The Low Strings (Guitar Lesson)
What are you waiting for? Get your membership now!
The Low Strings
In this lesson Jim takes the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and plays it on the lower strings. This is an excellent exercise for reading and memorizing these notes.
Taught by Jim Deeming in Music Reading seriesLength: 5:39Difficulty: 2.0 of 5
In the previous lesson, Jim explained how to play the melody to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" on the three treble strings. Now, the melody will be played an octave lower on the bass strings. This will train you to identify and read notes that are written with ledger lines. Most beginning guitarists have difficulty reading notes that are written above or below the staff. Roughly half of the notes on the fretboard are written above or below the staff. Consequently, you must devote a significant amount of practice time towards reading notes in these low and high ranges.
Practicing the Melody
Follow the guidelines listed below as you practice through the melody in the lower octave:
1. Always practice with a metronome.
2. Do not play the melody by ear. Read the melody from the standard notation included under the "Supplemental Content" tab.
3. Print out the written melody. Then, cover the tablature with pieces of scrap paper. Do not consult the tablature unless you are absolutely stuck and cannot decipher / determine the location of a particular note.
4. Play the melody with all downstrokes at first. Then, go back and apply the alternate picking pattern that Jim explained in the previous lesson. Chapter 2: (00:59) Play Along Pause the video and practice the melody on your own along with a metronome. Start at a slow tempo such as 55-60 beats per minute. Once you can play the melody successfully at 60 beats per minute, return to the lesson video and play it along with Jim in this scene. Chapter 3: () Challenges with the Low Notes Playing the melody to "Twinkle..." on the low string presents some technical and reading challenges. The leap from the sixth string to the fourth string that occurs in the first measure might be difficult for you. Drill this string skip if you have problems with it. Also, reading ledger lines might give you problems. The only way to improve in this area is with plenty of practice. As you read and practice more melodies in this register, your sight recognition of low notes will become automatic. Chapter 4: (01:37) Faster Tempo Exercise Pause the lesson video and continue to practice the melody to "Twinkle..." As you perfect the melody at a give metronome setting, bump the tempo up by a couple of beats per minute. Once you can successfully play through the melody at 76 beats per minute, return to the lesson video and play along with Jim in this scene.
Additional Practice Tips
1. Count the rhythm out loud.
2. Say the note names out loud.
Video Subtitles / Captions
Supplemental Learning Material
Music Reading
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsReading music and rhythm is the foundation for anyone serious about music. In order to understand the theory necessary to progress as a player, a basic understanding of how to read music and how to read rhythms is necessary.
Lesson 1
Basic Notes and Theory
Understanding notes, intervals, and scales is key to music reading. Jim proves a beginner crash course on these subjects.
Length: 18:53 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Basic Music Reading
Jim covers basic music concepts such as the staff, time signatures, clefs, measures, note duration, and note representation.
Length: 16:25 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
The First Two Strings
Jim covers the first two strings in this lesson. He explains where the natural notes are located on the fretboard and how they appear on the staff.
Length: 17:12 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
The Third and Fourth Strings
Jim covers the third and fourth strings. He explains where the natural notes are located on the fretboard and how they appear on the staff.
Length: 11:43 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
The Fifth and Sixth Strings
Jim covers the fifth and sixth strings. He explains where the natural notes are located on the fretboard and how they appear on the staff.
Length: 11:34 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Symbols, Timing, and Notes
Jim Deeming explains more music symbols in this lesson. He also introduces 3/4 time and eighth notes.
Length: 10:25 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
In this lesson Jim Deeming uses the classic song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" as a music reading exercise.
Length: 11:06 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
The Low Strings
In this lesson Jim takes the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and plays it on the lower strings. This is an excellent exercise for reading and memorizing these notes.
Length: 5:39 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Echo
Jim Deeming teaches a music reading exercise entitled "Echo." This fun, play-along lesson is a perfect way to hone your reading and counting skills.
Length: 18:03 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
About Jim Deeming
View Full Biography
Jim Deeming got his first guitar when he was only six years old. His Dad was taking fingerpicking lessons, and Jim wanted to be just like him. The Mel Bay books didn't last very long before he strapped on a thumb pick and added the Chet part to Red River Valley so it sounded better.
Most of Jim's early learning was by ear. With unlimited access to his Dad's collection of Chet Atkins albums, he spent countless hours decoding his favorite songs. They were never "right" until they sounded just like Chet. Around the age of 12, Jim heard Jerry Reed for the first time and just knew he had to be able to make that "Alabama Wild Man" sound. The styles of Chet & Jerry always have been a big influence on his playing.
