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Tony’s Acoustic Challenge – The New Way to Learn Guitar Family Forums TACiversary Stories Another Covid Lockdown guitarist hits the 1st TACiversary!

  • Another Covid Lockdown guitarist hits the 1st TACiversary!

    Posted by Moonhare on April 23, 2022 at 12:44 pm

    Well it is my turn to turn 1 and what a year it has been. I was the typical guitar dabbler having learnt nothing new since my first year of playing guitar at the age of 14-15, picking up my guitar, playing a few cowboy chords, fingers hurt, put it down for 3-5 years, pick it up, change the strings, play a bit, fingers hurt….. you get the picture.

    Now all that is a thing of the past. I have learnt new techniques (pull offs, string bends, slides etc.) and I have played 355 of the past 365 days. I simply cannot walk past the guitar without picking it up and playing. I am still at the start of my journey but for anyone that is a new TAC member I can tell you categorically that if you trust in the system, pick that guitar up for 10 minutes and try a daily challenge, remember to have fun above everything else and you will get better. There has been no epic Eureka moment during the last year but I have absorbed the guitar by simply playing it every day. The daily challenges, however imperfectly you play them, just work their way into your fingers by the sorcery of osmosis.

    After 9 months I went back and tried out the 30 Day Challenge again. From just borderline getting through it I was able to play every one at 2x speed. I really could not believe it. So TRUST IN THE PROCESS – it is your friend in the guitar wilderness. You may not get why you are doing all this at the time but it’ll propel you to wonderful places.

    Finally the most amazing thing that has come out of this is playing my first Virtual Open Mics in front of a group of friends I made through TAC. Your fellow TAC members are every much as important a part of this creative process as Tony himself. If I tried to list everyone who has helped me out this year I would inevitably miss someone and feel really bad about it. You guys know who you are. I am so blessed to have met you all through this forum so THANK YOU ALL. I will meet some of you UK based TAC members in May this year for a real life guitar session. I am honoured to have been invited because a year ago the thought of it would have been inconceivable.

    Here’s to the next year which will be full of new discoveries (and a travel guitar on a motorbike!) Here’s a video of my journey through the first year which I hope will inspire those of you who are new to this. Onwards and upwards my friends! Darren (Moonhare) 🤟😎🎸

    https://youtu.be/4U__wg_2T1A

    Moonhare replied 2 years, 9 months ago 8 Members · 14 Replies
  • 14 Replies
  • Loraine

    Member
    April 24, 2022 at 7:40 am

    @Moonhare I just watched your montage a 2nd time, and I’m amazed at your progress in a short year’s time. I know your background played a lot into your progress, but I still find it amazing the skill sets you’ve acquired in such a short time. You have a gift Darren, and we’re the lucky recipients of your art. Looking forward to the next year to see where it leads you on your journey.

  • Marty73

    Member
    April 24, 2022 at 7:47 am

    Happy 1st TACiversary You have come a long ways in one year Darren! Looking forward to where the next year takes you. Keep on playing! 😊🧙‍♂️😎

  • Moonhare

    Member
    April 24, 2022 at 11:59 pm

    Thank you @loraine and @Marty69 . You are both on my list of TAC members who have welcomed, encouraged and inspired me in my first year so a personal thank you to you both. 🤟😎🎸

  • Guitargeezer-Jack

    Member
    April 25, 2022 at 6:42 am

    355 days very well spent @Moonhare

    • Moonhare

      Member
      April 26, 2022 at 1:16 am

      You got that right! Only 40 years late to the party.

  • N-lightMike

    Member
    April 25, 2022 at 1:44 pm

    Hello Darren @Moonhare ;

    I am so very impressed by your video and your progress. The cross-over skills that you brought to TAC are very obvious. I love that you showed us in this video how you, with your understanding of music, put pieces that Tony teaches us, together into something to practice and play around with. I see your experience on the keyboard has given you finger independence and you are not shy about using that to try new things and push yourself. Another template showing us how we can have practice sessions that are more fun and more effective. And then there are your recording and video editing skills. But we don’t need to be as good as you are at the technical end, or even have a set up as good yours, to learn from what you have done. Most of us have learned to make simple videos. And it’s not that hard to learn how to do simple video editing. Your video demonstrates how much this could help us document our journey and help us to improve.

