12 Bar Blues 5 Day Challenge
Day 3 – High and Lonesome
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.
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Responses
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Responses
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That was a lot of fun. I love the turn around.
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Good lesson this one. working with double stops is challenging to make sure the strings ring out and and are not accidentally muted.
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Cool exercise! No wonder the bass players always look so cool.
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Having small old hands I’ve always had trouble with finger spread. I can’t cover the notes . Reaching out stretching my pinky pulls my other fingers out of position.
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A lot of work is required for a single day.
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Im always wondering about the time spent on each lesson. Im putting in at least an hour each day but am no where near ready to click complete. 3 or 4 days on each one so far. Getting mighty frustrated.
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I also spend a lot of time on each lesson and was getting frustrated. I decided to just relax and not worry about it and realize that getting this down in 5 days is not going to happen for me.
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I absolutely CANNOT reach the pinky 3 frets from the home chord. I can’t play this. HELP ME>>>> any suggestions?????
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So excited as a blues harmonica player all my life it’s hard to get my friends to “ play some blues” . My goal in taking up guitar in my retirement years it to be able to accompany myself on the guitar . This has brought my much closer to my goal much sooner them I expected… I have played percussion with a neck brace ( Harmonica holder) but guitar we shall see…
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Fun little exercise, challenging getting the strings ringing clean but hey ho onward we go! Really enjoying grooving the timing with this too
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This is starting to get really fun and I look forward to playing as often as I can.
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Tony. my ring finger has no dexterity whatsoever. Are there any exercises that can increase the independent dexterity of my fingers particularly my ring finger?
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Working this into more playing…
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Got the pattern at first.
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This will take some practice. My little finger doesn’t want to clear the high E when it’s supposed to and/or my ring finger wants to fret wherever it happens to land while I try to get the little finger right. I think that’s my main issue, so practice, practice, practice, repeat.
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Hey Rando – hope you made some progress with this. I am having the same issue as my pinky has a mind of its own. Slowly getting better at it, as you say – practice ….
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STARTING TO LOVE THE BLUES AGAIN.
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I’m having trouble with my little finger having a mind of its own.
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I stopped this challenge after having trouble with High and Lonesome and the pinky movement. Took the flatpicking course and started the finger stretching course. Now I came back and High and Lonesome is more doable.
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Thank you, best advice on here.
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my pinky cant get to the cords it is supposed to without making my had uncomfortable on the neck.
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Thx for the tip EricO,that 7 fret I can not do.Gonna have to practise this for sure.
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Really enjoying this,a lot of fun playing it.When I start messing up on it ,I just slow it down,really slow.Now I have two favorites to go over before my next lesson to tomorrow .Im liking this.
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The previous two exercises were fun and doable for me. This one, at the first try, is a challenge. Can’t seem to get it without blunting the notes on the B string.
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A week of strength and flexibility exercises for my pinky, and I can finally make something that vaguely sounds like the right notes.
-
Once I got into the groove this one on is a great blues chord progression!
-
Another fun tune! The pinky is a challenge at first but I can definitely find a bluesy rhythm once I get going. I would offer a suggestion to others that it may help to move your thumb to a lower position behind the neck so that it pushes your wrist out more and kind of directly under the neck (with some gap between the wrist and neck). This helps to get better precision on planting your fingertips on the fretboard.
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struggling to get pinky on 7th fret
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Really struggling through this. Can’t seem to get my fingers wide enough to finger 4 frets in High and Lonesome
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Fun stuff, love that boogie groove
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Great fun.I got a good 12 bar groove going 🙂
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Is everyone having trouble with the pinky too!
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I’m having trouble keeping the pinky from “fuzzing up” the b string on frets 7, 12, and 14. Any suggestions?
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This was a confidence builder for me. Thank you!
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Man, this is tough to get that pinky to the 7th fret.
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Amen
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A lot of fun!!!!
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I have it mentally but my pinky finger is too short. I am capable of doing it easily with a longer pinky finger.
