-
My 60-day money back dilemma
I have a note in my diary next week to say that it’s coming up to 60 days since I joined, and to review whether I want to continue or whether to ask for a refund. I’m in a real dilemma.
First, the good: I think Tony’s teaching style is great. I love the play-through and I print the tabs to have them in front of me as I play. I write the finger placements on the tabs (I,M,R,P). I love the exposure to different songs, all of which are to my musical taste. I have learned more guitar techniques in the last 50-something days than I have in the previous 7 years of dabbling.
Now the bad: I have hearing difficulties with speech and sometimes Tony races through descriptions of finger placements, etc, so quickly that I have had to use AI to give me a printed transcript which I then go through at my own, very slow, pace. (Yes, I know I can slow the video but that doesn’t work for me). I find I have to spend at least an hour every evening just to accomplish the challenge at a very superficial level. Many times I would like to have a week to really practice a song, but there’s no time for that, because it’s on to the next daily challenge. I’m afraid I will end up with a half-baked understanding of lots of different techniques.
So far, I’ve skipped one whole week of challenges just so I can take the previous week at half speed, and even that felt like I was rushing it. This week I have learned that if I skip the improvisation day then I can have more practice time for Monday and Tuesday’s lessons.
Then there’s hand size. I’m a small guy with small hands. Every time I see Tony say something like ‘move your pinky down to the 4th fret’ my heart just sinks. It gives a big message in flashing lights in my head saying “Guitar is not for you”. I counter this with the fact that some famous guitarists, e.g. Paul Simon, also have small hands. I persevere but end up frustrated and angry with myself that something that is simple for many people requires me to spend ages finding a hand contortion (sometimes painful) that almost works some of the time.
So here I am, on the horns of a dilemma, excited about the progress I have made, but also frustrated and angry that the course is much too challenging for me. Will I end up with a bunch of half-baked techniques, a jack of all trades but master of none? Is it teaching me that guitar is not my instrument? Is the course going much too quickly that I don’t have a hope of keeping up with? I really don’t know what my decision will be.
I’d love to hear your advice, especially from anyone who has similar challenges with small hands.
Tom
-
9 Replies
-
I am sorry about your hearing issues. That can be a very difficult hurdle to navigate. I will say though, that it’s often not necessary to stay on the learn video to get what you need for playing. I find that I can switch to the play video and go on a slow speed to pick up a lot of things I might have missed in the learn video.
TAC gives you the best value of any the programs I have seen and I’ve tried quite a few of them. I knew within 60 days that I would become a lifetime member and I did convert my membership to life time later in the first year. If you were to switch to lifetime, then there would be no time pressure for you. You can do that any time during the first year and get full credit for your initial investment.
I can’t speak to issue of: do I want to learn to play guitar? I know that it was something I wanted very much. But I do believe that the small hands are not an insurmountable issue. Many players have small hands and managed to overcome that.
Do you have a smaller guitar or full-size?
-
Thanks for your reply. I have a full size acoustic and have recently bought a 3/4 size which helps a little.
-
-
I didn’t know about lifetime membership. I will look into that. Thanks
-
You can do this. I suspect you started dabbling in guitar because you like it, and wanted to learn. So yes, guitar is for you. You sound very motivated, so I know you have what it takes to put the time in. Please don’t give up. Guitar can bring so much joy to ones life, and I think you want that in your life, but some frustration is getting in the way. Everything you mentioned can be resolved, and I think you did the right thing by reaching out to the community. There are some very insightful folks on here, and everyone is so willing to help.
I would say, put less pressure on yourself. Slow down. You don’t really miss anything with this course as most lessons come back around. I feel like I’m a bunch of half baked technique sometimes, and I’m OK with that. As long as I make a little progress along the way. Keep pushing, it WILL get better.
-
Thank you so much. That is very encouraging. I do have a tendency to put a lot of expectation on myself. Maybe I need to slow down and take things at my own pace.
-
-
I have small hands and when I started out I bought a full size dreadnought, not realizing there are other sizes! After a couple more downsizes, I settled on a parlor size with a 23.5″ scale length. The only problem with a parlor is it only has 12 frets to the body. There are 14 fret guitars with similar scale length, but I ran out of money for more guitars. I believe most 3/4 guitars are scaled down everywhere, so the neck can be too narrow for some. It is for me, I have one. If yours works for you, great!
As for following the videos with hearing issues–I can hear fine, but my brain delays or misses some things that may be spoken too quickly. I might stop and back up the video to that point to replay that section, but I don’t usually. Often someone will mention something Tony says in the comments, that I don’t recall hearing, so I usually read all the comments first, then I’m more likely to pick it up when I watch the video. Plus someone may mention a way they found to get around a difficult stretch, or whatever.
I’ve been tempted to give up more than once, but I do find I am improving. Especially since we get more than one shot at a particular challenge as most come around every year and the Benchmark challenges 4X a year.
-
Yes @BarbaraM the challenges come back around at least 1x per year but many of the skills in different lessons are reintroduced much sooner so you are getting 5-10 reps per year, if not more!
-
Hi I would recommend using the speed button on the playback. At times I have wanted to watch where Tony places his fingers, and the mechanics of what he does. This really helps. Based on that I would try playing the tutorial at .75%, you should be able to pick up exactly what is said.
Good luck and I hope this helps.
-
I’m late to the discussion but wanted to point out that the idea of TAC is progress over perfection. Don’t stress on completing an exercise, give it a good try and move on. It will come back around and you will get further each time. If it requires a pinkie stretch, give a try but if you can’t do it, move on. The next time you be able to reach a little further.
The past month is the 3rd time through on these lessons and I’m finding I can play pretty much every one. The first time through I could not even get through the first measure cleanly, so I spent 10 mins and moved on. You are learning skills and techniques even if it is not obvious.
Log in to reply.