Fretboard Wizard – When to Start

[HowardM]

It depends on you and how much time you have. It is all-important, you might review the classes daily and obtain some morsel of knowledge and focus primarily on the basic courses. It is a lifelong journey and the hardest lesson I had was to have patience and not overthink Tony’s process. Congratulations on your decision, and my primary advice is to take it slow.

[KayMesser]

Thank you so much for the advice Howard! Trusting the process is key in so many things in life. I also appreciate your emphasis on taking it slow.

[Cadgirl]

Good for you to buy the Fretboard Wizard when you signed up. You can’t just buy it anymore except on signup. It’s being updated and when it is, you’ll have access to the new one. But, its been a long time in the updating process. The Fretboard Wizard is yours as long as you belong to the TAC site. I took it and really liked it. It explains a lot. You could start taking it along with your daily challenges. It will help you understand what Tony is talking about when he goes into the chords that are in the Key of A (or B, C, etc). If you get stuck on something, try to work it out on your own a little, but feel free to ask the community for help. Some of it can be confusing. I had to do that a few times. You could record the FBW program as you go along (with your IPhone or other recording device) and compare the 2. Again, good for you for the purchase.

[KayMesser]

Thank you Denise for the comment! I’m also really glad that I got it when I did and I really appreciate knowing that the foundation will help in future challenges. I’ll add it into my routine for sure!

[the-old-coach]

Cadgirl—

“you can’t just buy it anymore except on signup”

Funny– I actually considered “letting my membership go” upon my renewal date earlier this year (Jan), just so I could then “sign-up” (again)– and buy the FBW course “upon signup” .

Yeah- I know- weird.

For the life of me- I just can’t figure out why an existing member can’t purchase it, but a NEW member can.🤨

Can’t WAIT until it comes out (again)!!!

the coach

[Cadgirl]

@the-old-coach. I would assume it’s a marketing ploy. I wonder if the new version will cost more?

[Kitman]

Hi @KayMesser and welcome to TAC! I joined TAC in May 22 and took the same approach that you took (ie. signed up for Fretboard Wizard straight away). Our fellow TACers have already given you some good advice. The course is very helpful in providing an understanding of what Tony is saying in the Daily Challenges and what is going on in a song we are trying to learn. It is also foundational in the sense that it helps with providing an understanding of the fretboard and provides knowledge, tools and the “why” behind the fretboard and how music (eg. song keys, chord structure, which chord progressions are being used and what notes make up the chords, etc). Admittedly it can seem a bit heady.

I’ll share my experience and approach: I did the 30 Days to Play, Five Day Guitar Challenge and of course the Daily Challenge with guitar in hand so I was ready to play along. I did those at the same time plus the Fretboard Challenge (I am retired and had some free time 😃). I also had some prior experience in playing the guitar which helped. I did the 30 Day and 5 Day courses in the stated days – no worries there.

Fretboard Wizard was a different kind of animal for me. For the Fretboard Wizard, I did those without my guitar and instead had a notebook and pencil ready. I took notes on what Tony presented. I made a lot of sketches of what he was presenting. If I didn’t understand it, I backed up the video and played it over (and sometimes over and over 😃). Sometimes I would stop the video and open a new page in my browser and do a search on a term or an idea Tony was presenting – just to get an alternative view or two. After I finished a video I went back and reviewed my notes and attempted to reproduce the items Tony presented on my own in my notebook using the tools and tips from the video. I have quite a few revised or scratched out attempts in my notes!

After I did the above, I took the quizzes for the sections presented. If I missed an answer I reviewed my notes and rewatched the video to figure out why. When I finally passed the quiz I picked up my guitar and applied the knowledge I learned there (in “real life” as Tiny is fond of saying in the FW videos and quizzes). Finally, I moved in to the next section.

You might be thinking – that seems like it might take some time. It did (for me)! As @Cadgirl points out – the videos are yours to watch when you want and as many times as you want. I still go back to them and review them if I feel I am not understanding something (in the middle of the right now on a particular topic). I am not quite sure how long it took me to complete Fretboard Wizard – and how long really doesn’t matter. What matters is that you achieve an understanding and work completely through the course

I would finally offer that the time you invest in Fretboard Wizard will be repayes to you many times over. It provides a fundamental understanding of not only the guitar, but Music Theory in general.

Hang in there and take the course at your own pace. Above all, have fun learning and playing the guitar – it is your guitar journey! 😎🎶🎸

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by  Kitman.

[Mrfredsporty]

As usual, KM, you hit the nail on the head!

[KayMesser]

Kit, thank you so very much for this thoughtful description of how you approached the FW. I think it would benefit me a lot by taking notes, making sketches, doing a little research to help reinforce what I’m learning. I am a slow learner in general but I do tend to hold onto information longer when I write it down. It’s great that you also review each missed quiz answer. I need to go back to the first FW quiz and video to apply this approach. I think it will help tremendously.

Thank you!!!!

[Kitman]

You are welcome! Sometimes we are so driven to rush through everything. In some cases slow and steady might work better. Here is a post that Tony Shared in an Acoustic Tuesday show about learning. This is what Fretboard Wizard was like for me!

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by  Kitman.

[Cadgirl]

@Kitman . ha ha ha…..