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Ezekiyah,
I’m having the same problem let me know if you figure out a way to work it. I’ll let you know if I do.
Sigii
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Having a little trouble getting pinky to come down on 7th fret w/o dragging ring finger along with it and mucking everything up!! Just gotta keep at it!!
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love this one really feels good under the fingers and sounds good too
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I’m slow going but I’m really digging this! It really is fun and even though I’ve been playing rhythm for years, this “playtime” is really opening up my skills and giving me more confidence. Thanks Tony!
-
I’m sure I’m not alone with this, but on my left hand my little finger has a bend in it… the tip bends in towards my ring finger from the last joint. That impedes a lot of reach at times. Then there’s the bend of my first finger. I’ve noticed this on the hands of other older folks… the tip bends away from straight at the last joint. Okay. What does this mean to my finger picking and strumming? A lot of adjusting going on. But then as Tony has said, in guitar playing adjusting is the name of the game. What? He didn’t say that? Um. Well, he should have.
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Hi I find that the tighter I keep my left upper arm and elbow towards my side (without tensing my left shoulder), the more my curved little pinky is in position to work, wherever it is on the neck.
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Um, how do I get my little finger to do what I’m telling it to do? Yelling at it doesn’t work!
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LOL! You’re correct, yelling doesn’t work. Using it does. Be patient. It takes a long time to get it do what you want. Keep at it. One day it will work the way you want it to.
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Thanks for the encouragement.
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Starting to come together. So fun!!
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Starting to get the hang of this. Fun!!
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I love the blues. Mr. BB King, Stevie R. Vaughn. The reason I play. Great lesson. Thanks
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Fun exercise pay close attention to the details
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Keeping my left elbow close to my body makes it much easier for me.
-
This 12 bar blues is fun but I have freakishly short little fingers so getting clear notes using it is hard. I tried Amazon for little finger extenders but so far no luck.
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Fun
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Wondering if these five tabs go together if 5 people are playing them?
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Fun!
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Nice one Tony
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Pretty hard to concentrate while I’m staring at that Santa Cruz. Maybe he could hide it with paper bag or something. Have mercy.
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Got it. Thanks Tony!
Congratulations, !
Challenge complete
Come back tomorrow for your next challenge

That was a lot of fun. I love the turn around.
Good lesson this one. working with double stops is challenging to make sure the strings ring out and and are not accidentally muted.
Cool exercise! No wonder the bass players always look so cool.
Having small old hands I’ve always had trouble with finger spread. I can’t cover the notes . Reaching out stretching my pinky pulls my other fingers out of position.
A lot of work is required for a single day.
Im always wondering about the time spent on each lesson. Im putting in at least an hour each day but am no where near ready to click complete. 3 or 4 days on each one so far. Getting mighty frustrated.
I also spend a lot of time on each lesson and was getting frustrated. I decided to just relax and not worry about it and realize that getting this down in 5 days is not going to happen for me.
I absolutely CANNOT reach the pinky 3 frets from the home chord. I can’t play this. HELP ME>>>> any suggestions?????
So excited as a blues harmonica player all my life it’s hard to get my friends to “ play some blues” . My goal in taking up guitar in my retirement years it to be able to accompany myself on the guitar . This has brought my much closer to my goal much sooner them I expected… I have played percussion with a neck brace ( Harmonica holder) but guitar we shall see…
Fun little exercise, challenging getting the strings ringing clean but hey ho onward we go! Really enjoying grooving the timing with this too
This is starting to get really fun and I look forward to playing as often as I can.
Tony. my ring finger has no dexterity whatsoever. Are there any exercises that can increase the independent dexterity of my fingers particularly my ring finger?
Working this into more playing…
Got the pattern at first.
This will take some practice. My little finger doesn’t want to clear the high E when it’s supposed to and/or my ring finger wants to fret wherever it happens to land while I try to get the little finger right. I think that’s my main issue, so practice, practice, practice, repeat.
Hey Rando – hope you made some progress with this. I am having the same issue as my pinky has a mind of its own. Slowly getting better at it, as you say – practice ….
