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When to move on
I’m new to guitar, and I wanted to understand when to move on. I started the 30-day challenge, and I have been going over the same material for several days. I don’t want to move on until I feel competent in the skill that I’m working on, but I think I’m getting behind. The 30-day challenge looks more like a 90-day challenge in my case. Is this the way the program is supposed to work?
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12 Replies
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The philosophy of TAC is progress over perfection. You are not expected to perfect or master any lesson the first time through. Just do the best you can, spend at least 10 mins on it, and then move on.
The idea is that the skills being taught will come around again and the next time you will get a little further. Then the next time a little further and better and eventually you will master it. I might happen the 2nd time through or the 30th. It doesn’t matter, what matters is that you are consistently practicing everyday and getting a little better each time a skill comes around.
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Thank you for your explanation, it makes sense. I have you put aside; practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect (which is unattainable). I have to trust the process. Consistency is the key.
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When one first starts TAC (and it never completely sirs away) we struggle with 10 minutes and move on, but I have come to learn that this feeling is just another form of comparative thinking. I am comparing myself as I am to myself as I think I should be. Now motivation is good but not if it results in robbing our fun of okaying due to the burden of having to “keep up”.
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Thank you. Enjoy the journey!
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This is a common trap that we have all fallen in to. But if you don’t break out of it, you’ll lose your thrill of playing which is very precious.
You definitely want to spend less than 40 minutes and mark that sucker complete! That might be only 10 minutes, in may case I’m retired and feel I can afford a bit more. Your best learning comes in the struggle so I like to stay in that mode for a bit, usually ends up being in the 15 – 30 minute range. Then I mark it complete and if possible I’ll come back to the lesson later (same day or another day).
If I am going to “~perfect” (and I don’t mean that word literally) a challenge it will be in the weeks that follow. I’ve probably played the Bon Jovi (Sambora Sweetness) a couple hundred times (takes maybe 10 seconds), I play the Hotel California chord progression almost everyday for a minute or 2.
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Thank you for sharing. After my TAC lesson, I started playing with a BB King riff I like. It breaks it up a bit for me, and I’m on the guitar a bit longer before putting it down.
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Hi Artie I have to agree with all the other comments I want to add a few. Sorry, I tend to write a lot.
Many people don’t think that you’ll learn much in 10 minutes and that’s not true. You’ll actually advance faster than you will if you continue to work something over and over and over. I find that even now when I’m learning or practicing something. If I sit there and try to play it multiple, multiple times I find them getting worse and worse and worse, and I get more frustrated as time goes by. The fun has just been sucked out of me. It’s better to stop long before you get to that point.
So for <font face=”inherit”>lessons, going through the lesson tutorial, you should mark it complete after you e gone through it the first time. You can continue to work on it, but the goal is to introduce you to a functional aspect of playing guitar through tools such </font>as scales, improv, and learning pieces of a song to show you how those skills transition into being used in a song. So during a lesson, give it your best go . When the video ends, mark the lesson complete. Continue practicing, if you like. I wouldn’t do more than an extra 10 minutes or so. <font face=”inherit”> Give it a good go, but don’t get hung up on it. you to give a good go, but don’t get hung up on it. Definitely move on the next day and forget about the day before. As mentioned already, you will get another go around on that lesson in a few months to see your improvement, but a particular skill can be used in multiple lessons. </font>
<font face=”inherit”>What is really interesting to observe is that the minimum 10 minutes a day done day after day allows your finger dexterity to improve, your ability to fret and transition faster through building what is called muscle memory, your guitar knowledge and vocabulary will expand, you’ll venture out to try the skills in songs and improve further. It will seem less arduous as you continue to learn. </font>
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Hi Lorraine,
Yes, I agree. I have improved my dexterity and sound with only 10-20 minutes. I have to look at it as a marathon, not a sprint. The frustration comes in when I do something right several times over, and then it’s like I’ve touched the guitar moments later. Hahahaha
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Hey Artie, I am feeling the same way as you. I started 2 1/12 week ago and and I’m now just getting to The Cords section. I’ve been trying to get the Blues Boogie down for several days and I’m really enjoying learning but I’m going to move on. I’m 63, an ex-drummer but I’m going to trust the process. Thanks for your post. It’s good to know that I’m not the only one out there feeling the same way. Carpe Diem!!
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Thank you, RoyinSC, for your response. It eases my mind that I’m not the only one feeling the same way. I’m determined to get the Blues Boogie down. I work on it a little every day and move on with the program.
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i just started 6 days ago and i’ve really been feeling the need to get it right before i mark the lesson complete. the light finally went on today and i think i get it about moving on without self judgement. this is a really difficult thing for me to embrace and do but i’m really happy to find the TAC community and i’m going to try to trust this process. all these posts are great and really helpful to me. Thank you all so much.
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Thank you. It’s good to know I’m not alone.
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