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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Day 4 – The More The Merrier
Responses
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Fun to do this on chords. Hard on the fingers after a bit. Could get vibrato to ring for. beat or two, had to be patient to let it mute out before playing again,
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I discovered when the main neck pressure from the fretting hand is between the thumb and the finger joint at the base of the index, I had really good vibrato from all fingers, both slow and fast motion. If the sound was weak when picking, the index finger pressure was weak. The index fretting pressure leads the middle and ring motion for good vibrato.
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I struggled a little picking all three strings at once – I couldn’t get all the strings to ring simultaneously. My fretting fingers definitely felt it!
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That was hilariously fun. Never done vibrato with three strings. Way cool. So much to learn, so excited.
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Good lesson, a little harsh on the fingers.
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It wasn’t bad most of the time. Sometimes the vibrato was a little “diluted”? But most often I got some of the effect. It seemed to get a bit better the more I did it and a bit slower. Sometimes when I wasn’t looking at my fingers I was a bit more relaxed and it came out a bit better.
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Fun exercise. I had some trouble getting all of my fingers in the chord shape to bend in unison. Just need some practice. I found this very hard on my finger tips. Love plucking the three strings together for a nice sound.
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I found this type of vibrato the easiest to do. Fun challenge. Thanks!!
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This day was fun. Like the edgy.
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This technique is new, and it will be interesting to see what becomes of it. I am trying to place it with a song I know, but I am coming up with nothing. Having the fret-hand index knuckle tight to the neck is mandatory. I liked the plucking of the three-string chord progression.
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I got this. So cool
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The “confined” vibrato worked very nicely for me 🙂
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How often will we revisit this technique. I found this tough on my fingertips. This is hard for a 60yo bird to do, but I’m trying.
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Way cool!
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This will help add nuances to my playing. I can’t wait to use it in my strumming. Thx guys.
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No problem with the Vibrato and chord changes, but trying to get the mutes in the proper space is requiring some extra practice!
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Easier than I thought. I like jorgemac’s technique.
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If you are having trouble using vibrato on all 3 fretted chord string positions just wiggle 2 of the the 3 fretted notes and let the other fretted note ring. I do this down in 1st position cowboy chording areas as it is hard to get any clean vibrato tones on all 3 strings. I always try to make sure I “vibrato” the lowest fretted bass string in any of the chords selections .
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That’s a very helpful insight, jorgemac. Thanks for posting it.
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I have the technique down, and I can use it sparingly depending on what I am playing….definitely with the blues.
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Doubt if I will ever use this, it sounds more like an accompaniment to a melody line and/or singer. Since I don’t have others to play with… That said, it is an interesting way to try to use vibrato over a chord, so that has some value in itself. It sounds kind of weird at regular speed so I sped it up to 1.75 and if flowed much better for me. I can’t yet get the edgy vibrato to sustain. Or to sound much at all, for that matter.
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This was awesome, I had been using this plucking method but felt I was more making noise than music. but having a blasted doing it. Now I can advance this knowing it is a legit technic lol
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Liked it! For the most part I could do it
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Surprisingly easy to do. Learning the new chords with very simple transition was satisfying..
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Getting a lot out of a little. Have heard this type of accompaniment on blues before.
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Hard to do without pressing hard. Tough on the fingertips that. Sorta fun doing it at different tempos.
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Cool vibe, I liked the sound, just very slow moving my fingers.
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This week has a lot on common with last weeks BB King challenge. Came very easily to me.
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Very cool blues vibe . . . trouble getting the vibratto to be even as my fingers got tired but I did improve with practice as long as i took occasional breaks. I had to work hard not to rush this and to take it in time. Great session!
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I liked this and the sound. This actually was easier for me than the single note vibrato. No, it has not creeped into my playing — I was hoping YOU would give us some examples of real songs where this could be used (it helps us left-brained people). Interesting week! Now back to fingerpicking “Yesterday” by Hal Leonard!
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I found it difficult to keep time with Tony’s play along track because of all the dead space. I switched to a drum track which worked much better for me. The vibrato does add a cool vibe during the dead space but IMO there was too much. Something like a drum or bass track adds a lot more flavor to the exercise and helped me a lot in keeping time. Without it I found myself doing a lot of counting that didn’t always work out if I was not watching and just listening to the play along
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I stayed with this a lot longer than I thought I would. It keeps you going. Needs a lot of practice to keep the sustain going longer, but I like it.
