Bluegrass Guitar Lesson: Right Hand Practice Exercises

[cbwilson87]

Awesome stuff, but WAY too fast! I had to pause and go at my own pace after I watched you do the exercises first.

[JumpIrina]

Really cool! I'll try to practice that from now on, thanks a lot!! I think it will help! :)

[pdurban3]

Thanks for this excellent series Adam. You present some complicated concepts in such a way that a rank beginner, like myself, can make some sense of it. I've been agonising about the proper way to hold the pick, so that alone is gold, to me. I've decided to take up the guitar to help rehabilitate my left hand after some surgery. I've long been a fan of Doc Watson, so here I am. Peace Man. ;))

[adamschlenker]

@pdurban3 Thanks you. I can't think of a more fun way to rehab your hand than playing some tunes! I'm glad to hear that my approach works for you. Feel free to ask the questions that come up, I'm happy to help however I can. Also, keep an eye on the web site, there are new lessons there now and more coming soon. I'm working on another right hand series at the moment (picking techniques: alternate, cross pick, rest stroke, reverse...)

[danlashbrookgtrsetup]

Adam, I have to agree with you 300 percent on the pick grip,,,,99 percent of the people I see are playing off the point of the index finger which is wrong with no tone or volume . Until you hold the pick correctly you don't even know what the gtr sounds like.Great vid & good advice.Playing in a group you'd like to be heard.

[adamschlenker]

@danlashbrookgtrsetup Good to hear from you Dan. The right hand is SO important and is to often overlooked/under developed. Picking technique is the make or break, after all it is called Flat Picking ;>)

Adam

[PyscoPathicPanda]

So hard T0T

[headstock48]

@andy4248 Hey, you have plenty of life left. You can definitely learn to play. You don't need to know keys or scales to play, but it's good to learn it as you go. There are many beginner songs you can play, whether you know the scales/keys or not.

[adamschlenker]

@headstock48 Your right that there are a lot of tunes a person can learn but there is NO reason to not learn a few scales. They don't take long to learn when you look at one pattern at a time. You'll be glad you did & you'll have a clearer vision of the tunes your trying to learn.

[shoulderoforion]

Thank you very much for this....I am inspired to become a bluegrass player now.

[ekim2003]

Good stuff Adam!...Thanks for posting and encouraging....as for that bluegrassnazi well..........................

[frankier54]

thanks for al the tips ,i'm practicing now ,again thanks fr

[MuttleyEason]

Wow that one guy is a real peckerhead. I can think of 20 blue grass G chords, and this is definitely one of them. Cool lesson. Rock on country boy.

[poppyseller1]

To the guy who claims to be an expert on what bluegrass is or is not.This is all based on mountain music, played with banjos and fiddles, wash boards, saws, etc., Generations of Celts who settled in mountain regions of N.C. Georgia, West Virginia etc, brought this music from Europe and passed it down .After a day of hard work whole families would play together. Its the music industry, mainly Nashville who needed to label the music as Blue Grass out of some sort of vanity about common music.

[aphguitar]

Just like everybody else, just very thankful for all of your lessons. I checked out this bluegrassbychris guy, and it appears he also teaches bluegrass, and he was just attacking the competition (unfairly at that). Keep doing what you're doing. We're all getting better and faster because of it.

[1zzzzzz11]

Wow, I cant believe how negative people can be. Calling Adam Bogus for playing a G cord differently than someone else prefers is like saying Egyptions shouldent have built pyrimids. Thank you Adam for all the time and effort you have put into these lessons. I have learned a great deal from you and think your playing ia fantastic.

[SatchmoUSMC]

I have watched Adam's videos for a few day and it appears he has put allot of time and energy into helping all of us. The least we could all do is NOT be critical of him, but maybe, thank him. I don't know anything about this guy but I do know playing the guitar is work unless you happen to be another Clarence White, and he worked at it full time. So Adam whoever you are THANKS!! I Appreciate it!

[andrewshere]

bluegrassbychris is just another opinionated know-nothing that blights YouTube with dumb comments. "Bogus? Not bluegrass?" This is an instructional video for a right hand practice exercise! Try watching some of Adam's other videos or 6:36 before making idiotic comments that you just have to share with the world. How is 8 More Miles To Louisville not bluegrass?!

