Try this guitar challenge

STEP 1: Watch the video to learn the bite-sized piece of music
STEP 2: Click the "PLAY" tab below the video to play along with Tony until you can do it on your own.


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Responses

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  1. I have to admit I had my doubts during the learning phase that I’d get it with the backing track. But once i started feeling the music rather than just trying to play in sync, it really started coming together and yeah I would get one part right and botch another, then vice versa, but it did all come together a couple of times and actually sounded good. It was quite fun in the end!

  2. Ok that was fun. Back in my 20’s I had a teacher that did this sort of thing with me and the blues scales . He made a back up cassette tape for me yes I sad cassette tape and I would have to play along with it. Once I got over the fear it was fun. I was no BB King but like you said it can sound really great. So my win was having the feeling of being in my 20’s again. I turn 60 in October so thanks for that! This is amazing!

  3. I haven’t touched a guitar since dabbling with some basic chords about twenty years ago so I’m very much a beginner. I have an old Yamaha acoustic that I just restrung and tuned. Day one I spent about an hour working on the drills until my hands couldn’t take it anymore. Day 2 I planned on giving it about a half hour but as I started grasping the lick the skills I thought I wasn’t getting started to click and it started getting fun. I slowed the recording down and took it one section at a time. I spent way more time than I’d anticipated and even got through the lick respectably a few times. The day three scales became a fun drill for hearing and running through the notes. After 3 days I feel inspired and hopeful that this is actually something I can do. Look forward to tomorrow. Thank you!

  4. I’m a complete beginner. So my first two big wins are my left hand is no longer cramping within the first couple of minutes and I’m finally playing more than one or two bars without fat finger muting adjacent strings. Those two things felt impossible day before yesterday.

  5. Got a handle on Monday and tuesday , wed will be Sunday. Takes me a while, but its good when it comes together. Enjoying the method as long as I can work at my own pace.

  6. I need to redo the first part. I did not get it. The second part was not much better for me. I think it will be easy by doing it a few times more. I showed up. I tried.

  7. I finally began to grasp memorization, not just of what the left hand is supposed to be doing, but memorization of the right-hand function at the same time. Today was the first day I felt progress and walked away feeling better.

  8. My small win is actually very big win for me. I am starting to finally feel confident after almost 8 years of trying to learn to play the guitar. Though I am far from feeling adept at playing the lick and the scale, I think it’s doable with a little practice. Another big win. I am having fun doing it. For those who are struggling. Do not give up. With a little hard work and determination, it will get easier. You will be amazed at yourself and glad you stuck with it it.

  9. Its often a bit difficult for me to keep up with your description of the notes you’re playing, but i used the tablature for the first time
    and amazingly felt as if i could keep pace with your lesson , well just about anyhow. My small win.

  10. What I came away with today: I’ve always had trouble with memorization, but in my 2nd and 3rd day of this challenge, it seems to verify my suspicions that if I go through the tab first a few times and then try it without the tab, plus going along with your playing; it may help the memorization. If that doesn’t help as much, maybe I will try memorizing first and then verify with the tab and your playing. —- If I can just retain it.

  11. struggling with yesterday’s challenge. I am running a day behind everyone. I just watched this video and am overwhelmed at the moment. I will attack this tomorrow. I am excite dto get into this one though. Hitting it first thing in the morning.

  12. Tony, this is amazing! Learned more in this week than any previous attempts at guitar and it felt good to get this down so quickly and so proficiently! I had a great time playing along with the backtrack and this has helped my confidence a ton! Thank you! So motivated!

  13. Playing with apick is new to me. I’ve always struggled with thumb middle index. So the past 3 days have shown massive improvement with picking notes.
    I have never been able to follow anyone on backing track but slowing speed to .75 I actually kept up with Tony with minor mishaps.
    Soloing was fun but questionable.
    I don’t know if my wife head but at least she didn’t come into the room laughing.