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Was able to pick it up quickly. Not sure where I will use it, but the unknown is part of this mystical journey.
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Oh, this is lots of fun ! It sooo opens the door to musical experimentation – 3 chords in 1 very familiar chord shape, all close together makes it seem almost easy. Hammering the middle finger then either plucking all three strings (or just two) or picking them separately in either ascending or descending form, and mixing it all up from chord to chord – while of course throwing in a vibrato here and there just to keep in line with the challenge. Ahh, life is good – just keep on pickin’ y’all.
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Good to know this technique. I’ll look for other opportunities to use its application.
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I’m playing an electric guitar – I can’t get my dead string xxx to sound right. I know it will sound different than an acoustic but should I be hitting the strings with fingernails or the ends of my fingers? I think Tony covered this somewhere but at that point, I had other things to work on!
My first attempts at vibrato were better then after I had played through this multiple times. Tired hand maybe. -
I was kinda able to play this challenge. Not pretty and not something I will be using in the foreseeable future but I got through it.
-
Im getting the feel switching between chords slowly, l like the sound I’m getting most times. I will come back later today to do the playing a long part.
-
Groovy A7, D7, E7 chords held using edgy vibrato technique, nice 12 bar blues also!
-
I am really enjoying this week. Vibrato is tough to achieve but there is much less going on which helps me significantly. Today, I am fretting the chords well but picking with my fingers is clunky. This is a growth opportunity for me as I have always used a pick and fretting with my fingers is a challenge. I definitely want to return to this and practice more. My favorites are filling up!
-
Really cool
When you get a groove going. -
I loved playing in Am with these chords. I even played a solo from memory using the Am scale (and proficiency with that scale was one of my end goals).
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I didn’t realize how the music encompasses this technique to really give it some significant variation. This is beautiful!
-
The first sound from my Taylor was “BOING!” as I had incorrectly fretted the A7 chord. Once corrected, I progressed through the lesson, made nice transitions, and was pleased with the vibrato and space. Using vibrato where applicable will be a nice enhancement to my guitar repertoire going forward.
-
Nice bluesy chords, love the 12 bar blues stuff. This was fun!
-
It’s definitely a process. I did enjoy the chords today.
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Enjoyed playing the 1-3-b7 chords in a 1-4-5 12 bare blues progression in the key of A (A7, D7, E7) You can omit the perfect 5th when playing extended chords like dominant 7 chords and still get the bluesy sound of the dominant 7th chord. Has something to do with the perfect 5th being highly stable and and not offering a lot of emotional pull one way or the other in defining the sound of the chord. Liked using vibrato when playing this. My vibrato is still a little weak but has improved from the past. Have fun…..
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the most difficult part of this was the timing of the hit. Space was not a friend today. The sound was good though.
-
We are offered here a lot of levels of learning experience: e.g. the 3 notes that make up the chord, chord progression and blues, vibrato and rhythm. Like @HowardM I’ve been through this more than once and still find it helpful while learning and playing other songs I’m interested in playing. If you’re new here on TAC, trust the process because it works!
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I completely agree with @BobMallord, trust the process.
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I always enjoy learning new “voices” for the chords. I find it fascinating that the more I learn, the less I know. TAC is truly a wonderful experience; it constantly broadens my horizons. I do play different music throughout the day, but my anchor is my TAC lessons. I hope everyone is doing well, and I can’t wait to read the comments.
-
Too True Howard. If you find it hard to fret a chord the “conventional” way you learn to adapt and finger it an “unconventional” way and discover a new tone to add to your pallet of chords.
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The pinky, ring and middle fingers work best for me on Tony’s Tab.
Its harder but I’m doing it in 1st position also
A7 – use B/3, open G string and D/3 frets
D7 – use E/2, B/1 and G/2
E7 – use E/4, B/3 and G/4
My favorite is index, middle and ring fingers, finger picking on
A7 – B/8, G/6 and D/7
D7 is B/7, G/5 and D/7
E7 is B/9, G/7 and D/9th frets-
Ii like it.