[bravefriend710]

@confusedaboutthedefinitionofb­luegrassbychris,

Adam is an excellent flatpicker and has an awesome command of the fretboard. If only you had the same proficiency with your manners and approach to critical thinking.

[adamschlenker]

@bravefriend710 Thanks for the kind words & sticking up for me ;>)

[headstock48]

@adamschlenker Ignore the classless people that you run into, Adam. You're awesome. Thank you.

[bluegrassbychris]

this guy is bogus. this is not bluegrass at all. he isnt even holding is G chord bluegrass style

[adamschlenker]

@bluegrassbychris To each is own. I'm only doing this help to help...so if this material doesn't help you then move on, no harm no fowl.

As to your comment about holding the G chord bluegrass style, without the B note or 3rd, yes that is a common way bluegrassers do it but it's not the only way it can be done. I often release the pressure on the B to clean up the sound of the G but still fret it he same way because it's comfortable to me...Like I said to each it own.

[TheMrBWinter]

@bluegrassbychris Let's get this straight - Adam chooses, as matter of musical preference, to voice a G chord in a way that puts emphasis on the 1st and 5th of the chord, instead of the 3rd, and that somehow makes him 'bogus' and 'not bluegrass at all.' Brilliant analysis, sir. Any other gems you'd like to share? Perhaps you could post a teaching video in defense of your 'authentic bluegrass = the G chord fretted my way' theory? Or, for that matter, any constructive material whatsoever?

[twangbarfly]

@bluegrassbychris You telling me Rice, Sutton, Smith et al never play a D on the second string in a G chord?

I've learned some great bluegrass tips from this guy for free and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING from you. I note that you are a violinist with a site offering paid lessons - is this your selling strategy? Trying to undermine those offering free guidance on here? Why don't you go and pull the Bryan Sutton/Kenny Smith lessons to pieces while you're at it. Or post a lesson on the "bluegrass" G chord?

[headstock48]

@bluegrassbychris Get a life.

[headstock48]

Put up a video, why don't you? We're waiting.

[johnrobel]

@bluegrassbychris THERE IS AN OLD SAYING USED BY POLITE SOCIETY " It is better to be thought a fool and remain silent, than to speak and remove all doubt". You leave no doubt, and offer nothing! You can finger chords any goddamn way you want, fingerings have no designated "style".

[adamschlenker]

@andy4248 Don't let the thought if it all overwhelm you. You don't have to be qualified to drive an Indy car just to get a drivers license...NO you don't have to learn all the scales & keys to reach a enjoyable place as a picker but I do believe you need to know the ones that are most common to the style(s) of music you want to play. The videos I have posted here cover a couple of the most commonly used scales & keys for Bluegrass, you should get to know those & go from there

[headstock48]

Stellar.

[headstock48]

Hi. Can anyone help me figure out what the numbers in exercise #4 mean? I understand the first stanza where it indicates to play the C chord. But then for the 2nd stanza in exercise #4, what do the numbers 0 and 1 represent? And so on. Thanks.

[adamschlenker]

@headstock48 Hi there. I use dots to represent chord tones or notes that are in the chord your playing. The numbers are TAB which means that the number represents the frets...1= 1st fret, 2=2nd fret, a 0 means open string and so on. So if you see a 3 on the top line it means play the 3rd fret on your HIGH E string.

[headstock48]

@adamschlenker Hi. I've read tab before but I was confused because I thought your fret numbers were in between strings, not on an actual string. Should I assume that the number is on top of the string I'm supposed to play? For example, for #4, second stanza, I play open D, then open G, then C twice? Sorry to bother you with such trivialities. It just bothered me that I couldn't figure it out!

Your playing is impressive. Thank you. Joanne

[adamschlenker]

@headstock48 Joanne, Yes my tab/fret numbers tend to rest on the string like I'm writing on notebook paper lines. Sorry for the confusion but yes your onto it now.

No bother at all, ask anything you like

Adam

[headstock48]

This is great. Thank you.

[jonnyk108]

This is a great lesson! Thanks for breaking this down.

[LfunkeyA]

great lesson!