December Guitar Routine
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Rock And Roll Unplugged
Light My Fuse -
Layin' It Down
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That Funky Sound
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Hoochie Koo
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Spread The News
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5 Day 12 Bar Blues ChallengeDay 1 – Boogie
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Day 2 – Bassman Bobby
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Day 3 – High and Lonesome
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Day 4 – Hammer the Hurt
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Day 5 – Jimi’s Chord
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Santa's SerenadeNice List, Naughty List
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Sleigh Bells
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Milk And Cookies
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Santa's Brother, Seventh Claus
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Blitzen Blues
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Young Man, Old ManI'm A Lot Like You
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So Much More
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Rolling Home To You
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Take A Look At My Life
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Run Around The Same Old Town
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Clear VisionSeeing Clearly
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The Rain Is Gone
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Obstacles In My Way
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Nothing But Blue Skies
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Bright Sun Shiny Day
Try this guitar challenge
STEP 1: Watch the video to learn the bite-sized piece of music
STEP 2: Click the "PLAY" tab below the video to play along with Tony until you can do it on your own.
Like this lesson? Join Tony's Acoustic Challenge to keep going!
Responses
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Day 3 – High and Lonesome
Responses
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Pinky still tends to mute the b string, playing higher up the neck.
Need to carry on with daily stretching exercise to loosen my tendons. -
This is frustrating. My pinky sort of curves in, and so the pinky part of this is like impossible for my fingers to do. What do I do about this??
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I thought I’d return to see if I could stitch my pinky to reach the high fret. Not yet when starting from the fourth fret, but when sliding up to the ninth fret I found, although I still can’t isolate my fingers if I placed ring and pinky town, I can almost make the note. Just need to keep practicing
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A little tricky navigating pages, but worth it once there.
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Finally made it to day three, sticking around these blues chord challenge a little longer than I should, I’m not trying to be perfect at playing them, but I’m trying to play them where they a least sound decent. I really am enjoying these lessons!
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This was alot fun and I look further toward advancing speed accurately more in the future.
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Needs some work especially the pinky on the 7th fret. But otherwise ok
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My small hands make this very tough. I am struggling with my playing posture, but I can’t seem to get comfortable. This is where I wish I had a teacher with me to talk to me about posture, stretching, etc.
I am starting to worry if my small hands will be a killer and severely limit my playing… Bummed out.
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Fun, but challenging for me to get my ring amd pinky to land on the right spot!
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step change on this one. Tough.
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I really need to relax the pinky finger tendon to stop it splaying out to the right, so I’m making the chord shape on the 9th fret and physically moving my finger into the correct position to build muscle memory and stretch the tendon to allow the ring and pinky finger to act independently. I’ll train my hand for a week and then come back to this lesson and see if I can make the notes
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I am a small human with a small hand and I cant play the one note with the pinky so I am stuck and am not even sure how to progress with the course now because I am on the 3rd day of trying to get past that first bar. should I just move on and keep playing the next day’s challenge?
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No way I can keep up with this pace!!!!!!!! So just moving along. Grrrrrrrrrrr
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Stretching those muscles b4 and after,it helps…..
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Pinky stretch is hard imute the B string to much, it is better on the lower part of the neck
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Gettingmy pinky stretching on the 1st line is hard for me and it sounded awful until I worked at it awhile. Gotta leave it now. Ill be back to it.
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This one frustrated me. My pinky would not stretch that far. I even filed my nails and tried to move my thumb and felt I was in a very contorted position. I could do the others OK. Moving on.
-
‘it’s our duty to know how to play the blues’
I love that!
My poor fingers had a very hard time reaching over three frets, as usual, but I got better at it. -
Technically I can play this, just have issues knowing how far along I am. I tend to want to play an extra 2 bars over the E when it’s time to go to B and then switching to the turn-around (measure 11) at the right time. Otherwise this is a cool diddy to play.
-
Couple of things that I had to change and work on – repositioning of my thumb on the back of the neck to get the pinky to descend down to avoid the A string, and the closing loop where I needed to use my middle finger to depress the A string on the second fret and immediately release and use the first and ring finger for the last two notes. Tough but working through it!
