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Back to Basics
I’ve been gone from TAC for quite a while–at least 8 months since I’ve been doing the challenges regularly.
I haven’t been away from guitar–not by a long shot. At a certain point, about a year into TAC, my focus shifted to songs, and I started practicing learning those–particularly fingerstyle songs–mostly from Jerry’s Guitar Bar (he does great lessons). I’ve still been practicing about an hour a day or more.
And I have improved! I will share some videos of my progress. I feel really good about that, and have much more fun with my guitar than I used to, but I’ve realized recently that I have hit a plateau. I want to improve both my technical playing and my knowledge, so today, for the first time in forever, I did a warmup (starting with the November challenge, and I’ll work my way up to current one over time).
Humbling! I realize that my technique is still sorely lacking. I had to really slow down and focus on hitting each note cleanly and properly and maintaining my pacing, especially with my pinky. I expected to be much better at these sorts of challenges, and I did improve pretty quickly, but it turns out that I can learn all the songs I want, but that doesn’t take the place of focused skills practice.
And I have a new rule for myself this time: No peeking! I even did the first part of the challenge with a blindfold, though I found I have the discipline to keep my eyes closed on my own. I really want my ears and fingers to run the show when I’m playing. My eyes can look at whoever is listening, or wherever.
And it was great to find myself reexperiencing that TAC feeling where I started saying, “okay, Hoss–ten minutes, that’s all,” and 30 minutes later to be still going.
So I wanted to say that I don’t regret my “sabbatical,” but I’m happy to be back. TAC started me on a journey that has been so fruitful so far, and now I’m returning for the next phase of it. Funny how we sometimes start over to start anew!
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3 Replies
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Welcome back Matt W! 🙂
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Welcome back Matt. I agree with you on all levels. Jerry’s Guitar Bar is great, but the basic foundational skills are a must. Enjoy your renewed ride!
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Thanks Lorraine! I think Jerry would agree!
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