Three
Finger
Plucking

Block 2 adds the fretting hand. The plucking hand keeps the strict a–m–i cycle from Block 1 while the fretting fingers move in alternating or opposite directions. The plucking direction never changes, whatever the fretting hand does.

Fretting fingers are the numbers above the staff; plucking fingers stay between the staves. Exercise 2 sits in 8th-fret position, one finger per fret. The scales and arpeggios set their own positions, and the arpeggios shift; the fingering numbers show where.

The traps: where the fretting hand turns around, a reflexive m where the cycle calls for i or a; and in the scales and arpeggios, resetting to a at the start of each pass. The runs don't divide by three, so every pass starts on a different finger. Keep the cycle strict and let the hands disagree.

Everything in this block stays on one string or ascends. Descending work, with rakes, comes in Block 3.

Exercise 1 is plucking only: the C on the A string, 3rd fret. It is the same pitch as Block 1's C on the E string, on a different string gauge and tension, so the plucking hand gets used to the new feel before the fretting hand joins in. Twelve notes, three bars, and the repeat returns you to a.

Exercise 2 runs a four-note fretting shape on the E string against the a–m–i cycle: up two notes and back. The shape turns around at its top and bottom notes; the plucking cycle never does. Four against three means each fretted note gets every plucking finger in twelve notes, three bars, and the repeat returns you to C on a. The variations climb the fretting hand: 1-2-3, 1-2-4, 1-3-4, then 2-3-4, which leaves out the index so the ring and pinky carry it. Drop to half notes or a slower tempo until the cycle holds through every turn.

Exercise 3 takes the cycle into a one-octave scale, ascending only. At each string change the fretting hand resets to start the new string while the plucking cycle carries straight through, and the strings take different numbers of notes: two, three and three in the major; three, three and two in the minor. Play three passes without stopping, one per line. Eight notes don't divide by three, so the passes start on a, i and m. The jump from the top back to the root is not a rake: keep the cycle going.

Exercise 4 climbs a two-octave arpeggio to the high root on the G string, plucking each note twice. The fretting hand moves on every second stroke, and the pair of plucking fingers on each note changes as the cycle runs. Each arpeggio shifts twice: the major on the D string and for the top C, the minor on the D string and for the top A. Use the quarter rest to get back to the low root. Three passes, one per line, starting on a, i and m. The tempo is marked in eighth notes, so the same number means the same stroke rate as the other exercises.