EP 5: I Tried Tommy Emmanuel's Guitar Warm-Up: This Is What I Learned

Tommy Emmanuel-the guitar virtuoso, fingerstyle master, and generous teacher has come back to Reverb to show off his guitar warm-up. Can Joe keep up?
Learn more about Tommy's routine on Reverb: bit.ly/3gk7jQj
Watch Joe try Cory Wong's guitar warm-up routine: bit.ly/2TVFPcp
Watch Joe try Mateus Asato's guitar warm-up routine: bit.ly/2TbI0bc
0:00 - Intro
2:37 - Exercise 1
4:00 - Recap 1
5:43 - Exercise 2
6:13 - Recap 2
8:23 - Exercise 3
10:47 - Recap 3
13:49 - Flatpicking Exercise
15:33 - Flatpicking Recap
16:55 - Conclusion

[@GabrielVelasco]

Great tips. Thank you.

[@wrayven]

I can use all of my fingers of right hand independently just fine without any pick until I put on a thumb pick. I will have to give it a go again because once that thumb pick is on my thumb, I want it to be a flat pick. Excellent tips.

[@joshuarineobigtas9095]

thank you so much

[@bobboitt3126]

Great video, a new technique always feels like starting guitar all over again! 😂

[@GetOutsideYourself]

Tommy Emmanuel makes everyone sound like a beginner in comparison, but you're holding up pretty well. Thanks for the tutorial.

[@Nooneknows74]

Be weary not to "anchor" the pinkie to the top, but instead a light rest to ensure hand stays relaxed enough.

[@marciaewell2661]

Joe, I bet a lot of flat and hybrid pickers have same problem wanting to use index finger to grip the thumb pick as that is how they learned and it is hard to unlearn habits. I have an idea to fix it. I was lucky to have learned from some old blues masters in the 80's who played almost entirely with thumb and index exclusively. Maybe try that style as a way to develop better index finger independence? Pretend the middle and ring fingers are gone, curl them back or tape them, whatever. I use both index and/or middle finger interchangeably depending on the sound I want, as you will find the same tune played with either index or middle will sound bit different. A really nice sound when using just thumb and index fingers is to "drop thumb" the thumb pick all the way to the B string while the index plucks the high E string, and while still maintaining the beat and bass with the thumb (tricky but worth the effort). For triplets, rhythmic accent or such, it has a very unique swing and tone. But the basics of fingerstyle is thinking of the thumb as your metronome while keeping alternating or monotonic bass while keeping impeccable timing and beat with thumb. Start simple and just work on the alternating bassline of a beat of a song you are learning for beginners, then work on the melody part once you can hold the thumb part well. Doing this for hours while watching mindless movies seemed to help ingrain the movements for me. I did the planted pinky for years and it helped me to gain confidence on where the strings were, but once I let my whole right hand move unanchored, then a whole new freedom of flow and "swing" developed that allowed me to use all the tonality options you get by plucking near the bridge, over soundhole or up onto the fretboard. No pro here, just small time gal that plays some blues and hope I can help others with fingerstyle.

[@terenceclothier585]

Cool 😎

[@AndrewDeFaria]

I find a good way to break away from the habit of grabbing the thumb pick like a flat pick with the index finger on the bottom is to actively employ the index finger in playing the melody notes on the upper strings. If the index finger is busy then it tends to resist traveling to the thumb pick to grab it by thumb and index finger because... well... it's busy! This is not to say that there are not times when grabbing the thumb pick as a flat pick with both the thumb and index fingers is never to be done. I find that fast single-line runs really cannot be done with a thumb pick unless you grab it like a flat pick. Thinking about this, what the thumb pick cannot do with power is upstrokes. So if you're about to play a fast single-line run that is best done with alternate picking (down, up, down, up) employ the index finger, grab the thumb pick like a flat pick and do the line. Then go back to using the index finger on the upper strings for melody. Of course, also explore playing that fast single line run using the thumb pick as intended for downstrokes and use the index finger for the upstrokes. You can also extend this to use thumb, index, and middle finger to play fast triplets on one string.

[@GabrielVelasco]

You too can play like Tommy Emmanuel in just three easy steps.

[@robharris6874]

Yer it`s real easy man !!!

[@LightningDogg]

Lol first... practice 100,000 hours. Then....be a genius with 2 completely separate brains.

[@onelove8062]

This guy looks like a musician

[@RyansCustomShopandGearOutlet]

What do I do if I can't stand the feel of a thumb pick smashing my thumb? I'd love to learn this technique, but every thumb pick I've ever tried feels like I have a tourniquet squeezing the life out of my thumb.

[@MrSmasher05]

I had the same problem, you can put them in very hot water until they soften up a little bit and you can mold them onto your finger, then once it cools down it holds the shape

[@RyansCustomShopandGearOutlet]

@@MrSmasher05 thanks!

[@AndrewDeFaria]

As they said in Jaws - "You're gonna need a bigger pick!". Thumb picks come in sizes. I suggest you get a large. I find Dunlops Large as the best. If the thumb pick is causing your thumb to turn blue that's a sign! And the sign is that it's too tight on your thumb. If that's the case and you are using a large size you might try to stretch it out a bit. On the other end, there are times when a thumb pick is just too loose, generally a sign that it will soon crack into pieces soon. Yes that happens. Bottom line is that you're just gonna have to get used to the feeling and learn how to find and judge thumb picks as "it fits right". This happens even within the same manufacturer, say Dunlop, same style and same size. Tommy has said that he'll go through a bunch of thumb picks, all the same size, make and model and pick out the ones that fit better than the other ones. Keep it up! You'll eventually get used to it and they will feel real comfortable after a while.

[@RyansCustomShopandGearOutlet]

@@AndrewDeFaria awesome, thanks! Funny thing is I have small hands, but those thumb picks always feel like I’m putting clothes pins on my thumbs. I’ll check out some different ones.

[@crystaloffrost]

When I watch Tommy play I am like what tha f**k :).. I think I should sell my guitars and use the money for something useful I guess.

[@youkissedmymom]

You got to get one of these for Greg Koch!

[@gonzalooliveraalves]

YES! We need the gristle master in one of these!