Video Question: Strumming With First Finger

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Date: March 21st, 2008 | Length: 1.02 | Instructor: Mark Lincoln

Caz_sk8chick asks, "I find it easier to strum with my 1st finger......i dont use my thumb and 1st finger, or a pick. Does that matter??" Another benefit of being a member of JamPlay is the video response section. Our expert staff fields questions from our members and provides video responses each week.

Other Video Responses:

Alternate Picking Strokes - October 10th, 2007 (2 minutes, 56 seconds)

Thomas1603 says, "Hey guys, I've been having a hard time with my alternate picking techniques, I know it's not completely NECESSARY but I would like to be able to improve it since I would like to play a little faster, It's just that I can't seem to coordinate my hand very well. Anything you guys can help me with?" View Response

Learning From Tabs - February 3rd, 2009 (2 minutes, 45 seconds)

Lucasholland asked "Hello, my question is on learning songs from TABs. I'm trying to play this simple song: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/j/john_mayer/little_red_corvette_tab.htm I'm struggling with the chorus. I just don't know how to do it. It says I'm supposed to play the low E on the 3rd fret, the A string on the 5th fret and the D string on the 7th fret. That is a huge stretch that I doubt is possible to do. How would I fret that first chord? So my question is really 2 questions: 1. How do I fret the chord in "Little Red Corvette"? 2. How do I figure out chord fingerings from TABs in general? Thanks! Lucas." View Response

Power Chords - November 5th, 2007 (1 minutes, 30 seconds)

Shelby67 asks: "Are power shords always played with a downstroke?" View Response

position of left pinky - October 31st, 2007 (1 minutes, 10 seconds)

MillaTK asks: "Hi, first of all, thank you for the great lessons. I'm practicing scales, and I have a problem with my left pinky: I have large hands (if I stretch my left hand, from thumb to pinky, tip to tip, I span a little more than 24cm, that is 9inches and a half), so I can stretch it quite easily to the right fret, even with the other fingers still on the frets. The problem is that the pinky will not stay parallel to the others, so if I fret let's say the 1st string on frets 1-4, the knuckles my first three fingers will be perpendicular to the fretboard or will be slightly bent towards the head, while the knuckle of the pinky will point the other way... there will be a large "V" between fingers 3 and 4. If I use my right hand I can position the pinky correctly, but if I lift it and fret the string again, I'll have the same problem. This makes it difficult to hammer on correctly, as the pinky will not go down from the tip but slightly from the side (though the finger is curled correctly). Is there any particular excercise I can do to correct this? [sorry for the length of the question, but I wanted to be as clear as possible!]" View Response

- September 24th, 2008 (3 minutes, 25 seconds)

Lucasholland asks, "Hey guys, I'm currently practising switching between the G Major and D7 chords. I've found that there seem to be two ways to do this: One involves sliding your third finger over from the third fret to the second fret. That way you only have to put 2 fingers down. The other one works by lifting off your third finger and placing it on the second fret. Which method would you recommend? I don't want to develop any bad habits now! Thanks, Lucas" View Response