TIPS FOR TODAY
If the word “solo” makes you want to hide behind the couch, you’re in the right place.
Improvisation isn’t some advanced skill reserved for guitar wizards — it’s just playing a few good-sounding notes in your own order. Today’s scale is designed so that every note works. There are no “wrong” ones to find.
Your first solos are supposed to feel simple. Simple is how your ear learns what it likes. Simple is how confidence is built. Simple is what unlocks real creativity later.
If your brain taps out on the second pattern, that’s okay — camp out on the first, easy version and just make little phrases you enjoy. That still counts as soloing.
By the end of this session, you didn’t just “try” a solo — you played one.
And that feeling? That’s the spark that keeps people going.
YOUR SAMPLE WEEK OF TONY'S ACOUSTIC CHALLENGE
5-Day "Stop Dabbling, Start Playing Guitar" Challenge
- WED: Improv
- THU: Rhythm
- FRI: Transitions
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Finally, it was a small win for me today. I had fun with the scale and solo.
It took a while to get the scales down. But I kept at it and now I’ve got it. Yay!
Ok, yeah, thats fun. Especially combined with the strumming technique. 2 bug breakthroughs for me. 1st, same scale goes string to string & up the neck. I knew the same note appeared in more than 1 place on the fretboard, but now I have a better idea of how to find them. 2nd most of those “complicated” solos out there are just playing a scale with alternate picking @ higher tempo! Mind blown
I must be the slowest one here. lol I see what I need to do but, almost feel like it’s beyond me. I know I can do it if I play it over and over for however long it takes. But at this rate I question if I can even keep up. lol My small win is I have three new things to play and look forward to have fun latter.
yup, that’s fun!
Ha! This is addicting, never thought I would pick up these lessons so quickly. These are so fun and I feel I am getting better! Can’t wait till tomorrow.
Nice this was great I loved it. Playing with the backing track with the scale as well as my improv bending strings and all. I’m a guitar player now. Not grate but I’m playing.
Felt like magic today. Very far from perfect and that is okay… it was still magic.
Well, I wasn’t exactly following the scale but it was fun with the slowed down backing track. Amazing what a good rhythm background can do for a simple scale.
Well- struggling quite a bit playing along with the back track. I do get the scale down on my own so I’ll take the SMALL WIN! I was skeptical on day one- my fingers are sore but i’m doing it 🙂
I did it. It wasn’t great but I did it. and you are right the notes were all nice with the background. This is not easy but this is perfect!
Hey Tony, I had to slow the video down to the slowest pace but I was able to play along and I really enjoed playing the scale!
Felt great playing some simple leads using the scales you taught us. Got lost a few times and hit some notes that didn’t match up with the chords, but was fun nonetheless. Tried some pulls to jazz it up a bit…too funny. Thanks for making things fun;
That was really fun today. I was able to play along with the backing track and had fun!
Hey man. I’m struggling today. But, it’s a good struggle. Thanks for the lesson!
I’m starting to feel like a guitar player 🙂 This is awesome!!
Wow!
The proof is in the pudding.
I am enjoying this jam session! I still find myself struggling with the down picking and up picking, but I am hitting the right notes.
Thank goodness for 0.5x speed! I feel as though it has been rough, but never the less it has been progress! I have the desire to keep playing and that is a win too!
Question: When I press the tab button, it sends me to PIP and I am looking at two of you at the same time. (one little & one big) Is the tab supposed to be a finger-placement chart?
Thanks for any help you can give.
It’s pretty raw yet but I picked up scales quickly and it not sound half bad. Playing with backing was hard at first but got easier. I did my own thing and played around with different not sequences. Sounded ok. Small wins are good!
Getting up a head of steam. Now understanding all of what is presented BUT implementing about 60%.
Win: Showed up 3 days in a row.
Win: Good practice with the plastic for a finger-picking country boy.
Win: Ran the scale pretty well for a fellow that picks the notes that sound good to his ear.
I’ve got to tell you Tony. I’m so excited. I played along with the backing track and I felt as though I was really making music. Improvising along the guitar neck was so much fun!
In multiple previous iterations of me trying to learn guitar, I was introduced to scales. And the Gmaj scale is one I learned. So today’s lesson had the feeling of getting back on the bike. Something familiar that I could pick up quickly. A real confidence booster!
This was the piece I have had trouble with forever. I already had the pentatonic scales down, but couldn’t ever figure out how to make something up with them. And no one online seemed to address that part. .(I’ve been known to leave a few terse messages to that effect on various ‘learn this scale and solo like a pro videos’. LOL)
I began to think it can’t be taught, either you’re creative melodically or not. Turns out it was as simple as playing to a backing track.
I found that simply getting into the groove of the progression, the melodical feel that created, kicked something off in my mind, if I didn’t try to think too much and I found my fingers trying different patterns as my mind then instantaneously critiqued, extrapolated and came up with impulses where to go next. Although I often repeated a simple 3 or 4 note run a few times, I’d then branch off into a new idea. It was a true light bulb moment. THANK YOU!
I even found that after a few times through, I even started to feel the changes, and instinctively to land on the root note of which ever chord we were in. Not always, but it still worked if I found my way back to the root of the key too. Soon I was even working my way down the neck through the other pentatonic boxes, and all those hours I’d spent getting them in muscle memory began to pay off. So that was my huge win today!
