12th Fret is the same as an open string so just try to picture 13-17 as 1-5. In fact take a simple song you pay on the money notes and practice transposing it.
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Trying out potential new bands. Experience today was bad.
First session today. Guy organizing gave me the set list just 2 days ago. List of Eight songs to learn first. 4 of which I also had to learn vocals. Didn’t seem to understand that I did not have them all.
When he launched into another song that we hadn’t said to do, that’s when I packed up.
And I was struggling to play by ear because he didn’t know how to mute his guitar, so it was just a wall of noise, and I couldn’t hear chord changes.
I’ve just started module 11 and absolutely love playing to Song for my Father.
But I feel like I’ve hit a bit of a wall technically.
Things like note lengths and syncopation I find relatively easy. I find the groove and slot into it with a big grin on my face.
But I find finger rolls become a scrunchy finger magnet which in turn slows my progress up and down the neck.
At the opposite end of the uncontrollable finger scale, I find playing London Calling an absolute flailing finger festival. In both the intro and on the verse progressions my fingers would be signing all kinds of offensive shapes to an audience.
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Octaves, specifically single pluck octaves,
A little background, I desperately want to be able to play ‘disco’ octaves and have posted about these before. I guess I maybe trying to hard because as I increase the tempo my plucking hand goes to pieces!
Wrong string at the wrong time, the complete wrong string even with splitting the figures.
So I guess I know the answer of what to do, unless one of you superstars knows a cheat to playing these?
Practice slowly, build up the speed a little at a time, sleep on it!
But any advice or experience of wins playing disco would be fantastic.
Cheers
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This is the way.
Patience (go slow/take breaks), persistence (keep at it) and practice.
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I’m a pretty sloppy with octaves. I’m also trying to learn Time is Tight. Simple bassline but my fretting arm is so low on endurance that my hands, fingers, and shoulder cramp up. Maybe I’ll try it on my five string and play higher up the neck. But as repeated above. Slow and steady. And sleep on it.
Edit: a week later I can play the time is tight riff without pain. Not for the whole song but enough to feel good about. I also began learning the verse riff from distant early warning by Rush. Got close and called it a night. Two nights later it’s really starting to click. I’m just posting this edit so when people look back they’ll see that rest really helps
Same. I’m finding octaves really hard.
My plucking hand starts out fine(ish), but over the course of an exercise, my finger split becomes more and more sloppy and chaotic.
Meanwhile, although my fretting hand can hold the shape, muting becomes really problematic and my sound becomes a string ringing mess.
I know that Josh says not to worry about muting until you have the riff nailed, but I find it difficult to separate one from the other.
I thought I was ready to start module 12 but I feel that maybe I should have spent more time on module 11.
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at the minute its pentatonic patterns. im working through marks talking bass course, ‘creative bassist’ and i want to get to the point where whatever chord the guitarist is playing i can come up with some sort of riff using the available notes. i dont think i’ll ever know my notes or fretboard well enough which isnt a problem, but i would like to have the patterns nailed, so whatever chord is playing id be able to just find the available notes both above and below root, for both major and minor using the patterns that i hope will be etched into my brain at some point.
marks very good at what he does, but theres a lot of ‘so go to the Eb on the 6th fret of the A string then the Bb on the 8th of the D string’ type stuff which doesnt register in my brain. i want to see PATTERNS! 
i can find any root note quick enough but i want to get better at knowing whats available from each root.
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(Saying these as a right-handed player)
- Practice the octave shape in your left hand. Get it muscle memory so you can pre-fret it and only have to think about your right hand in the moment. Move your left hand around the fretboard while holding this position.
- Play low note with index, and go up for Octave with your middle finger.
- Do exercises just working on these motions. Do them as warmup. Do them sitting on the couch watching TV. Play around with different rhythms.
- After practicing for a while, take a break, then work on easy-ish songs that sprinkle in octaves or slipping them into improv play-alongs.
Don’t worry too much. Do not expect to get it while practicing. It will be sloppy AF while you are consciously thinking about doing it. Expect it to “click” when you put it into play in the middle of a song or improv play-along.
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Thanks @BeerBaron
Man do I ever feel this post. I’m not at module 12 yet but I’m close.
Might as well go back to module 11 then. I found myself replaying a few older lessons before moving onto either module 9 or 10. If anything it’s extending my enjoyment of the course.
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Working on a song that has this pattern in a bunch of places…
That jump from the G on the E string to the E on the D string is killing me. I keep missing with one hand or the other–sometimes both. I’ve tried playing that E on the 7th fret of the A, but that big of a jump means that the E is weak sounding (not getting enough pressure on it). And then with this string crossing being essentially the only thing I’m finding difficult in the song, it’s causing frustration with a two-beats pattern (in several places) holding me back from cranking the tempo the rest of the way up (full tempo is 176 BPM)
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I hit Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag today in Module 11 and it’s giving me more trouble than anything else so far. Way harder than Billie Jean. Couldn’t even get through slow. In fact I was having trouble with the super slow run though in the lesson and never even managed that. First time I didn’t even bother watching the medium and full. Oh well, maybe sleep will help.
I could see this one getting in my head and keeping me from moving forward so I will try not to let that happen.
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Yeah. I found PGABNB really hard. First I had to play the slow workout at half speed to try and keep up quite a few times.
I’ve always found that a good nights sleep helps a lot though. And I’ve always followed Josh’s advice on not spending too much time on focusing on perfecting the workouts. Though I wonder if this is why I’m finding the later lessons so hard. I found Cakes “Pretty Pink Ribbon“ super hard and I can’t honestly say that I’ve “nailed it” yet.
I’ve started ending a practice session with a song that I know I can play and really love helps me keeping positive. For me that’s either Feel Good Inc, Song For My Father or Sons of Pioneers. I can get lost in the groove while working on timing and dynamics etc. Though I am really strict with myself and only do that after a lesson and/or a slow workout.
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I also struggled with Papa’s Bag. And to add insult to insult, the day after I hit that lesson, my iPod shuffled the song up at work. It’s like it was mocking me.
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Ha! Papa wanted you to know you still had work to do.
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I was absolutely convinced I would never be able to pluck disco octaves. I struggled, sounded like sh×t. Then there was slap bass. My what a slopy disaster that was… then I was watching Josh and the way he holds his thumb somehow did something . Anyway once I learned to slap and pull disco octaves (suddenly I just could) plucking disco octaves well, became easy. If you persist I have zero doubt that you will get there. Power on and don’t get bogged down by things your not good at, chase the things you are good at.
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There is hope for me yet then @marcbe45
Disco octaves and Level 42 Slap bass is what I aspire to play one day.
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I still suck at disco octaves and I finished the course in 2019. You’re not alone 
I don’t practice them, like, ever but after the first few they start to fall apart for me, to this day. Just not my thing.
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Sorry I realise this is probably borderline necromancy digging up this post but I thought the fingering was pinky then ring not ring then ring?
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