-
Proficiency is my reward for attempt plus effort. This was impossible when I first tried it. Now it is second nature. The only way I found to make this process fun was to jettison my expectation…I learned my expectation was killing the thing I needed to keep me coming back every day…expectation is where my fun when to die. Once that was gone the effort bloomed to passion.
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2725 sessions! You are an inspiration to us all!!
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Had a hard time getting my ring finger to act independently when I put my pinky down. Obviously need to work on that.
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I have the same issue and I’ve been playing for over 20 months now. But you don’t have to lift the ring finger while fretting the pinky, they are on the same string so the right note is being played. Just remember to lift both for the next note, and you’re golden.
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Good session!
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Coming along …
-
Still occasionally mute the B string with my pinky when playing in time. Really fun, and a cool turn around.
-
Getting close!
-
I had to work on my hand position to get a good arch on my pinkie so the E string was not muted. After winning that battle, it went well.
-
fun exercise
-
can’t play at the speed you play – not confident of fingering and not smooth at picking correct strings on transitions – but am getting better
-
I got it!
-
Struggled a lot with my pinky, but it is fun and I was able to get a stretch that sounded okay.
-
This is a really great exercise! Once I got the fingering and picking half way down, I realized I needed to start cleaning up my sound. I had to tilt my left hand slightly toward the body and keep my fingers curled to allow the B string to ring. Lazy placement of the pinky on the minor 7th note meant muted tonic string. I needed to be more deliberate on touching just that one note with the pinky. Whew! What a challenge. Just when you think you have a win. I guess I can call it a small win. The next win will be when I can play it cleanly.
-
Slowly getting this under my fingers. This is a waaaay cool little sound and it’s gonna be great in the not too distant future. Thanks for the fun session!
-
Can’t get my pinky there without muting the string. Otherwise not a problem to follow.
-
Ouch! My fingertips have not hurt worse than tonights practice.
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fun except for the pinky reach—little hands and hard to stretch. Got it down just need to up the tempo.
-
difficult with the pinky
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Seems simple enough but I can’t get the pinky! My ring finger keeps getting in the way when I make the switch
-
That was fun, and love the way it sounds. I had a little trouble with my pinky muting the strings with that stretch, but I will continue to work on that. I am tired but meeting today, but I am here and playing, my big win for the day.
-
Getting the positions and timing down. Sounded ok except for the notes with my pinky, having trouble with the reach. Liked the turn around. Need more practice time to improve clarity and consistency.
-
this is sounding pretty good!!!!!!!!!
-
Did o.k. still can’t do the pinky. I just skipped that note. I was getting to frustrated.
-
Yes, it sounds great on two strings! Available for some interpretation.
Congratulations, !
Challenge complete
Come back tomorrow for your next challenge

Pinky still tends to mute the b string, playing higher up the neck.
Need to carry on with daily stretching exercise to loosen my tendons.
This is frustrating. My pinky sort of curves in, and so the pinky part of this is like impossible for my fingers to do. What do I do about this??
I thought I’d return to see if I could stitch my pinky to reach the high fret. Not yet when starting from the fourth fret, but when sliding up to the ninth fret I found, although I still can’t isolate my fingers if I placed ring and pinky town, I can almost make the note. Just need to keep practicing
A little tricky navigating pages, but worth it once there.
Finally made it to day three, sticking around these blues chord challenge a little longer than I should, I’m not trying to be perfect at playing them, but I’m trying to play them where they a least sound decent. I really am enjoying these lessons!
This was alot fun and I look further toward advancing speed accurately more in the future.
Needs some work especially the pinky on the 7th fret. But otherwise ok
My small hands make this very tough. I am struggling with my playing posture, but I can’t seem to get comfortable. This is where I wish I had a teacher with me to talk to me about posture, stretching, etc.
I am starting to worry if my small hands will be a killer and severely limit my playing… Bummed out.
Fun, but challenging for me to get my ring amd pinky to land on the right spot!
step change on this one. Tough.
