FLATPICKING ESSENTIALS - VOLUME 1 By Dan Miller - Learning Group
 

This book is on the way to my house, recently purchased. Some here have said they have used it and may want to go through it again. I'm probably way behind most here but I was thinking of starting a thread that is just dedicated to working through the book.

I'd like to do things like help each other understand what the content is, help out with technique of whatever is needed, and to also come up with songs, or versions of songs, that reinforce what is being learned.

That last part, the "Learning songs to reinforce ...." I think, is key. I COULD just zoom through the book but if I take my time and learn songs along the way, then I think I would get much much more out of it.

Thoughts? A giant thread maybe?

I have volume one and learned some but quickly gave up on "book only" learning.
I totally need a video to go with my lessons.
I have always needed a video and paper tab to learn a new song or skill.
If this takes off then I will follow along.

I'm onboard ... working through Volume 1 now.

I've yet to receive mine. When I do get it I'll start working on it while also focusing on the Christmas list I'm doing for work. I want to go through it at a slow enough pace to make sure I get out of it what I should.

Volume 1 & 2 has arrived. My Christmas performance will be my primary concern but I'll start going through it this week. I flipped through the first part and as expected it starts you out pretty slow but there is plenty of opportunity to turn those easy lessons into tremendous learning experiences, and that's what I'm going to do.

For each lesson, I'm going to really focus on the homework and not move on until I think I fully understand. I'll be anxious to dive ahead and make tasty music but I'm going to resist that urge.

Pulled my copy of volume 1 out last night. Went through the first few exercise as printed. A bit rusty but I haven't played much rhythm lately. I have been putting more effort into leads. Feels good to get back to rhythm playing a bit.

Glad to hear it. I think the first few lessons will make me dive back into a bit of theory to learn the chord construction to get the roots and fifths, etc. I'll probably overdo it on that part but I'll be setting myself up for what comes later.

I'm actually making a sheet where I can put a chord at the top and then I'll write down the notes that make it up to include the root (easy) and the fifths, etc. It's something that I can do a bit on the side while I have other things going on that I don't need to pay full attention to. It certainly can't hurt.

Reminds me of Gene Hackman's coach character in Hoosiers that made his team only do basic skill drills when he started with them.

Great thread idea. Count me in.

I've had my copy about 2 months. I'm working slowly and trying to get the fundamentals down really well before I move on. Right now I can do the first few exercises slowly but when I try to get up to the speed I need for songs I crash and burn. I figure the best cure for that is a whole bunch more practice on those same exercises so that's what I'm doing. I'm spending a little time every night with it and I'm getting better so I'm happy.

I'm fairly new to the guitar so getting my fingers to cooperate is the hard part for me.

Started FPE V 1 today.
 

In and around my Christmas songs practice I have started this book. To make sure I was up to speed on the small amount of theory that would be useful to get going I'm also learning a bit of it from Justin Guitar's primer. I asked questions in the following thread here: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=450509

So... in Flatpicking Essentials I did Example 1 and did the homework and I also did Example 2 and did the homework. I'm going to repeat both of those to make sure I'm not rushing ahead. I'm also using a metronome as suggested in the book.

Moved on the to next lesson, which is adding in the alternating bass line. I'll spend some time here and make a few study items to make sure I have the generic alternating bass line formula down, which also includes the basic chord and bass line information.

I make some study items to use when I'm on long-winded phone conferences. Generally I use index cards to get this done.

For those of you with young kids in the house that go to sleep early, classical guitar players stuff a cloth (shirt, sock, whatever) under the strings in front of the bridge so that they can practice into the wee hours without disturbing the rest of the house. Thought I would pass that along.

Flat picking practice can drive non-players to committing murder and mayhem... :D:D

Picking this back up myself.

I'm on to the walking up exercises, working out the runs in the key of C and D. That transition from C to F can go a couple of ways, and I haven't really decided which way I like best.

D

Yes! There are many times where I've opted to not practice due to similar situations. I COULD go downstairs but I don't have all my stuff down there.

I will try this trick, thanks!

I just got through playing Example 8 a few times. This exercise introduces the very beginnings of walking up using G, C, and D. I'm going to camp on exercises 1-8, especially 8, to get my fingers used to doing this.

When working on chord changes I use Justin Guitar's one-minute changes. That exercise helps with accuracy and speed. While I'm not really interested in speed on these basic walkups just yet I'm going to use the same concepts. What I do is put two chords on an index card and when it turns over I do one minute of whatever it says to do. In this case, I'll do from G->C, C->D, and D->G. While I'm doing them I'll name the notes just to get that pounded into my head.

Still working on Christmas music, but I'll slowly move forward on this as well. If I can escape 2016 doing basic walk-ups and walk-downs I'll be thrilled.