To folks who are just starting out…don’t let my pre-knowledge of things yet to come intimidate you. (I have practiced these scales for years by now, so my fingers have that memory and skill to find the notes.) You are on the right track. Tony knows how to teach you how to learn! Just keep playing whatever you can and adding more without worrying about getting any of it perfect first This is another brilliant and key feature of his approach.
Its starting to come together.
WOOHOO!! I just did a solo! Thanks Tony!
I meant to write this yesterday, but had choir practice and sang in Christmas Eve service [all after my guitar challenge. My win from day 3 was my fingers felt more flexible.
Thanks Tony.
I feel like I am picking up the scales and lessons so far, but my biggest problem is that I am terrible with the pick! I have so much trouble finding the right string that it makes me lose my rhythm.
It was fun to improv over the backing track. For some reason I found this was the quickest lesson so far to find the groove. Thanks Tony, looking forward to next lessons.
I’ll be honest…like the “concept” of this. I have played each of these days on my acoustic, though I do have concerns before signing up:
1.The style of music being played. Grateful Dead isn’t really my style, I’m more of an 80s and 90s player, really not into the “jam bands” and I’m curious as to the style of the rest of the lessons should I continue.
2. How well this translates over to electric. I have both an electric and acoustic, but prefer my electric for most playing. I don’t want to learn skills that are not easily transferable to electric.
3. The actual web site. Every day I have had loading issues with the site. Not everything loads and I have to refresh often and just a slow response time from the server.
Now with that all being said, I do enjoy the format. I have played each day up to 3 and it has definitely helped me feel more comfortable around the guitar, but just unsure if the long term if it is worth the investment if I am learning songs that a really don’t enjoy much and if it pigeonholes me into an acoustic player.
I am very grateful for your sequence of lessons that are overlaying skillsets. With practice, I “get them under my fingers” and am using your words of wisdom to be patient with myself and celebrate the small victories. You have come up with a strong program and I have never felt as empowered as I do now. I literally followed your patterns and had a solo, just like you said in your video. I doubted it, but then….wow! Thank you Tony!
That was fun! Played scales at first, then started improvising. Even doing some slides on the horizontal scale.
When I watched the lesson, I thought – improvise, yeah right. I learned the scales, and then played them along with the backing rhythm a few times. Before I realized it, I was making up my own stuff, sticking to the notes of the scale. WOW, what fun. I even let my wife in the room for a quick listen. Thanks
So based on my experience, if someone says noodle in G major pentatonic over this riff, I’m off. But the key takeaway and win for me here was to make it musical and keep it simple, and come up with repeatable musical sounding phrases rather than just run off to nowhere noodling, which to me is always the challenge. The other things for me, since you played it slow, was to really slow down my brain and actually listen for each of the chord changes, the chord tones and focus on them as landing points. Yesterday was actually much harder for me even though technically I could do it out of the gate, but because it required counting, playing in time and repeatable consistency, it was very frustrating to have to work to find the 4 in measure 2. I do think this is a good approach for those first starting out to get eveything solid, or at least started in the right direction, from the get go. Do wish I had started with this type of approach 40+ years ago. For those that are struggling, stick with it. It should get you to a pretty good foundational place in short order.
ive got blisters on me fingers. is that a win? still stumbling along
OK so this is day 3 of the challenge. Got to say “challenge” is the right word. Just me I suppose but each lesson is taking upwards of 1-2 hours just to get the pattern down; not at speed mind you, you the patterns. Vey frustrating and time consuming and so, not much fun. Is this really supposed to take just a few minutes each day?
Awesome! You make it look SO easy – I hope I can keep up
I am looking forward to today’s lesson, but yesterday’s “ten minute” lesson took me closer to an hour to figure out.
it’s much easier when you are not listing to my playing. Thanks, it’s fun.
I never used a pick before its been just fingers. So the small win is I’m starting to use a pick. This is so far despite playing on and off I feel I might actually move the ball for the touchdown and I like that!
First video doesn’t play
First two lessons were very hard and frustrating. Third lesson was easier and more fun
OK, now that was fun!!!! The thought of soloing and having to come up with my own ideas was fueled with zero confidence . I had no idea it could be within my reach so quickly. Lots of stumbles but sounds great ( unless you accidentally hit the wrong fret- it’s quite obvious when a note doesn’t fit!). I had such a great time I can’t wait to try it again.
Too fun playing with the backing track!
A small win for me is feeling that I am using the skills together to build something bigger. In the past, I learn a musical phrase but never build on it. I can see how each day is building on the previous skill and for me that is a good learning situation. Although, I am not the fastest learner, I do feel that I am making a small improvement in the way I am approaching playing guitar already.
Hi there…I am really enjoying this. I am playing a Breedlove and I can actually read the tabs! I really like the way you teach!! Thank you!!!
This has been quite surprising so far since day 1. I’ve been a tab centric, rhythm strummer, and playing with no pick because I never learned. Each day has started like um yeah right and ended with, “I’m doing that”. Always wanted to learn to solo and today was awesome! Went off on a little tangent while listening to the strum just noodling on the scale adding notes where it sounded good. Then went back and watched your overplay to get the sense of speed and timing. If I had more time tonight I’d slow it down a bit. Looking forward to tomorrow!
I was familiar with the pentatonic but not the one string scale. I found myself having fun improvising for the first time in years. This is a well organized and small but achievable course that I am starting to really enjoy after this third lesson. And the emphasis on listening to what I play makes me realize how good my guitar sounds.