TIPS FOR TODAY
Progress comes from momentum, not mastery.
If today’s challenge feels awkward or slow, that’s exactly how it’s supposed to feel. This isn’t a “nail it in one day” test — it’s your first pass at a new motion. Your hands will keep improving every time you come across a similar skill.
Even 10 focused minutes is enough to count today as a win. Our goal is NOT to perfect it. It’s to get exposure to a new skill.
Just get the motion under your fingers a few times at your own pace, and trust that next time you try a skill like this, it will feel a little smoother.
YOUR SAMPLE WEEK OF TONY'S ACOUSTIC CHALLENGE
5-Day "Stop Dabbling, Start Playing Guitar" Challenge
- MON: Technique
- TUE: Lick
- WED: Improv
- THU: Rhythm
- FRI: Transitions
FREE WHEN YOU JOIN TODAY
30 DAY JUMPSTART
All new members start with our 30-day jumpstart to learn the basics. It comes free with your membership when you join today.
3-Steps to Stop Dabbling and Start Playing
Try the Free 5-Day Challenge
Get a feel for the TAC method and see what 10 minutes a day can do.
Join TAC and Build Your Foundation
Start the 30-Day Jumpstart Challenge (included when you join) to lock in the basics and build a daily habit.
Keep Going with Daily Challenges
After the 30-Day Jumpstart, keep improving—one fun, daily guitar session at a time.
Iam 68 years old and Iam a little slow but I will practice over the day hopefully I get it figured out I guess we all have to start somewhere. I’ve always wanted to learn to play guitar.
I have played since the age of 16. I am 67! Pretty much limited myself to chords and pentatonic scales and never really worked on licks. Already, I am loving this approach looking forward to tomorrow.
I am 70 year old beginner with small hands and short stubby fingers. I’m using a half size acoustic but still muting strings. I’ve been adjusting my fret hand but also having wrist issues, what can I do for help
Brand new to guitar.
Hi
I thought that I would start this today, but I am finding that my fingers interfere with the strings below on the fretboard. I am really struggling with this as I have in the past. Can you suggest anything please?
Thanks
Ray
Missing my middle finger on my fret hand so will need to do things a little different as my pinky doesnt hammer on very well
I’m pretty much new
Beginner. Barely made it through today without bursting into tears. Not looking forward to tomorrow.
My wife bought me a guitar, pretty nice one for a complete beginner, for Christmas. I’ve been working through some cords and few short videos almost daily since then.
New to Guitar. I am 67. Found my daughters first guitar in the closet. Always wanted to play the guitar, now is the time to start.
New to the guitar at 68. 🙂
I can’t seem to put my finger on one string without it contacting the string below it. Any suggestions?
What can I do to help spread my middle and ring fingers? slow beginner here
Brand new beginner who suffered 2 ruptured discs at the bottom of my cervical spine resulting in my neck collapsing causing major left sided nerve problems in 2022 – the day after getting my first guitar.
I am now 64 yr old, medically retired & disabled, with left handed dexterity and strength issues following a failed operation to fuse my vertebrae in 2024. Having spent just over a year working on and exercising a hand I was told I would never be able to use properly I can now just about manage to fret a few notes and simple chords although my dexterity is still poor & my little finger is very uncontrollable.
I’m excited to be here to start my guitar journey as well as to continue forcing/exercising my hand… plus have fun finally getting to use my, now 7, guitars instead of just buying another one & have them gathering dust in my room.
Yes, I have suffered/suffer from Gear Acquisition Syndrome but there comes a time to actually start learning and that time starts now.
56 yr old beginner. Beginning for like the 7th time in my life.
Hi: Returning to the 6 string after maybe 30 years playing bass. Strange how you can add a really great bottom to a song without actually knowing a lot about the song, I’ll be 75 this year, and my goal is to play beautiful solo guitar. Such as (Unlike The Stars – Vin Downes). Will I succeed in 20 years? The important thing is to just get better – consistently . Your program has got me really excited. Use to flat pick blue grass – Doc Watson- but starting right from the beginning and learning how to approach getting it right Fabulous. and Thankyou Hey – checked a map – you live in some beautiful country.
wow! How do you get your pinkie up there?
I’m 67 years old, recently retired with time on my hands now and getting bored. I’ve decided to dust off my ole guitar (that’s been collecting dust for almost 40 years) and try to learn how to finally learn how to play it. So, I am basically a beginner…
I’ve never really been able to get beyond scale progressions. I haven’t touched a guitar in over 4 years but have always wanted to be able to play a song around a fire in the evening with friends. I’m 68 and my fingers are sore. I just picked up my guitar and tuned it before watching/playing the video. I’m hoping/planning on this being the time I actually learn how to play a song.
My win for the day today is I was able to get a bit of the rhythm (I had to look up how to spell that word).
I’ve been stuck on dabbling or noodling for a few years. I can play several chords and licks, but I cannot change quickly or smoothly enough to stay in rhythm and play and songs all the way through. My hope is to get unstuck and to play songs.
Got a guitar as a gift from my son a few years ago and took lessons for about a year. My teacher quit doing lessons and I just sort of let things fade over several years. I retired a few months ago and want to pick up guitar again to get good enough to play full songs with my son.
Advanced beginner but in stuck mode
I’M coming from years away and hand surgery.
Thanks Tony! Looks like this will be fun and challenging. I’m an intermediate “campfire” guitar player. I don’t use a pick at all so this challenge will improve my pick technique along with everything else.