STARTING TO LOVE THE BLUES AGAIN.
I’m having trouble with my little finger having a mind of its own.
I stopped this challenge after having trouble with High and Lonesome and the pinky movement. Took the flatpicking course and started the finger stretching course. Now I came back and High and Lonesome is more doable.
Thank you, best advice on here.
my pinky cant get to the cords it is supposed to without making my had uncomfortable on the neck.
Thx for the tip EricO,that 7 fret I can not do.Gonna have to practise this for sure.
Really enjoying this,a lot of fun playing it.When I start messing up on it ,I just slow it down,really slow.Now I have two favorites to go over before my next lesson to tomorrow .Im liking this.
The previous two exercises were fun and doable for me. This one, at the first try, is a challenge. Can’t seem to get it without blunting the notes on the B string.
A week of strength and flexibility exercises for my pinky, and I can finally make something that vaguely sounds like the right notes.
Once I got into the groove this one on is a great blues chord progression!
Another fun tune! The pinky is a challenge at first but I can definitely find a bluesy rhythm once I get going. I would offer a suggestion to others that it may help to move your thumb to a lower position behind the neck so that it pushes your wrist out more and kind of directly under the neck (with some gap between the wrist and neck). This helps to get better precision on planting your fingertips on the fretboard.
struggling to get pinky on 7th fret
Really struggling through this. Can’t seem to get my fingers wide enough to finger 4 frets in High and Lonesome
Fun stuff, love that boogie groove
Great fun.I got a good 12 bar groove going 🙂
Is everyone having trouble with the pinky too!
I’m having trouble keeping the pinky from “fuzzing up” the b string on frets 7, 12, and 14. Any suggestions?
This was a confidence builder for me. Thank you!
Man, this is tough to get that pinky to the 7th fret.
Amen
A lot of fun!!!!
I have it mentally but my pinky finger is too short. I am capable of doing it easily with a longer pinky finger.
Ezekiyah,
I’m having the same problem let me know if you figure out a way to work it. I’ll let you know if I do.
Sigii
Having a little trouble getting pinky to come down on 7th fret w/o dragging ring finger along with it and mucking everything up!! Just gotta keep at it!!
love this one really feels good under the fingers and sounds good too
I’m slow going but I’m really digging this! It really is fun and even though I’ve been playing rhythm for years, this “playtime” is really opening up my skills and giving me more confidence. Thanks Tony!
I’m sure I’m not alone with this, but on my left hand my little finger has a bend in it… the tip bends in towards my ring finger from the last joint. That impedes a lot of reach at times. Then there’s the bend of my first finger. I’ve noticed this on the hands of other older folks… the tip bends away from straight at the last joint. Okay. What does this mean to my finger picking and strumming? A lot of adjusting going on. But then as Tony has said, in guitar playing adjusting is the name of the game. What? He didn’t say that? Um. Well, he should have.
Hi I find that the tighter I keep my left upper arm and elbow towards my side (without tensing my left shoulder), the more my curved little pinky is in position to work, wherever it is on the neck.
Um, how do I get my little finger to do what I’m telling it to do? Yelling at it doesn’t work!
LOL! You’re correct, yelling doesn’t work. Using it does. Be patient. It takes a long time to get it do what you want. Keep at it. One day it will work the way you want it to.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Starting to come together. So fun!!
Starting to get the hang of this. Fun!!
I love the blues. Mr. BB King, Stevie R. Vaughn. The reason I play. Great lesson. Thanks
Fun exercise pay close attention to the details
Keeping my left elbow close to my body makes it much easier for me.
This 12 bar blues is fun but I have freakishly short little fingers so getting clear notes using it is hard. I tried Amazon for little finger extenders but so far no luck.
Fun
Wondering if these five tabs go together if 5 people are playing them?
Fun!
Nice one Tony
Pretty hard to concentrate while I’m staring at that Santa Cruz. Maybe he could hide it with paper bag or something. Have mercy.
Got it. Thanks Tony!