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Congratulations, !
Challenge complete
Come back tomorrow for your next challenge
Fun to do this on chords. Hard on the fingers after a bit. Could get vibrato to ring for. beat or two, had to be patient to let it mute out before playing again,
I discovered when the main neck pressure from the fretting hand is between the thumb and the finger joint at the base of the index, I had really good vibrato from all fingers, both slow and fast motion. If the sound was weak when picking, the index finger pressure was weak. The index fretting pressure leads the middle and ring motion for good vibrato.
I struggled a little picking all three strings at once – I couldn’t get all the strings to ring simultaneously. My fretting fingers definitely felt it!
That was hilariously fun. Never done vibrato with three strings. Way cool. So much to learn, so excited.
Good lesson, a little harsh on the fingers.
It wasn’t bad most of the time. Sometimes the vibrato was a little “diluted”? But most often I got some of the effect. It seemed to get a bit better the more I did it and a bit slower. Sometimes when I wasn’t looking at my fingers I was a bit more relaxed and it came out a bit better.
Fun exercise. I had some trouble getting all of my fingers in the chord shape to bend in unison. Just need some practice. I found this very hard on my finger tips. Love plucking the three strings together for a nice sound.
I found this type of vibrato the easiest to do. Fun challenge. Thanks!!
This day was fun. Like the edgy.
This technique is new, and it will be interesting to see what becomes of it. I am trying to place it with a song I know, but I am coming up with nothing. Having the fret-hand index knuckle tight to the neck is mandatory. I liked the plucking of the three-string chord progression.
I got this. So cool
The “confined” vibrato worked very nicely for me 🙂
How often will we revisit this technique. I found this tough on my fingertips. This is hard for a 60yo bird to do, but I’m trying.
Way cool!
This will help add nuances to my playing. I can’t wait to use it in my strumming. Thx guys.
No problem with the Vibrato and chord changes, but trying to get the mutes in the proper space is requiring some extra practice!
Easier than I thought. I like jorgemac’s technique.
If you are having trouble using vibrato on all 3 fretted chord string positions just wiggle 2 of the the 3 fretted notes and let the other fretted note ring. I do this down in 1st position cowboy chording areas as it is hard to get any clean vibrato tones on all 3 strings. I always try to make sure I “vibrato” the lowest fretted bass string in any of the chords selections .
That’s a very helpful insight, jorgemac. Thanks for posting it.
I have the technique down, and I can use it sparingly depending on what I am playing….definitely with the blues.
Doubt if I will ever use this, it sounds more like an accompaniment to a melody line and/or singer. Since I don’t have others to play with… That said, it is an interesting way to try to use vibrato over a chord, so that has some value in itself. It sounds kind of weird at regular speed so I sped it up to 1.75 and if flowed much better for me. I can’t yet get the edgy vibrato to sustain. Or to sound much at all, for that matter.
This was awesome, I had been using this plucking method but felt I was more making noise than music. but having a blasted doing it. Now I can advance this knowing it is a legit technic lol
Liked it! For the most part I could do it
Surprisingly easy to do. Learning the new chords with very simple transition was satisfying..
Getting a lot out of a little. Have heard this type of accompaniment on blues before.
Hard to do without pressing hard. Tough on the fingertips that. Sorta fun doing it at different tempos.
Cool vibe, I liked the sound, just very slow moving my fingers.
This week has a lot on common with last weeks BB King challenge. Came very easily to me.
Very cool blues vibe . . . trouble getting the vibratto to be even as my fingers got tired but I did improve with practice as long as i took occasional breaks. I had to work hard not to rush this and to take it in time. Great session!
I liked this and the sound. This actually was easier for me than the single note vibrato. No, it has not creeped into my playing — I was hoping YOU would give us some examples of real songs where this could be used (it helps us left-brained people). Interesting week! Now back to fingerpicking “Yesterday” by Hal Leonard!
