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4th try. How I TAC
Trying to post without photos to see if it goes through this time. Will post photos in the replies.
How many days per week do you practice: my baseline commitment is 5-10 minutes per morning Monday to Friday. These are usually (but not always) the TAC exercises, and my focus is on learning a technique and playing it cleanly. I often come back to the guitar later in the day and on weekend and play more, but this way these other sessions can be “for fun” if I want, rather than focused on pushing me out of my comfort zone.
What time of day do you play? My go-to time for the last two years has been around 6:30 am, after I finished my workout, but before the kids get up. But this year with Corona, and working from home, and the kids being bounced between school and online learning, I’ve been less consistent. I have two back-up slots for the days I don’t get to it first thing in the morning:. If the kids are at school, I’ll take 10 minutes at noon as part of my lunch break. If the kids are learning from home, I’m usually too busy at lunch, so back-up slot #2 is at about 7:30 pm, after I’ve fed them and done the dishes, and they are engrossed in whatever is popular on youtube today…
Where do you play? I have a nook opposite the dining room in our house (like an extra-wide section of hallway – see photos) that I’ve appropriated as a music nook with most of my guitars and a keyboard. I like playing there because I can see the rest of the family in the living room when I play. It’s far enough away that I don’t interfere too much with the sound of the TV, nut close enough that I still feel like I am part of the family.
What was your guitar life like before having a guitar routine & how has implementing a consistent guitar routine helped you? (if possible name 3 ways). I never had a guitar life before TAC, so for the most part I’ve always followed a consistent guitar routine, but I haven’t always felt as good about it as I do now. This year, in part because of the 90-day challenge tony put out in January, I’ve really focused on picking a goal, and focusing my practice routine on getting me there. In some ways this has made the practice sessions harder (i.e. I can’t just learn the scale and ignore the improvisation component on Wednesdays because my current goal is to learn to play solos…) But it’s taken away the “why bother” or the “I’ll just get through this as quick as I can and move on with my day” attitudes that would sometimes come into my practice sessions before. It has also helped me manage my frustration when the exercises just don’t feel right under my fingers. I’m able to remind myself that the exercises are supposed to be hard, because I am learning something.
Pictures: I’m including two pictures in this post. The first is me in my music nook at one of the TAC Virtual Open Mics (which are awesome). And the second is of my pal Winnie, sneaking in some practice time. One of the nicest things about this year is that I now sometimes catch my wife (on the keyboard) and kids (on guitar or keyboard) playing around in my nook. I didn’t want to post pictures of them so Winnie (my youngest son’s favourite stuffy) symbolizes that change.
Thanks for reading of you made it this far 🙂
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