December Guitar Routine
-
Rock And Roll Unplugged
Light My Fuse -
Layin' It Down
-
That Funky Sound
-
Hoochie Koo
-
Spread The News
-
5 Day 12 Bar Blues ChallengeDay 1 – Boogie
-
Day 2 – Bassman Bobby
-
Day 3 – High and Lonesome
-
Day 4 – Hammer the Hurt
-
Day 5 – Jimi’s Chord
-
Santa's SerenadeNice List, Naughty List
-
Sleigh Bells
-
Milk And Cookies
-
Santa's Brother, Seventh Claus
-
Blitzen Blues
-
Young Man, Old ManI'm A Lot Like You
-
So Much More
-
Rolling Home To You
-
Take A Look At My Life
-
Run Around The Same Old Town
-
Clear VisionSeeing Clearly
-
The Rain Is Gone
-
Obstacles In My Way
-
Nothing But Blue Skies
-
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
You've been invited to experience Tony's Acoustic Challenge
Stop Dabbling, Start Playing
GET STARTED
Watch the free class to discover the fun guitar learning method used by over 35,000 students to learn guitar through nostalgic songs from the 60s and 70s.
Day 4 – Hammer the Hurt
Responses
-
This was a very fun challenge. I did stay on this longer than previous exercises, not to hit perfection but to get some fundamental muscle memory and feel the vibe.
-
Not a straight Travis picking pattern and I’m having a hell of a time trying to get the picking and fretting hands in sync!
-
For me who prefers finger style i found it easier than using a pick as per previous lessons.
-
This is a very humbling exercise for me. I’ve always faked simple picking structures. I like getting lost in this challenge because of how foreign it is to me. But it does make me wonder if it will ever become autopilot without spending all of my time on picking exercises. Do people have thoughts on this? I’m not opposed to the investment but it will take away from keeping up with other challenges.
-
It’s gonna take some practice but I do like it
-
Second time through. Did somewhat better this time. Might get it down with a little more practice!
-
Sort of got it. Would take some more practice for sure.
-
2nd time around and this is definitely improved, need to round the curve and enter the highway still.
-
my hammer ons do not make any noise?! i apparently dont have enough umph!
-
What a great picking pattern for the blues. It’s gonna take me a while but I’m enjoying the ride.
-
If i go really slow and rely on my Travis picking thumb independence, this works.
-
Yup, this one is a difficult one for me. I do it so darn slow and forget what finger goes where. It still sound pretty cool.
-
Ugh….
-
too hard for me. I could not hear my hammer ons and had a hard time getting the timing down.
-
What the heck is a “hammer on”? Some initial explanation of what the technique is (or is SUPPOSED to be, for us beginners) would be really useful.
-
Okay, this is hard. When I “hammer on” the G string and pluck the D at the same time the bass note drowns out the hammer-on. Perhaps, if I practice this a bit more I will hear how it is supposed to go.
-
I’ve spent a couple of days on this one. I still cannot play the thing all the way through at tempo. But, this is a great lesson. I’ve long wanted to learn how to play this type of blues (Mississippi John Hurt), and now I can at least play it.
-
It’s Saturday and I always find coming back to a problem sequence easier when you step away. No doubt this is hard, but rewarding. My big win is to have (almost) got the picking sequence from the first measure under my fingers and with some pinky tendon stretches, I will get this (eventually)
-
This is the hardest one yet. Been at it for hours, measure by measure, and still flub it up. I am going to keep coming back to it, because now it is personal.
-
This was very different
-
This was challenging to incorporate the picking hammer on notes. Still, I enjoyed the learning experience it provided. Thanks Tony!
-
Frustrated with this one. Really like his teaching style but wish he would slow down on where to place fingers on strings. He goes too fast and have try to rewind to get it right.
-
Yeah, definitely not getting the hammer-on — it makes pretty much no sound at all, especially when a picked string happens at the same time. Think I will leave this one.
-
Tough finger pattern with hammer-ons while doing the base line. I might have to do this over and over for days…and wonder.if it will ever sound smooth.
-
never done anything like this. “sort of” got the general idea. Hope we will rotate back to it in the future!
-
Really struggling to understand how to play the lower string while hammering the higher string. This was one of the hardest challenges for me. I will need to come back to it.
-
Nice pattern. The hammer ons are a bit tough, both in timing and reach.
-
Why does the phrase “chew gum and walk at the same time” keep coming to mind. Lots of challenges for me, thanks for the fun lesson!