  14. At the beginning of the week I was a basic strummer, working round songs that used the same seven or eight chords. Tony’s description of the dabbler and his journey through a couple of guitar teachers that either started with ‘What shall we work on?’ or ‘We must learn music theory before we can play’; the chord books, the You-tube videos and the online course that never quite inspired, were all me.
    I’ve never successfully played a scale, hammering-on and pulling-off were, ‘Too complicated for this level’, and I’ve never successfully picked before this.
    I wouldn’t say the last three days have been a massive breakthrough in my playing, and I feel that my brain and my slightly arthritic thumbs are constantly playing catch-up, but this is the most challenging thing I feel I’ve done with a guitar in years and I’m beginning to enjoy it.
    On day one I thought this was going to be too difficult, I’ve sat in my comfort zone for too long, going round and round strumming the same chords.
    So if there’s anyone else out there like me, struggling, but beginning to feel something might be clicking into place, I would say this:
    If, like me, your still here and you’re bothering to check the comments to see how others are doing, maybe it’s clicking for you too.
    I maybe getting over excited at the tiny bit of progress I’ve made, but today’s ‘Win’, is the feeling that I’ve connected with my guitar for the first time in years.
    Lets see what the next two days bring.

  15. Did not comment on the other days but had a breakthrough today. Was able to do something with scales I’ve not been able to do before. Wasn’t necessarily pretty, but I am calling it progress worth celebrating.

  16. Moving along slowly. Actually enjoyed playing with the backing track trying to play some music. Since I’m new to the guitar I sure this will move along better when I have some calluses built up on my finger tips. Right now very sore fingers making the hammer on hard.

  17. Going very slowly and trying to piece it together. After many rewinds and slowing the speed down, I was able to sort getting it. So, today was more fun. Progress is quite slow, but alas it is still progress!

  18. Whoa! I got a buzz. I started stumbling through the lead exercise: playing it over and over and then it started to get a bit easier and then___ it started to morph into something pretty cool. Yikes

  19. I play an Epiphone Pro-1 Plus VS. Having trouble stifling a string with the finger fretting the string above. Fat finger syndrome?

  20. Book day one took me three days to do Idid not know the names of the strings or what a hammeron was day 2 was a complete wreck trying day 3 at this rate 5 day challenge is going to take me 2 weeks do you have a beginner beginner corse

  21. Today was much better, up until now I’ve been able to get through the lesson but have no stamina left for the loop so I play the loop the next day before the next lesson and on and on… today I was able to get through yesterday’s loop, the lesson and the backing track. My brain-to-fingers connection was better today. Going through cancer treatment fogs everything up and some days are better than others. Thanks Tony, see ya tomorrow.

  22. Okay, i took a day of rest to reflect. I went through day 3 exercise again, WOW.
    My win: it was much easier today and although slow… I did very good.
    So, 1 day behind, but I will do Thursday today, which is friday.

  23. Thanks for the backing track. Playing and practicing alone leaves out the skill of playing with others and keeping time; and then hearing what notes work better with certain chords.

  24. It is already ringing a bell in memory the pentatonic scale just sounds good to the ear. The big fingers and flat pick are still fighting to get along but muscle memory will conquer, correct??? Breaking the rules today after missing yesterday, gonna do two lessons today, reward myself on day off birthday.

  25. Hi Tony
    As a frustrated 50-year self-taught dabbler it is great to finally have some fun with my guitars.
    I have been a life long collector but never admitted to being a player, always aspired but never attained. Teachers or jamming partners are few and far between where I live out the back of whoop whoop in Australia.
    Thanks heaps

  26. Same notes as I have played over and over sounded different today. Sounded better. Wouldn’t say I sounded good but did manage to find a few of the scale notes that actually sounded like I was making music. Got a small glimpse of what it is like to solo. And how I can build off of it. 30 minutes flew by.

  27. After lots of effort, I got thru most of the scale going .75x. Definitely not perfect. I ended up playing it with the backing track and noticed how it helped. You could hear how the two sound right together. Like harmonizing.

  28. Watched 17 min video, then I made myself play the scale for 10 min, literally watching the clock, and the on tenth minute, it felt like it started clicking … I’ll try the third part of the lesson tomorrow! Thank you!

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