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Trying to keep my enthusiasm
I just read many of the posts plus the comments and suggestions in this forum. This has revived some of my energy. Prior to reading these I had just decided to give up on two bar chords (F and B) because my 70 year old fingers absolutely refuse to stretch that far and hold the strings tight enough. Same with some of the steps in the hammer-on lesson. I’ve developed some stretch over the past 60 days, but not to that degree.
Recently, I was getting that familiar “I guess I just can’t make any progress” feeling. I’ve tried so many online courses and Tony’s pitch of starting to play and then losing enthusiasm and quitting again initially really resonated with me. Fun IS essential. Here, I had a good start, taking my time to get through sections so I felt I had a reasonable skill. Not worrying about perfection and enjoying replaying the little riffs I learned. But recently it’s not been much fun.
Based on what I read here, I will go to the daily challenges and see if that helps, along with maybe finding some simple songs elsewhere online and practicing those. Any other suggestions would be most appreciated. Am I not following the course properly? Any ideas about improving the speed of chord changes? Thank you!
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8 Replies
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I’m almost 64, and not close to 70. I have come to realize at this age, that I’m only going to be able to get so far while my body and mind eventually give in. I used to fret over this, and felt like, “why am I even trying this at this age, I can only get so good”. I think most people lose enthusiasm and interest when expectations are set too high, and you aren’t meeting your expectations. In the big picture, who really cares if you can’t form a Bm or F chord yet. There are literally thousands of songs that don’t use those chords. Try to be happy with the chords your can play, and focus on them. I can’t stress this enough. Having fun is where the magic and progress happens. Discouragement is the killer of fun. It’s hard to tell someone to just have fun, since that can mean many different things to many different people. Lately, my fun has been just goofing around with different picking patters, chord progressions and chord variations. Just being spontaneous and whatever comes out, comes out. Sometimes I’ll surprise myself and play something real cool, and then not remember how I just played it. Try to find your fun, whatever that may be, and really try not to compare or get discouraged. Many of us were in your shoes, and patience and perseverance will get you through.
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Hi Skyman911,
That was some spot-on advice. I have been expecting too much. Thank you for taking the time to answer.
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@dszmakgmail-com : I liked the question about making chord transitions faster. My solution is counter intuitive but I have had great success. To get faster you must slow down. Slowing down is the first step. Next, relax! Managing tension takes half my mental energy while I play. Start expererimenting with how lightly you can press the strings to get the sound you want. You can not chase speed but you can sneak up on it. When you get good and relaxed mentally and physically with your slow changes between two chords, add a third, then play the whole progression when three chords settles in, get out that metronome and play slow enough you think it is silly while focusing on removing all the tenision in mind and arm, then crank up the speed 3 beats a minute and repeat the process, then add another 3 bpms to the metronome and so on, etc. Lemme know if that tracks with you!
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Excellent advice. It is sooo hard to play slow. What jumpinjeff said does work. I’ve practiced qigong and taichi for over 30 years. Slowness is the key to awareness. Most people probably don’t even think about tension and how that can affect their playing. This is a great little nugget of wisdom. One of my teachers used to say, “he who is tense is ready for a beating”
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Hey Jeff and Skyman, more good advice. Thank you. I tried it out and see the connection between too high expectations and getting too tight/tense. This has been affecting both the fun and the accuracy of my finger placement.
This forum feature of TAC is a real bonus that I hadn’t recognized before. Thanks for chiming in.
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This reply was modified 8 months, 1 week ago by David S.
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This reply was modified 8 months, 1 week ago by
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No suggestions except to keep on truckin’. I’m 73, and perseverance pays off. When I can’t do something now, I know I can improve over time; or find that there are ways, even with my limits, to find alternatives. Play and enjoy!
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@dszmakgmail-com I hear ya! Many of us, in the beginning especially, I have unrealistic expectations of 1. how easy it’s going to be, 2. That I should be playing songs shortly after beginning to learn the guitar, 3. Just about anything else you can think of. And I’m not saying any of this put you down or be mean, I’m just saying that many have those same unrealistic expectations because they don’t know better.
Your few savants when it comes to learning to play an instrument, especially the guitar or most stringed instruments. The guitar is a difficult instrument to play there is so many factors at play within hand eye coordination the two hand coordination that placement of fingers on the stretching the Learning not to mute strings Learning to play difficult chords Learning to transition between chords Learning rhythm Learning tempo timing scales unbelievably vast amount of foundational skills which is what Tony teaches. It’s a lot and I’ve left tons out you know the list goes on and on and on.
I agree with both @Skyman911 and @jumpinjeff – they be to back just a tad and the expectations, try to keep it simple, measurable, attainableäpü‘üü, but most of all maintain having fun. Frustration just totally wiped out fun. So the question is what is frustrating you let’s get rid of it. To sum it up it sounds like you’re frustrated that you’re not further ahead and that things are difficult, and transitioning between chords it’s not smooth or fast.
So being frustrated that you’re not further ahead could be solved by developing a realistic three month goal that might incorporate transitioning between chords smoother and faster.
So the goal might be that you’re going to work on transitioning between 3 chords, name the 3 chords (hint, take the 1st 3 chords of an easy 3 chord song – google easy 3 chord songs). When will you practice? For how long? What will be your strategy, to practice and get better? I agree with Jumpin Jeff. Slow it way doown.
Here’s how I do it. I set a metronome at 4:4 beats, and I set the speed to between 20 and 40 bpm. On beat one, through three, I get my fingers placed, and on beat four, I strum. Then I usually beat a 1-3 to transition to the next chord and on beat 4 I strum. Do this for the first two chords until you can do so smoothly at least 10 times in a row without error. Then increase the speed 10 bpm and repeat the process keep repeating with the same two cords and increasing 10 bpm after being able to play 10 times in a row without error up until you reach the BPM of the song. Then take the 2nd and 3rd chord, and do the process all over again. It actually moves quite quickly, and you’ll be surprised that you’re able to transition between two cords quickly and a short amount of time. This process works great anytime you are working on a new song and you need to transition between chords. Just keep taking two chords that are next to each other in the song..
anyway, sorry for the length, which I’m guilty of too often, but I’m trying to be thorough and answering your questions. So ask away, and there’s always plenty of people to help, and many with different processes. Choose the ones that work the best for you.
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Hi Loraine,
I appreciate your detailed response. Thank You! I’m back to regular practice and have done the chord change exercise that you described and it is very helpful. Life got busy but I’m back and happy to get your post.
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