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30 Day to Play move on to 5 day challenge or ??
I was looking for a search function as I am positive that I am not unique in the following.
So, I have finished up the 30 Days to Play. A problem that I have is that I can either strum, or change chords; not both. As in I can strum on beat 1, maybe 2, and then take the next 2 or 3 beats just to change to the next chord (depends on chord). I can do the hand on my leg to a chord ok. I am just stuck at changing chords. Especially G, but all of them except I think Em. Do I have a neurological issue? 😀
Any tips would be awesome. I am wondering if I should move on or just hang out here in the 30 Days areas until I can do that. Or perhaps I should go buy another guitar, one that costs more money? 😀 :O My wife says perhaps I would be better suited to harmonica.. LMAO!
Cheers!
-Mark
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6 Replies
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@mark-cronenwettpm-me not sure what is going on here. Is it that the chord changes take that long? If so then you can train yourself to “automatically” make the chord without thought. This isn’t an instantaneous thing though, it will take time. My chord changes were also very slow when I started but now that I’ve been playing daily for nearly 2 years they are coming faster. There is still a lot of room for growth but I have come a long way.
Is there a reason that you suspect the guitar might be handicapping you? I’m not going to advise you to spend money that you might regret later. Maybe your guitar needs to be setup? I don’t have enough information to know what’s best.
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My deep apologies Pete as my humor has failed to come across regarding a new guitar. Think of it like my driving is bad, so I need a faster car to fix it. Maybe that will help. Tongue in cheek, including my wife and the harmonica. Not pertinent to the question, so should have left it out.
Yes, it can take that long to get my fingers on the right strings, and correctly. I am not talking fast beat here, think slow walk.. I just spent 30 minutes working to strum steady and not stop and let the fingers fall where they did and fix them all while not stopping. Just a simple down strum. Yes, G and especially D are a problem, but really most of them are except Em. Fingers in the wrong spot, wrong fingers, buzzy strings, dead strings, etc. If I do them one at a time I can do ok most of the time.
So the boiled down real question. Do I continue on, or do I circle back through the 30 Days until I can do the faster fancier strumming with chord changes at say 75%? I would guess basic strumming now I would be 20% at hitting the changes. I am not sure if I need to be better for the 5 Days and then Weekly?
Thank you.
-Mark
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I should have picked up on the smiley face emoji! My bad @mark-cronenwettpm-me Like @jumpinjeff says, keep moving. No need to linger in 30 Days. You will find that this program is not structured with a beginning and end, so it’s always ok to say “NEXT”. The Daily Challenges have tougher elements in them than what you’re seeing now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t tackle a portion of them. Then do more next time. We don’t pursue mastery here, always just do your best and mark complete!
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I like how you got to the essential question! It took me a while to even figure that out. : )
The answer is acutally both and yes. What ever it was that kept you playing yesterday, capture it and bring it with you today and hopefully you will have something left so you can bring it tomorrow too. There are no prerequesites or qualification for any of the lessons. The beauty of music is the most comlex things can be parsed and simplified. It is not easy to see at first. The distraction of the whole concept would keep me from seeing even the first part of it. If you find yourself totally engaged in a 5 day challenge, mission accomplished. If you are enaged in one module of the 5 day and you are engaged and on fire for your alotted time (newly centered around an old habit), mission accomplished. Here is the caveat: too much time spent trying to do something your body has not wired itself for either metally or physically is going to lead to stagnation. It is really difficult to see at first when progress stops on the account of force. It is why doing the challenge on a layer where you will find success is the fastest way to progress. It is also where observations of small wins are honed. I paid Tony to be my teacher for two years and I was still trying to teach myself. When I started doing it the way Tony suggested my progress ramped up. Once I figured that out, the whole thing got easier. Not that it was easy but it was easier. The other suggestion I have and you will get tired of me saying it soon….slow down. One beat every two seconds. Play as though you are playing in super slow motion to get your brain to rewire. It is rub your head and pat your belly all over again. You cant chase speed but you can sneak up on it.
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Thank you both for the clarity.
Perhaps a lesson learned for me. Do not ask questions on the Internet when you have pneumonia and the free time. LOL
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Actually I appreciated your humor.
While your problem will be unique to you, it is a problem that most of us had to endure to begin to call ourselves guitar players, even if we paused and then said I’m not very good. I have finally progressed to the level that I don’t have to pause and say that any longer. I now say “oh, I play a littlebit” with a modest smile then proceed to show off a little. You will get there also, just not today….
You can do both, on the weekends I usually revisit the skills section and take something again maybe bass patterns or chords or Hybrid picking or finger style lessons. Every day seems to be a learning day for me in y guitar journey.
The TAC style of learning is great and you can progress and become a better guitar picker using it but it does not hurt to hone your skills by playing as much as you are comfortable with. If you are brand new it will take you a lot of practice in each skill to say Oh, I can play a little bit. When you do get there, Don’t forget the modest smile…
Chicks dig, it even when you are 79 years old.
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