basses with the break angle on the A string that can cause buzz.
So anytime I hear of buzz on an A string it makes me go hmmm.
It is a Mitchell MB100, an Ibanez adjacent bass. It is a short scale PJ bass. I think it is a combination of where I’m placing my finger and how fast I’m pulling my finger off.
I also think that I’m hearing get buzz that isn’t being picked up by the pickups.
Looking at the bass, I think its unlikely to be the A string issue.
Maybe try a setup - raise the string height a smidge
Reposting here from a member suggestion: I’m 66 with some musical background when I was a kid and just started to learn the bass after watching some of Josh’s videos. I’m now into Module 5 and starting to feel like I can’t keep up (it was easy in the beginning!). Should I be practicing in between lessons? I am faithfully doing one lesson a day, 5x a week. Any tips out there? Btw, Josh is a tremendous teacher and blows away all of my music teachers of the past…especially the piano teacher who would rap my knuckles with a ruler, haha. All suggestions welcomed - I’m still stoked to get Badass!
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So Josh says you don’t have to practice between lessons, because the lessons include the practice. On the other hand, and I think he mentions this once or twice, if you feel like you’re not quite keeping up then you can definitely do some additional practice in between. The important thing is to not get stuck. One or two days at most, then move on to the next lesson. And remember that passing the slow workout is the bar, it’s OK if you’re not passing the full workouts right away.
One lesson a day 5 days a week is a great pace! I was doing 2 per day for the first few modules, then slowed down to 1/day when he said it’s time to go off and find some songs to play. So I started using the time for the second lesson to practice some songs instead. Putting the lessons into practice that way is also super helpful for progress.
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That did it. I move it up 2/100th of an inch and the buzz is gone. TYVM.
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Absolutely.
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When I got to that point, I found it worked best for me to repeat that lesson portion once or twice the next day and do the workouts portion the day after that. Taking a day solely to learn the bits and pieces and then working the next day to put it together and play it made it click. (And “sleeping on it” as Josh often recommends really did help.)
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Good suggestion, thanks!
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I’m really struggling with the with the last of lesson 4 and the first lesson of module 5. I do get a lot out of your lessons, until now. It’s my dyslexia. It’s reading the numbers on the tab, along with the different string placement, and my brain can’t keep up. Therefore, my fingers can’t even begin to know where to start or move forward. And I can’t follow along as hard as I try. I also loose my place on the strings with the plucking hand. (I can’t feel where I’m at) Now that it’s a little more complicated, listening to you beat count, while trying to figure out when to when and where to move to, the tab with only the 2 numbers, .. I get super lost. I enjoy listening to the beat count, but I wonder if the practice could be broken up practicing say just the #4 frett, then the #2 frett then put it together. Idk, I’m just really frustrated. I definitely don’t want to quit, but I don’t have the “want” to return to it right now. Help?
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I feel you. I am dyslexic as well, and that was the toughest part of the course. I don’t have a lot of advice, I just worked through and did the slow workouts and took a break from the course when I was done. I would rather do Billie Jean, that was a piece of cake in comparison
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Do you know that you can slow down the videos by using that little gear icon on the bottom right of the videos? 
That’s quite helpful (and it’s funny to hear Josh speaking as if he was on sleeping pills ).
Also, maybe you wanna ask that question in the comments section under the lesson you’re struggling with? Josh usually replies to those very fast. I suppose that there must have been other dyslexic students before, so maybe he has some good advice for you.
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Thumbs. Both. Left pushes too hard into neck; right presses too hard against the pick up.
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Thank you!! I should do that. I kinda thought he’s had other dyslexia students, just because he’d been doing it for so long. I appreciate your advice! I knew there was a way to slow the video down, but I’d forgotten about that option. I will try that tomorrow.
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