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.
Hi Tony, thanks for doing this challenge
Finally giving this a try ! Longtime player/dabbler who never had the time to commit to getting to the next level. Now retired, joined a local bluegrass jam, and want to become more proficient soloing. I’m okay in first position, moving up the neck is where I get lost.
I am a VERY old beginner. New to this. Always wanted to play. Fingers pretty slow and clumsy today but giving it a go.
I am 62 and purchased a Beginner Acoustic Guiter for myself as a Xmas gift this year LOL! I played the Drums WAY back in high school but never touched the guitar before this .. other than air guitar at gatherings lol. I like singing Johnny Cash at karaoke and always wanted to be able to play the guitar along with it. I am looking forward to seeing what I can come up with.
I’ve picking it up and putting it down for years. I’m a little beyond a beginner, but not much. We’ll see where this goes.
I have never played a guitar before. Im 66 and have always wanted to play
I have tune it the best i can using a fct-2 fender tuner. Its all new however i will learn to play
I am new at playing guitar. I bought my first guitar in 2009 an
d after trying to teach myself guitar with one of those books that states you can learn guitar on your own…My guitar has sat in its case ever since. I stumbled across one of your one day challenges on YouTube. It was the stretching exercise, middle finger, first finger, ring finger, pinky finger exercise. Your motivational comments inspired me to get my guitar in hand and start to become a guitar player at 67 years old. If I keep seeing the enjoyment and improvement over this 5 day challenge then I will be joining you guitar geeks for a year….We’ll see.
Tony, I am new to learning the guitar, being older I finally decided to give guitar a go. I have been hesitant to sign up for the class due to not being sure of my ability to learn this, however after this first day of the 5 day challenge I could actually see myself being able to learn this and have fun while learning. Thank you for putting this out there to give it a no risk trial.
Tony, Thanks for doing this 5-day challenge. This exercise was very easy for me. In my teenage years, I used to play electric bass in a rock cover band and then got into classical guitar and got to a level where my part-time profession was to play guitar at luncheons and wedding ceremonies, etc.
But in the last ~20years, after I switched to focusing on acoustic and electric guitar, I got a little lost with guitar-effects and gear, and started dabbling with various styles of music without any clear focus on what I wanted to do. I love the guitar and have no problems picking it up every day. I’m hoping this challenge will give me fresh perspectives on the simple joy of making music with the guitar, and with doing it from my heart (more than from my head)!
I have played guitar on and off junior high school. I am now 69 years old. I have always played a 12 string. I haven’t played in a few years. Picking has never been easy. I can tell I am not quite holding my fingers correctly, and they are getting sore quickly. I get the basics of this, but it will take practice. On to tomorrow.
Brand new beginner.
Brand new beginner Starting at let’s say a “mature” age.
Picking — I’ve never been a fan of the sound of a pick. Just use a pick anyway? I’m not a total beginner. I know 4-5 songs with basic strumming. Recently ended private lessons for 1.5 years starting as a total beginner. Still feel like a beginner.☹️
A 70 y.o. dabbler for sure. This is the second or third time I’ve tried this 5 day challenge. I’ve recently hooked up with a guy that wants to play guitar together maybe somewhere in public by mid April. I’m ready to do something. I’m getting old.
I’ve been off and on since high school..so about 25 years. I mainly play fingerstyle now so this exercise was a good refresher for using the pick. My win was going through at 2x speed with one miss.
Great lesson & tool. I haven’t picked up my guitar in over 10 years.
Hey Tony, thanks for this structured opportunity to improve my 6 string skills. I have been playing for 55 years but the size of my fingers don’t work so well on chords. Mostly I play bass when asked in pit bands for schools, churches, community theater musicals, with the folks at the VFW, and in several small time local bands. Guitarist envy is what could be the problem. Playing with others on six string is fun but have been stuck for years with beginner level play. I am sure that there are some bad habits that need to be corrected with your lessons.
I’m a part time dabbler for many many years. I’m glad this is a program I believe I can stick to. Surprisingly to me, I found this first exercise challenging because I have no structure and hard to separate my fingers on the lower strings to get a clean sound. Thanks.
I consider myself “Brand Spankin New”. I have tried taking lessons a few times in my life, the last time was 20+ years ago, but have always given up in frustration. I do not remember the notes of the strings or how to read music. I need to refresh on what I would consider the extreme basics. I’m giving it a try again because I would like to play and have fun.
Beginner
Total beginner
Hi Tony, I’m hoping to become a guitar player after years of ‘dabbling’. I followed today’s video closely but didn’t quite get the upstroke or the 4th string G-B thing. I found you went quite quickly over that part. I’ll try again with the video slowed down, but I’m thinking there might not have been enough explanation of what you’re doing. I’ll try to follow along all this week but wanted to give that feedback. Thanks
Been trying for years and never got past the frustration of not being good enough, fat fingers, pains in the wrist big time.
Hi Tony,
I started playing guitar when I was 16. Took lots of lessons for four years and did quite well. Unfortunately, life took a turn at 20 and I didn’t pick it up again until 20-years later. I was able to play okay, after shaking the cobwebs, but since raising a family I just could maintain any level of consistency with all those obligations, so here I am eager and ready to take a different approach. I’m open and optimistic to new learning, and looking forward to becoming a better, sustainable guitar player.