I found it difficult to keep time with Tony’s play along track because of all the dead space. I switched to a drum track which worked much better for me. The vibrato does add a cool vibe during the dead space but IMO there was too much. Something like a drum or bass track adds a lot more flavor to the exercise and helped me a lot in keeping time. Without it I found myself doing a lot of counting that didn’t always work out if I was not watching and just listening to the play along
I stayed with this a lot longer than I thought I would. It keeps you going. Needs a lot of practice to keep the sustain going longer, but I like it.
Was able to pick it up quickly. Not sure where I will use it, but the unknown is part of this mystical journey.
Oh, this is lots of fun ! It sooo opens the door to musical experimentation – 3 chords in 1 very familiar chord shape, all close together makes it seem almost easy. Hammering the middle finger then either plucking all three strings (or just two) or picking them separately in either ascending or descending form, and mixing it all up from chord to chord – while of course throwing in a vibrato here and there just to keep in line with the challenge. Ahh, life is good – just keep on pickin’ y’all.
Good to know this technique. I’ll look for other opportunities to use its application.
I’m playing an electric guitar – I can’t get my dead string xxx to sound right. I know it will sound different than an acoustic but should I be hitting the strings with fingernails or the ends of my fingers? I think Tony covered this somewhere but at that point, I had other things to work on!
My first attempts at vibrato were better then after I had played through this multiple times. Tired hand maybe.
I was kinda able to play this challenge. Not pretty and not something I will be using in the foreseeable future but I got through it.
Im getting the feel switching between chords slowly, l like the sound I’m getting most times. I will come back later today to do the playing a long part.
Groovy A7, D7, E7 chords held using edgy vibrato technique, nice 12 bar blues also!
I am really enjoying this week. Vibrato is tough to achieve but there is much less going on which helps me significantly. Today, I am fretting the chords well but picking with my fingers is clunky. This is a growth opportunity for me as I have always used a pick and fretting with my fingers is a challenge. I definitely want to return to this and practice more. My favorites are filling up!
Really cool
When you get a groove going.
I loved playing in Am with these chords. I even played a solo from memory using the Am scale (and proficiency with that scale was one of my end goals).
I didn’t realize how the music encompasses this technique to really give it some significant variation. This is beautiful!
The first sound from my Taylor was “BOING!” as I had incorrectly fretted the A7 chord. Once corrected, I progressed through the lesson, made nice transitions, and was pleased with the vibrato and space. Using vibrato where applicable will be a nice enhancement to my guitar repertoire going forward.
Nice bluesy chords, love the 12 bar blues stuff. This was fun!
It’s definitely a process. I did enjoy the chords today.
Enjoyed playing the 1-3-b7 chords in a 1-4-5 12 bare blues progression in the key of A (A7, D7, E7) You can omit the perfect 5th when playing extended chords like dominant 7 chords and still get the bluesy sound of the dominant 7th chord. Has something to do with the perfect 5th being highly stable and and not offering a lot of emotional pull one way or the other in defining the sound of the chord. Liked using vibrato when playing this. My vibrato is still a little weak but has improved from the past. Have fun…..
the most difficult part of this was the timing of the hit. Space was not a friend today. The sound was good though.
We are offered here a lot of levels of learning experience: e.g. the 3 notes that make up the chord, chord progression and blues, vibrato and rhythm. Like @HowardM I’ve been through this more than once and still find it helpful while learning and playing other songs I’m interested in playing. If you’re new here on TAC, trust the process because it works!
I completely agree with @BobMallord, trust the process.
I always enjoy learning new “voices” for the chords. I find it fascinating that the more I learn, the less I know. TAC is truly a wonderful experience; it constantly broadens my horizons. I do play different music throughout the day, but my anchor is my TAC lessons. I hope everyone is doing well, and I can’t wait to read the comments.
Too True Howard. If you find it hard to fret a chord the “conventional” way you learn to adapt and finger it an “unconventional” way and discover a new tone to add to your pallet of chords.
The pinky, ring and middle fingers work best for me on Tony’s Tab.
Its harder but I’m doing it in 1st position also
A7 – use B/3, open G string and D/3 frets
D7 – use E/2, B/1 and G/2
E7 – use E/4, B/3 and G/4
My favorite is index, middle and ring fingers, finger picking on
A7 – B/8, G/6 and D/7
D7 is B/7, G/5 and D/7
E7 is B/9, G/7 and D/9th frets
Ii like it.