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Anyone into Guitar Tricks?
Wondering if anybody has tried guitar tricks dot com? They’ve got a Black Friday special right now and I’m slightly tempted.
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12 Replies
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@petelanger, I used this program when I first started playing. I thought it was OK, but I didn’t get what I felt I needed from it. Seemed like there were two main teachers for most of the lessons. Are you wanting to learn more songs?
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It’s not about the songs really, although maybe I’m ready to dive into songs more. They claim to actually evaluate you at the beginning, deliver a custom lesson plan “designed specifically for you” and then there’s the so called boot camps that sounded interesting. But I’m probably just experiencing “Shiny Object Syndrome”.
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I’m a fan of exploring other ways and methods of learning. We’re all drawn to a different flame, and I think people need to find what works for them. The program was good, just not for me. They’ve been around for a long time, so they must have something going for them. Have you ever taken in person lessons before? The personal lessons I took, accelerated my TAC learing.
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I have not. My playing significantly improved from the course Beginner Guitar Academy. It is a unique hybrid course. Very structured program with video lessons, but you have access to the instructor anytime you want. You can ask any questions, send a video of something g you are having a problem with, etc and he will respond, typically with a video. You can also schedule 1 on 1 video calls with him.
The other thing that sets BGA apart is that you must submit progress checks and level assessments before you can move on. It makes sure you have developed the skills needed for the next level and have learned what you were supposed to learn. He said he got the idea from the colored belts in martial arts. You have to prove proficiency before moving to the next level.
I do think that augmenting TAC with some other means of instruction is important.
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Thanks for your input @Moose408 . I believe that I need some help to improve my chord transitions. I know more chords than I need to play some music but it’s moving between them that is holding me back. I have to make those changes automatic.
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For me that was just dedicated practice. I set aside five minutes of every practice session to just work on chord transitions. No strumming, just slowly moving between the two chords that I want to learn the transition for. I then speed up over time. I might use a metronome and try to transition on a given beat or set a timer for one minute and see how many transitions I could do in a minute. There are a few transitions that I’ve been working on for over two months. Eg. E to F#m and A to C#m. Setting aside dedicated practice time makes a huge difference.
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<div>When I was first starting out, I made a chord chart with various chord progressions. I used a metronome, and would guage myself the next time that transition came around. It did help. In retrospect, I would probably do more what @Moose408 suggests, and probably do more transitions with actual songs instead of mundane changes. His advice was spot on.</div>
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@Moose408 @Skyman911 thanks guys for your input. I actually am doing exactly what Moose suggested. Every day I’ve been transitioning from C major to G to A minor then back to C ( the chords to Simple Man. I spend more time on G to A because that’s the harder transition. A minor to C is a simple change, C to G is not too hard. I think I have doing these chord changes for at least a month, maybe 6 weeks. I’ve gotten faster but still not fast enough to play the song yet. It gets really frustrating because the fingers just won’t do it, I’ll get 4 or 5 good transitions and then just totally blow the next with my fingers flopping all over the place.
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Sounds like it might help to practice the chords individually. Doing the knee slap test, where you form the chord then put your hand on your knee then form the chord, rinse repeat. No strumming. Adding strumming will actually slow down the learning process in the brain.
Also try the “folded corners” method for placing you fingers, place the fingers in order 1-2-3, then 2-3-1, 3-1-2, 2-1-3, 3-2-1…..finally place them VERY SLOWLY all at once.
Another technique that works well for transitions is to do air transitions, very slowly move your fingers into position while in the air between the two chords. Really exaggerate the mention and go super slow.
Above all don’t get frustrated. It just takes time, but focused practice like described above can shorten the time.
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Another trick that really helped me was the “hover” exercise. Basically, form and hold down a chord, and then lift the fingers off the strings slightly without losing the chord shape. Stay in this position as long as you can until the shape starts to distort more than you can keep the shape. This helps tremendously with muscle memory, and eventually you will make the shape before you even hit the strings. This is something I could do while watching TV in the evenings and still be practicing. This was the exercise that helped me the most.
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Wow. You guys are hung ho regarding chord transitions. These are some serious ideas. I had not heard of the folded corners idea. I’ll have to fiddle around with it.
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Appreciate all the suggestions! “Armageddon It” slowly!
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