I really need to relax the pinky finger tendon to stop it splaying out to the right, so I’m making the chord shape on the 9th fret and physically moving my finger into the correct position to build muscle memory and stretch the tendon to allow the ring and pinky finger to act independently. I’ll train my hand for a week and then come back to this lesson and see if I can make the notes
I am a small human with a small hand and I cant play the one note with the pinky so I am stuck and am not even sure how to progress with the course now because I am on the 3rd day of trying to get past that first bar. should I just move on and keep playing the next day’s challenge?
No way I can keep up with this pace!!!!!!!! So just moving along. Grrrrrrrrrrr
Stretching those muscles b4 and after,it helps…..
Pinky stretch is hard imute the B string to much, it is better on the lower part of the neck
Gettingmy pinky stretching on the 1st line is hard for me and it sounded awful until I worked at it awhile. Gotta leave it now. Ill be back to it.
This one frustrated me. My pinky would not stretch that far. I even filed my nails and tried to move my thumb and felt I was in a very contorted position. I could do the others OK. Moving on.
‘it’s our duty to know how to play the blues’
I love that!
My poor fingers had a very hard time reaching over three frets, as usual, but I got better at it.
Technically I can play this, just have issues knowing how far along I am. I tend to want to play an extra 2 bars over the E when it’s time to go to B and then switching to the turn-around (measure 11) at the right time. Otherwise this is a cool diddy to play.
Couple of things that I had to change and work on – repositioning of my thumb on the back of the neck to get the pinky to descend down to avoid the A string, and the closing loop where I needed to use my middle finger to depress the A string on the second fret and immediately release and use the first and ring finger for the last two notes. Tough but working through it!
Proficiency is my reward for attempt plus effort. This was impossible when I first tried it. Now it is second nature. The only way I found to make this process fun was to jettison my expectation…I learned my expectation was killing the thing I needed to keep me coming back every day…expectation is where my fun when to die. Once that was gone the effort bloomed to passion.
2725 sessions! You are an inspiration to us all!!
Had a hard time getting my ring finger to act independently when I put my pinky down. Obviously need to work on that.
I have the same issue and I’ve been playing for over 20 months now. But you don’t have to lift the ring finger while fretting the pinky, they are on the same string so the right note is being played. Just remember to lift both for the next note, and you’re golden.
Good session!
Coming along …
Still occasionally mute the B string with my pinky when playing in time. Really fun, and a cool turn around.
Getting close!
I had to work on my hand position to get a good arch on my pinkie so the E string was not muted. After winning that battle, it went well.
fun exercise
can’t play at the speed you play – not confident of fingering and not smooth at picking correct strings on transitions – but am getting better
I got it!
Struggled a lot with my pinky, but it is fun and I was able to get a stretch that sounded okay.
This is a really great exercise! Once I got the fingering and picking half way down, I realized I needed to start cleaning up my sound. I had to tilt my left hand slightly toward the body and keep my fingers curled to allow the B string to ring. Lazy placement of the pinky on the minor 7th note meant muted tonic string. I needed to be more deliberate on touching just that one note with the pinky. Whew! What a challenge. Just when you think you have a win. I guess I can call it a small win. The next win will be when I can play it cleanly.
Slowly getting this under my fingers. This is a waaaay cool little sound and it’s gonna be great in the not too distant future. Thanks for the fun session!
Can’t get my pinky there without muting the string. Otherwise not a problem to follow.
Ouch! My fingertips have not hurt worse than tonights practice.
fun except for the pinky reach—little hands and hard to stretch. Got it down just need to up the tempo.
difficult with the pinky
Seems simple enough but I can’t get the pinky! My ring finger keeps getting in the way when I make the switch
That was fun, and love the way it sounds. I had a little trouble with my pinky muting the strings with that stretch, but I will continue to work on that. I am tired but meeting today, but I am here and playing, my big win for the day.
Getting the positions and timing down. Sounded ok except for the notes with my pinky, having trouble with the reach. Liked the turn around. Need more practice time to improve clarity and consistency.
this is sounding pretty good!!!!!!!!!
Did o.k. still can’t do the pinky. I just skipped that note. I was getting to frustrated.
Yes, it sounds great on two strings! Available for some interpretation.