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30 days to play – advice needed
I am sure this has been asked again and again but I will give it a try.
I have started the 30 days to play course. Really enjoyed the first 7 days.
However, I have not mastered ANY of the three areas and was wondering, do I just move on to the next area which is chords, even though I cannot play a whole tab sheet without stopping, mistakes or not smooth?
Thanks!
Brian in Norway
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8 Replies
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Hey Brian, welcome to the TAC community!
It’s a legit and good question TAC teaches progress rather than perfection. It’s OK that you don’t master any of the lessons or skills as you’re going through the 30 days to play or even once you start taking the daily challenges.
Tony researched it quite a bit when he was developing the program and the backbone is that if you can put in a minimum of 10 minutes per day, you will progress . So it’s suggested that you put in the minimum of 10 minutes and Mark a lesson complete that doesn’t mean you can’t continue to practice that lesson. It just means that you shouldn’t be bound by it and trying to reach perfection. It’s actually counterproductive if you practice something too much.
So you’ve put in seven days, so the questions are, Do you have more knowledge than you did seven days ago, and have you progressed and you’re playing capability during those seven days? If the answer is yes, then you were doing everything perfectly and just continue to do that and to move forward. Don’t get caught up on the perfection. Keep moving forward. What you will find is that once you get into the daily challenges, they have quarterly check-ins, which are basically working on a group of lessons that you’ve already taken in the past and taking notes of how much you’ve improved since the last time you took that particular weeks worth of lessons. During those weeks, it is recommended or suggested that you actually tape each of your lessons, so that you have a reference point to go back to and compare how much you’ve improved or things that come easier.
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@niblickmac-com just don’t worry about perfection or completion in any way. The things taught in this program are taught over and over again.
Also, even when you’re apparently stuck, you’ve hit a wall and just don’t seem to be improving, your brain continues to work in the background. You have an astonishing machine on your shoulders and it can do absolutely magical things. The most learning occurs in your struggles so celebrate the times when you do stuff over and over and it’s not getting better!
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Is this really what I have to do to find answers? This is SORT OF answering my question, but not really. So you are saying we shouldn’t worry about accomplishing things on this site, just keep going? Why isn’t that mentioned anywhere?
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I think you’ll accomplish something if you play every day. The way the site is set up is that the lessons will come around again and again, and there are benchmark lessons / weeks. Those are meant to allow you to compare your first time through the lesson to the 2nd or 3rd time through so that you can rate your progress. The 30 day challenge gives the basics of guitar….everything you need to basically play something. Some people will take all 30 days, and some people will take longer than 30 days until they are comfortable moving on to daily “lessons”. Even the daily lessons seem to give you something fairly easy to play, something a little more challenging, and something that may take a few times through to get under your fingers. Plus, you get the weekends off to practice everything you’ve learned !
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Your statement that you feel like this isn’t mentioned anywhere confuses me as he reiterates the “progress over perfection” practice over and over in many videos. In fact, it is one of his main points in the intro videos when you initially sign up and start the program. Tony is constantly saying “don’t worry about getting it perfect… do what you can and that is enough… move on”
Maybe I’m wrong but that has been the clear message throughout my experience anyway.
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This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by MattTX_24.
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This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by
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Brian in Norway, does this answer your question? Because I’m not getting clarity from these answers.
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Everybody will progress at their own pace, of course. The idea is to put 10 minutes a day into your daily routine. Of course no one is really going to become a great guitar player playing 10 minutes a day, especially if they’re brand new to guitar. The 30 days is great because it gives you all the basic concepts, while also giving you some time to toughen up your fingers. Move on to the next section and try that, but then keep going back to what you previously learned. If you want to become proficient , you need to put in the time ( yup….more than 10 minutes a day !). I know some people may be obsessed with perfecting a skill before they move on, but, personally, I’d find it boring practicing one thing over and over. There are still things I don’t do perfectly on the guitar, but I’m picking up new things all the time. The dexterity I learn from the new things I try seem to help with improving the things I haven’t perfected yet. You will find things you learn quickly, and things you struggle with. But your brain is learning patterns and each time, the pattern will come to you more quickly. Just have fun with it !
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It’s true that we will not become great players in only ten minutes a day. I don’t think it’s the goal of most on here to become a great guitarist, but we certainly want to get better and that’s why we’re here. You will improve with 10 minutes of playing through the lessons, keep in mind this does not include watching the videos at normal speed since each challenge is around 10-15 minutes. I usually don’t have to watch it through to the end though, just a few minutes and then I’m flipping over to the play video.
Those ten minutes are not my only guitar time though, I frequently am adding 30-90 more minutes throughout the day. I probably still won’t get to be “great” but I’m planning on getting proficient if I live long enough. I am also supplementing TAC with other lessons to accelerate my progress.
Finally I wanted to address what @michealfrancesgmail-com said:
does it mean “we shouldn’t worry about accomplishing things on this site, just keep going”. I would answer yes and yes. Don’t worry about accomplishing things, instead look for small wins. The small wins add up.Most importantly, you may struggle through a challenge and think you did just awful, but you don’t realize how much you learned in the process. That will get revealed later on. Struggling with the subject matter is what you are looking for, your brain is lapping it up in the process.
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