    I say Bravo. I wish to watch this many more times so that I can learn as much as possible from your excellent example. Thank you for this amazing, instructive video.

    MG 😀

    • Moonhare

      Member
      April 26, 2022 at 1:20 am

      I count you among the spirit guides that have helped me along on this first year. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. It is using them to our best advantage not only for ourselves, but for others too that counts. I know a tiny bit about your life journey but it seems to have given you a perspective that some of us will never have. Thanks! 🤟😎🎸

      • N-lightMike

        Member
        April 26, 2022 at 12:00 pm

        You, yourself, Darren, right from the start, became one of the ones that help others. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to give back. It’s what makes this community so special and helpful. Thanks.

        MG 😀

  • Skyman

    Member
    April 25, 2022 at 7:35 pm

    @Moonhare, first, congratulations, second, thanks for that inspirational video/post. I’m a new guitarist, and fairly new to TAC. You have motivated me to be more diligent, and spend more time with the TAC program. I’ve done the days to play, finished a few skills courses, and have a few more in progress. To be honest, probably haven’t put the real effort, and taken it as seriously as maybe I should. Sometimes it takes a smack upside the head to really listen. Thank you for being that smack. I’m going to take this a lot more serious, and hope to post on my anniversary the fun I have had on this continuing journey. Cheers!

    • Moonhare

      Member
      April 26, 2022 at 1:25 am

      Thanks for that. Well there’s no doubt in my mind now that you just have to trust the system. Things will happen if you turn up each day you can and believe me I don’t do an hour or two a day. Most of the week it is 10-20 minutes, but it all adds up then at weekends I may get a chance to play for an hour or more and put it into practice writing a new tune using the techniques I’ve learned from TAC. The important thing I’ve learned this year is to play what you can’t play and don’t think of it as a failure when it all falls apart. One day you find you can play that thing that was just so difficult before. Keep at it my friend! 🤟😎🎸

  • jumpinjeff

    Member
    May 10, 2022 at 5:45 am

    Well done @Moonhare , Your your embrace of the process has clear easy to see results. I totally get the idea of no Eureka moment. It is way more subtle than that. It is the collection of those small wins, day after day that are the osmosis stew. I was reading through the your comments and I stumbled on to this sage observation: “The important thing I’ve learned this year is to play what you can’t play and don’t think of it as a failure when it all falls apart. One day you find you can play that thing that was just so difficult before”. Solid gold nugget there Darren. I am really stoked that you UK TACers are having an IRL get together. One benefit of the experience is exponential progress.

    So glad you found your way here. Your participation has made my journey richer. I wish you fast easy progress and continued success.

    • Moonhare

      Member
      May 10, 2022 at 10:10 am

      You are, without doubt, one of those people who has inspired and encouraged in equal measure during this first year so I am in your debt sir! The great thing for me is I simply haven’t felt like I’m ‘practicing’ guitar in the way I feared it might be taking when taking an online course. By following the TAC mantra of having fun, celebrating the wins and enjoying the journey it has transformed the way I feel about the wood and string object that used to sit on my wall. So far year 2 has been a blast. And yes, I am REALLY looking forward to meeting some UK guitar geeks for the first time! 🤟😎🎸

  • BobbyJ

    Member
    May 10, 2022 at 3:06 pm

    Move over Batman….@Moonhare, you are my new Super Hero! Thank you for making this video and the tremendous inspiration it gives a newbie like me.

    • Moonhare

      Member
      May 13, 2022 at 12:17 pm

      I’ll take that! Well I still have a long way to go but I know now what brings results so I’m just going to keep on playing every day and enjoying where I am at any given time on the journey.

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