71 years old retired & new to the guitar
837th time starting over, as a retiree. Trying to use dormant but actual dexterity gained over the years to overcome recently developed bit of carpal tunnel syndrome in left hand. Interesting first day of listening to how notes sound, from a couple of fingers that don’t have their former feel on the frets…
I’m a beginner
I’m completely new to guitar. I wish I knew what the strings were labeled, such as A string, B string, etc. I wish I had a simple chart before beginning so I have a roadmap. Also, it’s a bit hard to see which finger is pressing the strings. I would love to have a chord chart. I could not see the tab at the bottom right of the screen,
only the speed icon. I’m not sure this will work for me, but will stay with it this week. Thanks so much.
Tony –
I am 66, just retired and bought my first guitar – an Orangewood, and love it! Been practicing for a couple of months now and my fingers are still sore. Your challenge is very motivating for me and I love your approach at learning new skills. I plan to stick with it.
I first picked up my son’s guitar around 2014 and learned some chords from YouTube then eventually bought my own guitar. Since then have dabbled learning bits of different songs from YouTube and even had a few 1-2-1 lessons. I made quick progress at the start but really haven’t improved much since and definitely class myself as a dabbler. 1-2-1 lessons were helpful but too focused on music theory for me which didn’t really click. I’m now retired from paid work at 63 and would like to put some time into guitar again, don’t want to carry on the dabbling as sure I’ll stay at the same level forever! First lesson went pretty well today though had to run back over a few times, low E hammer was a struggle but the rest is coming together so I’m encouraged and looking forward to the next days.
Hi Tony
New beginner 67 yrs old never played a a day in my life. I have always wanted to play the guitar and thought now that I am retired it was a good time to learn.
Hi Tony, I am a 78 yr. old newbie on the guitar but very motivated to learn. I had to go back several times to get a clear sounding note. Coordinating the notes with the strumming I find is challenging but I’ll stick at it.
Hi Tony brand new. Been trying some online beginner stuff with progress made. Am totally committed and have the time to put into this. Looking forward to getting better
Hi Tony! I’ve been playing guitar off and on since I was 18 (now 75). I play with a group at church, but find myself wanting to learn more skills. This morning’s lesson is exactly what I’ve been trying to work on – alternate picking! So I know I’m in the right place. Thanks so much for breaking it all down and actually challenging me to grow in my skill level!
Got bought the guitar I’m using for my 18th Birthday (which was, ahem, some decades in the past). It’s been picked up every so often for short bursts of enthusiasm every few months or years apart and then neglected after a while of aimless plinking. Really hoping that adding some structure in like this will help me keep it going this time.
Strangely, the thing I’m finding hardest about this particular lesson is keeping the picking direction & rhythm consistent – whilst my chord hand seems to know what it’s doing the right hand just keeps going off and doing it’s own thing! – shows me where perhaps I need to focus some attention I suppose 🙂
Hi Tony.
Just starting out as a 77 year old retiree.
Starting over again at 58!
Hi Tony, 1st off, thanks for the into. I’m a complete beginner at 50. Fat fingers and a fender CC-60s concert acoustic guitar which sounds better than me. Day 1 challenge out the way, a little fumbly but seen it through.
Thank you very much. I started a couple of years ago at age 64. Very infrequent practicing. Watched whole video today and will try it tomorrow. I was supposed to start on Monday, but only have received this first video which probably came in my mailbox yesterday.
Rama
I am a restart. I think this is goi g to work
I’ve been playing guitar since the 80s and my fingers are a little rusty but I enjoy the way you teach it’s just like I’m starting over i joined tac and really want to learn more so thank you
This seems to have stopped at day 1????
Have I missed something?
I am currently dealing with lung cancer and your learning methods are helping me keep my mind off my health problems. I have a good feel for playing and connecting chords but struggle with licks and tabs. God Bless you Tony for making this challenge so fun!
I’m 64 years old (and yes! I do want to learn that Beatles song!). I had never even touched guitar before last year when I decided, I’d like to learn how to play. I bought an Eastman 00 which I think is beautiful. I love what you’re teaching me and I’m grateful for your superb five day challenge. I’m glad I found you.
One thing that would really help me is if you showed the stroke patterns on the tab. As a former piano player, I like seeing sheet music, so I watch your video while looking at the tab, but sometimes it’s hard to see whether you’re doing a down stroke or an up stroke. Is there a way you could add that?
I’m unable to move forward to Day 2?
Small win: Got my fingers moving, not just shaping a chord !
A good start, but a day late. I just had so much going on yesterday I never got to the guitar. So here I am today. So recently I had started out with the 30 day deal in the five day thing and everything went well up until the daily challenges started. I just thought the first challenge was so much over my head that it was unattainable. My fingers just couldn’t make the stretches. So I backed off. Then I saw this and I thought maybe it was something more manageable. And it seems to be! I had to slow the speed down to .5 then to .75 but I’m getting it. I’m still a day behind but I plan to catch up tomorrow. Certainly it needs more than 10 minutes and tomorrow I should have the time. Looking forward to continuing. Biggest win was being able to play the sequence without needing the tabs. But I do need to speed it up and be more clean on the strings. FYI. Age 79… Been playing for a long time…can do major, minor, and seventh chords at the bottom of the front board and can buy these as well. I wanted to learn how to re-tab and now I can. I also wanted to learn how to pick and use different rhythms srumming and I did get some of that over the first five or six weeks.
Brand spanking new – showed up!
Some notes sounded clear.
I am 70 years old, recently retired and have been taking online classes for about two years. I can play a dozen songs with chords but seem to not be going forward any, and I am stuck on how to put a good practice routine together.
computer down yeaterday but pick up guitar and play stuff i remembered as it came back for 25 min. no stop will do same today try to gey back tommrrow like what i read here