More recently he has pursued arrangements by Tommy Emmanuel and Doyle Dykes, in addition to creating some of his own and writing originals.
Jim has performed in front of a variety of audiences, including concerts, competitions, weddings and the like, but playing at church has always been a mainstay. Whether playing in worship bands or guitar solos, gospel music is deep in his roots and is also the driving theme behind his debut CD release, titled "First Fruits".
Jim has been playing for about 38 years. He also has taught private lessons in the past but believes JamPlay.com is an exciting and better venue with many advantages over the traditional method of weekly 30 minute sessions.
Jim lives in Berthoud, Colorado with his wife, Linda, and their four children. Although he still has a "day job", he is actively performing and is already back in the studio working on the next CD. If you wonder how he finds time, look no further than the back seat of his truck where he keeps a "travel guitar" to take advantage of any practice or song-writing opportunities he can get.
The opening song you hear in Jim's introductory JamPlay video is called, "A Pick In My Pocket". It's an original tune, written in memory of Jim's father who told him early on he should always keep a pick in his pocket in case he ever met Chet Atkins and got the chance to play for him. That song is slated to be the title track for his next CD, which will feature several more originals plus some of his favorite covers of Chet and Jerry arrangements.
Acoustic Guitar Lessons
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
Mark Lincoln
Lesson 40 takes a deeper look at slash chords. Mark discusses why they're called slash chords, and how they are formed.
Free LessonSeries Details
Don Ross
New fingerstyle instructor Don Ross introduces himself, his background, and what you should expect in this series.
Free LessonSeries Details
Peter Einhorn
JamPlay is proud to introduce jazz guitarist Peter Einhorn. In this lesson series, Peter will discuss and demonstrate a way...
Free LessonSeries Details
Justin Roth
In this lesson Justin introduces his series on playing with a capo and dishes out some basic tips, including how to properly...
Free LessonSeries Details
Calum Graham
Award winning, Canadian fingerstyle guitarist Calum Graham introduces his Jamplay Artist Series, which aims to transform...
Free LessonSeries Details
Jessica Baron
Jessica kindly introduces herself, her background, and her approach to this series.
Free LessonSeries Details
Orville Johnson
Orville Johnson introduces turnarounds and provides great ideas and techniques.
Free LessonSeries Details
Alan Skowron
Alan shares his background in teaching and sets the direction for his beginning bass series with simple ideas and musical...
Free LessonSeries Details
Rich Nibbe
Rich Nibbe takes a look at how you can apply the pentatonic scale in the style of John Mayer into your playing.
Free LessonSeries Details
Jim Deeming
Jim discusses the importance of setting goals. He provides some tips that will help steer your practicing in the right direction.
Free LessonSeries DetailsElectric Guitar Lesson Samples
Our electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
Lisa Pursell
Lisa breaks into the very basics of the electric guitar. She starts by explaining the parts of the guitar. Then, she dives...
Free LessonSeries Details
Brent-Anthony Johnson
Just like with the plucking hand, Brent-Anthony shows us the basics of proper fretting hand technique. In addition, he shows...
Free LessonSeries Details
Tosin Abasi
Tosin explains some of the intricacies of the 8 string guitar such as his personal setup and approach to playing.
Free LessonSeries Details
Prashant Aswani
Do you want to play more musical sounding solos? Do you want to play solos with more emotion behind them? Maybe you're the...
Free LessonSeries Details
Dave Weiner
Dave "David J" Weiner returns with a lesson on how to play with style and attitude. He covers all the basic techniques you'll...
Free LessonSeries Details
David Ellefson
David Ellefson, co-founding member of Megadeth, explains his overall approach to teaching and learning bass in this introductory...
Free LessonSeries Details
Joe Burcaw
Join Joe as he shows one of his favorite drills for strengthening his facility around the fretboard: The Spider Technique.
Free LessonSeries Details
Tom Appleman
Tom Appleman takes a look at a blues in E with a focus on the Chicago blues style. The bass line for Chicago blues is very...
Free LessonSeries Details
Steve Stevens
Steve Stevens shows some of his go-to licks and ideas while improvising over a backing track he made.
Free LessonSeries Details
Daniel Gilbert
Known around the world for his inspirational approach to guitar instruction, Musician's Institute veteran Daniel Gilbert...
