Three
Finger
Plucking

Block 1 builds the three-finger plucking cycle and carries it across two strings. Every exercise uses one sequence, a–m–i, repeated in strict order and never reset. Three fingers do not divide evenly into four beats, so the cycle starts each bar on a different finger; each exercise is written to the length at which it realigns, and the repeat sign always returns you to a.

The two-string exercises add the rake. When you move from the A string back to the E string, the finger that played the last A-string note also plays the first E-string note, and the cycle continues from that finger. A rake is shown only by the repeated finger letter.

The fretting hand holds one shape throughout—C at the 8th fret of the E string, E at the 7th fret of the A string—so all of your attention stays on the plucking hand.

Exercise 1 sets the a–m–i cycle on a single note: C, 8th fret on the E string. Pluck in strict order and never reset. Against 4/4 the cycle returns to a on the downbeat every three bars, so each variation is a three-bar repeat. Move from whole notes to half notes to quarter notes, and raise the tempo only once quarter notes are even.

Exercise 2 takes the cycle across two strings: two bars of C on the E string, then two bars of E on the A string. The cycle carries over the string change, so the A string leads off with i. On the return to the E string, a rakes: the ring finger plays the last A-string note and the first E-string note, and the pattern starts again. The 16-note phrase always lands on a at that point, so this exercise trains the ring-finger rake only.

Exercise 3 uses the same two notes but changes string every four notes. The cycle no longer lines up with the string changes, so each pass leads off with a different finger and rakes with a different finger: m, then i, then a. The full cycle is six groups long and covers every rake and every E-to-A crossing. Learn it in half notes before moving to quarter notes.

Exercise 4 changes string every three notes. A group of three matches the length of the cycle, so each A-string group repeats the fingering of the E-string group before it, and the rake rotates through i, m and a. Variation #1 puts one string per bar in 3/4, so every string change falls on a downbeat. Variation #2 is the target: 12/8, the same rhythm as eighth-note triplets in 4/4. The cycle runs six beats, so it realigns with the barline every three bars.