-Greg
Thanks for the challenge Tony. Playing guitar has been a lifelong ambition of mine, but I haven’t figured out where to start, thanks for the kick start.
Coming back after 30 years. I wasn’t all that good back then so I really want to find a foundation that will give me more confidence. I seem to be able to play snippets here and there but never a full song or challenging chords.
Thanks Tony. I have been getting your emails for years and have been watching your videos on you tube. I have been a consistent player for years but am always looking for ways to improve my playing, and your videos many times provide inspiration. These are great videos to take me back to working on basics. Looking forward to the week. Thanks again
I just got back from my holiday and starting the 5 day challenge. I’m always muting the string below when playing the string above. I’ve been trying to to play guitar all my life and failed. That’s always been my issue muting the other strings, do you have a solution.
I first played guitar a a kid. I’m currently retired banker turned musician. My main instrument is electric bass. I still dabble in guitar, mainly rythm . I am tuning into this to work on different techniques. Like being smoother on playing bass lines within chords. Not unlike what the first day challenge entailed. Also looking to see what I can do with some lead licks. Sometimes I look at a song and just don’t have the technique to play it as recorded and I default to just strumming. I can arpeggiate chords and have developed ways of doing things that may not be exact, but I’m having fun. Always looking for more skills. Frankly I may not have it in my budget to subscribe to your program though.
Hi Tony, I got day one, but didn’t get day two of the 5 day challenge.
Thanks – Joe
First timer for quite a stretch (2 or 3 yrs), could never really follow other tutorials along very well. I’m determined to keep trying though. I have a two part question.
1-At the beginning when picking the A-string, is it an open A upstroke? is it picking UP on the 5th fret still?
I tried to learn how to play several years ago, but I stopped. I’m 70 years old now, and I still want to learn and now that I’m retired, I have the time.
I am a complete beginner starting from scratch at 61!
I’ve been strumming mostly open chords for years, but kind of at a plateau. Mostly finger picking. I’d like to improve that, as well as get comfortable flat picking.
Totally lost and frustrated. Really not sure which fingers are supposed to touch which strings when. A diagram would help.
Learning a power chord in the intro is very cool
I am 70 now. I took lessons by note but not chords in middle school. My fingers feel fat. Maybe I need to hold my fingers more perpendicular to the strings? I have been involved with music since the 5th grade.
I’m really just starting and I know I should know all the strings but if you could say string 1,2,3,4 etc a little more in conjunction with the letter name that would be helpful
I bought two electric and one acoustic guitar over a decade ago for my kids, but none continued playing, and they gathered dust. Now, at 57 and a competitive cyclist, my 2026 resolution is to become a pro guitarist from scratch and prove to my kids and friends that anything’s possible. Day one was tough, but I improved by the third attempt and will try again before the end of the day. Starting off unsure is okay as being said.
picked guitar up and put it down several times over the years. always got to a point where I didn’t know what to do to progress. felt like a huge gap between where I was and where I want to be with no bridge in between.
Brand new,confused!
New
Hello!
I’m 40 and I have sang all my life but have never really attempted to learn how to play an instrument even though I’ve always wanted to. I just assumed it would be too difficult. I’ve always loved the guitar and have always wanted to play. My son’s father gave him a guitar several years ago and I dabbled with it but it was brief and when my son moved into his own place he took his guitar with him. I bought one 2 weeks ago and thankfully found you on YouTube. This lesson today was hard for me. I was discouraged, BUT you said to take a win everyday so I tried to be positive and proud of myself when I got just the first part. The ups and downs are hard and I couldn’t seem to get the hammer to work without muting it. After reading some of these comments I’m feeling much better – I’m not the only one who struggles! Thank you for what you’re doing. I’m going to stick with this!
I have been playing for many years – mostly finger picking, and sloppy strumming :). Have never mastered being comfortable holding a flatpick. Any tips appreciated.
Hi Tony, I started learning how to play guitar when I was 13 (taking lessons). I’m now 73. I’ve always been a rhythm player and in those early years in a band in Jr High school years. I played off and on mostly off till 1988 when we started a family. So I’d say 30 + years I never picked up my guitar. Now that I’m retired and no one at home except me and my wife, I started back. I’ve had a 12string Aria since 1972ish, and added a Alvarez 6 string and a Cort 6 string. I admit I had struggles with today’s exercise with my fingers and mind getting my fingers to cooperate lol! I had some buzzing (not a clear tone) but I finally got the pattern but very slow.
I’m excited about this challenge and will try my best to keep up.
I’m 57 and have been dabbling for a few years. Just retired and really want to learn to play. My biggest challenge is my finger tips are fat and soft making hard to get clean notes and chords. Hoping with consistent playing they will harden. Enjoyed day 1.
self taught but consider myself a beginner. after 3 years . so I’m stuck big time. I can play many chords but transition is slow. at 72 I am hoping to really play songs. I think I need new strings on my guitar. Fingers hurt.
53 I took lessons 40 years ago but quit playing after only learning Mary had a little Lamb. I’ve picked up a guitar here and there but I’ve always had issues with staying with it because my fingers don’t seem long enough to play many chords. I’m trying again on a 3/4 size and hoping it helps me this time
I’m 77 and new
I’m 65 and new
I’m 63, and I’ve been dabbling on and off (mostly off) for 40 years. Fingers are not cooperating yet, but this was fun!