-
I did my best,but I struggle with this type of picking. I will keep going at this because it sounds so cool.
-
I decided to ‘favorite’ this and come back to it. If at 1st you don’t succeed…
-
not my favorite lesson, probably because I found it more difficult and not as rewarding . However I did look up Mississippi John Hurt. Wow what talent!! and sounds like self taught.
-
Started off feeling very confused by the whole thing but eventually got to grips with the picking but had to leave the hammer ons for next time.
-
This is pushing me and great fun.
-
Wow I haven’t played in years. It’s taking me awhile to comprehend just the 1st steps of this video! And my fingers hurt! But I am excited to try again today.
Congratulations, !
Challenge complete
Come back tomorrow for your next challenge

This was a very fun challenge. I did stay on this longer than previous exercises, not to hit perfection but to get some fundamental muscle memory and feel the vibe.
Not a straight Travis picking pattern and I’m having a hell of a time trying to get the picking and fretting hands in sync!
For me who prefers finger style i found it easier than using a pick as per previous lessons.
This is a very humbling exercise for me. I’ve always faked simple picking structures. I like getting lost in this challenge because of how foreign it is to me. But it does make me wonder if it will ever become autopilot without spending all of my time on picking exercises. Do people have thoughts on this? I’m not opposed to the investment but it will take away from keeping up with other challenges.
It’s gonna take some practice but I do like it
Second time through. Did somewhat better this time. Might get it down with a little more practice!
Sort of got it. Would take some more practice for sure.
2nd time around and this is definitely improved, need to round the curve and enter the highway still.
my hammer ons do not make any noise?! i apparently dont have enough umph!
What a great picking pattern for the blues. It’s gonna take me a while but I’m enjoying the ride.
If i go really slow and rely on my Travis picking thumb independence, this works.
Yup, this one is a difficult one for me. I do it so darn slow and forget what finger goes where. It still sound pretty cool.
Ugh….
too hard for me. I could not hear my hammer ons and had a hard time getting the timing down.
What the heck is a “hammer on”? Some initial explanation of what the technique is (or is SUPPOSED to be, for us beginners) would be really useful.
Okay, this is hard. When I “hammer on” the G string and pluck the D at the same time the bass note drowns out the hammer-on. Perhaps, if I practice this a bit more I will hear how it is supposed to go.
I’ve spent a couple of days on this one. I still cannot play the thing all the way through at tempo. But, this is a great lesson. I’ve long wanted to learn how to play this type of blues (Mississippi John Hurt), and now I can at least play it.
It’s Saturday and I always find coming back to a problem sequence easier when you step away. No doubt this is hard, but rewarding. My big win is to have (almost) got the picking sequence from the first measure under my fingers and with some pinky tendon stretches, I will get this (eventually)
This is the hardest one yet. Been at it for hours, measure by measure, and still flub it up. I am going to keep coming back to it, because now it is personal.
This was very different
This was challenging to incorporate the picking hammer on notes. Still, I enjoyed the learning experience it provided. Thanks Tony!
Frustrated with this one. Really like his teaching style but wish he would slow down on where to place fingers on strings. He goes too fast and have try to rewind to get it right.
Yeah, definitely not getting the hammer-on — it makes pretty much no sound at all, especially when a picked string happens at the same time. Think I will leave this one.
Tough finger pattern with hammer-ons while doing the base line. I might have to do this over and over for days…and wonder.if it will ever sound smooth.
never done anything like this. “sort of” got the general idea. Hope we will rotate back to it in the future!
Really struggling to understand how to play the lower string while hammering the higher string. This was one of the hardest challenges for me. I will need to come back to it.
Nice pattern. The hammer ons are a bit tough, both in timing and reach.
Why does the phrase “chew gum and walk at the same time” keep coming to mind. Lots of challenges for me, thanks for the fun lesson!
I did my best,but I struggle with this type of picking. I will keep going at this because it sounds so cool.
I decided to ‘favorite’ this and come back to it. If at 1st you don’t succeed…
not my favorite lesson, probably because I found it more difficult and not as rewarding . However I did look up Mississippi John Hurt. Wow what talent!! and sounds like self taught.
Started off feeling very confused by the whole thing but eventually got to grips with the picking but had to leave the hammer ons for next time.
This is pushing me and great fun.
Wow I haven’t played in years. It’s taking me awhile to comprehend just the 1st steps of this video! And my fingers hurt! But I am excited to try again today.