Free LessonSeries DetailsJoin over 476011 guitarists who have learned how to play in weeks... not years!
Signup today to enjoy access to our entire database of video lessons, along with our exclusive set of learning tools and features.
Unlimited Lesson Viewing
A JamPlay membership gives you access to every lesson, from every teacher on our staff. Additionally, there is no restriction on how many times you watch a lesson. Watch as many times as you need.Live Lessons
Exclusive only to JamPlay, we currently broadcast 8-10 hours of steaming lesson services directly to you! Enjoy the benefits of in-person instructors and the conveniences of our community.Interactive Community
Create your own profile, manage your friends list, and contact users with your own JamPlay Mailbox. JamPlay also features live chat with teachers and members, and an active Forum.Chord Library
Each chord in our library contains a full chart, related tablature, and a photograph of how the chord is played. A comprehensive learning resource for any guitarist.Scale Library
Our software allows you to document your progress for any lesson, including notes and percent of the lesson completed. This gives you the ability to document what you need to work on, and where you left off.Custom Chord Sheets
At JamPlay, not only can you reference our Chord Library, but you can also select any variety of chords you need to work on, and generate your own printable chord sheet.Backing Tracks
Jam-along backing tracks give the guitarist a platform for improvising and soloing. Our backing tracks provide a wide variety of tracks from different genres of music, and serves as a great learning tool.Interactive Games
We have teachers covering beginner lessons, rock, classic rock, jazz, bluegrass, fingerstyle, slack key and more. Learn how to play the guitar from experienced players, in a casual environment.Beginners Welcome.. and Up
Unlike a lot of guitar websites and DVDs, we start our Beginner Lessons at the VERY start of the learning process, as if you just picked up a guitar for the first time.Our teaching is structured for all players.Take a minute to compare JamPlay to other traditional and new methods of learning guitar. Our estimates for "In-Person" lessons below are based on a weekly face-to-face lesson for $40 per hour.
 |
||||
| Price Per Lesson | < $0.01 | $4 - $5 | $30 - $50 | Free |
| Money Back Guarantee | Sometimes | n/a | ||
| Number of Instructors | 82 | 1 – 3 | 1 | Zillions |
| Interaction with Instructors | Daily Webcam Sessions | Weekly | ||
| Professional Instructors | Luck of the Draw | Luck of the Draw | ||
| New Lessons | Daily | Weekly | Minutely | |
| Structured Lessons | ||||
| Learn Any Style | Sorta | |||
| Track Progress | ||||
| HD Video | - | Sometimes | ||
| Multiple Camera Angles | Sometimes | - | Sometimes | |
| Accurate Tabs | Maybe | Maybe | ||
| Scale/Chord Libraries | ||||
| Custom JamTracks | ||||
| Interactive Games | ||||
| Community | ||||
| Learn in Sweatpants | Socially Unacceptable | |||
| Gasoline Needed | $0.00 | $0.00 | ~$4 / gallon! | $0.00 |
Mike H.
"I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar!"
I am 66 years young and I still got it! I would have never known this if it had not been for Jamplay! I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar! Ha! I cannot express enough how great you're website is! It is for beginners and advanced pickers! I am an advanced picker and thought I had lost it but thanks to you all, I found it again! Even though I only play by ear, I have been a member a whopping whole two weeks now and have already got Brent's country shuffle and country blues down and of course with embellishments. Thank you all for your wonderful program!
Greg J.
"With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace"
I'm a fifty eight year old newbie who owns a guitar which has been sitting untouched in a corner for about seven years now. Last weekend I got inspired to pick it up and finally learn how to play after watching an amazing Spanish guitarist on TV. So, here I am. I'm starting at the beginning with Steve Eulberg and I couldn't be happier (except for the sore fingers :) Some day I'm going to play like Steve! I'm self employed with a hectic schedule. With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace, rewinding and replaying the videos until I get it. This is a very enjoyable diversion from my work yet I still feel like I'm accomplishing something worthwhile. Thanks a lot, Greg
Bill
"I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students."
I am commenting here to tell you and everyone at JamPlay that I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students. I truly enjoy learning to play the guitar on JamPlay.com. Yes, I said the words, ""enjoy learning."" It is by far the best deal for the money.
Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.Watching you play...it's funny to see someone with 40 years experience playing twinkle twinkle to a metronome...lol...but thank you for doing it for us.