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Stuck
I went on an extended trip and haven’t picked up the guitar now in weeks. I was doing well so thought I could pick right back up but honestly I can’t even remember how this all works. What’s the best way for me to review and get going again? Sorry I missed Old Man. I like that one. Btw, I started as new beginner at Thanksgiving. Did great for about three months. Should I just start over with 30 days to play?
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3 Replies
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Welcome back! I’d just jump right back in with the daily challenges again. Have fun!
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Hey @Mountain-gal yeah I would just jump right back in to the daily challenges. remember some are more difficult thn others so if a particular week seems too difficult dont sweat it. Dont be too hard on yourself. Learn to embrace the suck and keep your expectations realistic, esp when youre just starting. Learning to play guitar is hard and its a long road. But it can be very rewarding and everyone starts sometime. Main thing is to accept that Rome wasnt built in a day and learn to love the process.
My advice is to do the challenges every day the best you can and again some will be easier than others. Spend a good 10-20 minutes on the daily challenge, getting it as good as you can, and then hit complete…it doesnt need to be perfect, or even good. Pat yourself on the back. Then spend another 20-30 minutes practicing your chords and scales, and other techniques you have picked up so far, eg hammer ons, bends, slides. As you do this you’ll realize that you hve to continue to practice things youve already learned to reinforce that muscle memory. You have to do both…the daily challenge and a practice session to reinforce skills learned from previous challenges.
As soon as you have a few chords down, eg G C D Em, and you can transition from one to the other, I strongly recommend you find one of your favourite songs and learn to play it. Most songs can be played in a beginner friendly way so as long as you can transition between chords you can jump in. Youtube is full of good videos teaching easy beginner songs using those chords so grab one and get started. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can have one of those, “hey, that really sounds like it” moments. I think that beginner players should staet learning songs right away. It’s fun, builds motivation and you learn a ton by learning songs. Plus you add the singing which is a whole new adventure in itself. Tony doesnt really teach songs in a lot of detail but he provides the main parts. So if you really want to learn any particular song, like Old Man, do the TAC but also find a good vid on YT that also does an beginner version. Before you know it youve got a whole song under your belt.
Anyhow sister I hope this might help a bit to get you out of your rut. Main thing is be kind to yourself especially when it doesnt sound good. Sounds like you had a really good start so keep at it… with lots of repetition it gets better. Celebrate those small wins, they all add up. Remember this is a lifetime thing.. and youre doing what most only think about.
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Thanks, good advice. I did just do the lesson yesterday and it was already kind of sparking. Thanks for the reference to using YT. I use it for other stuff. Not sure why it didn’t occur to me to use it for learning songs. Sometimes you need someone else to point out the obvious.
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