TAC Family Forums

Share your wins, get unstuck, or see how others use the TAC Method to create a fulfilling guitar life!

  • help I feel stuck

    Posted by [email protected] on June 2, 2021 at 8:35 am

    I need some help here guys. Maybe I am just having a down day. I have been doing the daily challenges for a month now and while I think Tony is a great teacher it all feels like random bits and peaces. Does this all come together at some point. I am learning lots of stuff but don’t know how to use it. Anybody out there feel this way and is there a more accomplished guitar player out there that can give me some advice and incouragement please

    [email protected] replied 3 years, 8 months ago 6 Members · 11 Replies
  • 11 Replies
  • Sands

    Member
    June 2, 2021 at 9:11 am

    The best parts about TAC is community and consistency. Enjoy the journey. Meanwhile, be sure to check in with the help team to get your daily log and 90 day goal documents. I saved a template for both. Follow those instructions and reflect on them regularly until it becomes a habit.

    Your 90 day goal will include things that TAC may not teach, and that’s okay. Go with it. I am using a few other resources along with TAC, but for me TAC is the way I stay focused (daily) with what is really important to me and close to others with similar passions. That said, the banjo stuff this week isn’t inspiring me. Also, make sure to check out the skills section. For the past couple weeks, I’ve been working on Barre Chords and 12 Bar Blues sessions. Pretty good workouts.

    Outside of TAC, I have been focusing primarily on strumming routines and just started using my metronome regularly (because my rhythm needs work). I found a strumming book on Amazon (picked it up locally) then the publisher offered book two at a discount when I set up the free audio instruction. Also using Guitar Jamz. I did a lifetime with that one also, and there is just a plethora of stuff on it – I haven’t even been able to look at it all.

    I was fortunately(?) able to sell my truck to help pay for all this with some of the equity – I definitely understand that choices can be driven by available resources. The best part of the 90 day goal setting is that it will help you identify what you need to work on and help you to identify the best next steps for you. I think that is pretty great.

    Good luck and have fun.

  • [email protected]

    Member
    June 2, 2021 at 11:58 am

    Thanx Earl that really helps . I guess I am just having a down day because I want to play like Billy Strings but can’t quite reach there yet. but perhaps in 200 years

  • Alisa

    Member
    June 2, 2021 at 2:33 pm

    Hi Robert. I hear you. I’ve been here about a month as well, and I enjoy the different techniques I learn on this website. It goes from strumming, to fingerpicking, to flatpicking, throws some theory into it. Keeps me on my toes. But I know what you mean about it not leading somewhere. This site is a great foundation, but it’s not enough. I’ve seen a lot of progress in my technique in the past month, so it’s serving its purpose, but I also need to supplement it with learning music to play.

    I suppose that’s what most people on this website do. You see it in the VOMs and “play for us” section; I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from them. So that’s the TLDR here: find some songs to play that make you happy.

    What I did is take a subscription on ultimate guitar tabs (they had a spring sale of $25 for a year, can’t go wrong with that), and I go there and look for songs I can play. Like, daily. I don’t know how advanced you are in your journey, but if you finished the 30 days course, you know CDG, so on their app (or website), you can go to “tools” and then “progressions,” and it will list songs that use only CDG. SO MANY. Find a song you love and have some fun with it!

    I also follow GuitarNick on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/guitarnick/posts). It’s just $3. He posts small instrumental arrangements of songs with fingerpicking, a mix of beginner and more advanced.

    A month ago, I couldn’t strum, didn’t even know how to hold a pick, barely knew any chords, and everything seemed out of reach. So the combination of Tony’s lessons and just exploring what’s out there works great for me.

    I hope you find your mojo back 🙂

    • [email protected]

      Member
      June 4, 2021 at 7:17 am

      I am concedering taking out a life time membership but am still not convinced thats a good idea for me at this stage. Thankx for your kind words they help alot

  • AcousticJeff

    Member
    June 2, 2021 at 3:45 pm

    Good replies so far Robert! I’ve been a member of the TAC community for just over a year and absolutely love it. I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.

    Yes! The lessons are a lot and seem like random bits & pieces, but there is a “method” to the madness 🙂 Each lesson builds on one another. I totally agree with Earl and Alisa as I’ve followed some of what they’re doing.

    * TAC has helped me with fretboard awareness. I’m getting more proficient at reading the tabs without looking down at my strings. Muscle memory let’s me pick through the songs reading the TABS.

    * Chord progressions, including Barre Chords – my transitions as well as making the chords has improved dramatically.

    * Like Alisa I signed up last year for premium membership at UG and use it almost every day. Find some songs you like and start playing. What you’re learning in TAC will only make you better.

    * Then like Earl I also am a member of Guitar Jamz. I signed up with them specifically for strumming, getting my strumming down better.

    If you would’ve told me a year ago the things I’ve done I wouldn’t have believed it. I posted a few videos on FB of me playing. I hosted, as part of a team, a FB live program regularly “15 Minute Worship Hour” https://www.facebook.com/15minuteworshiphour – I was invited to play with the praise band for Celebrate Recovery meetings, and then a few months ago was invited up to the big stage to play with the worship band at our Church.

    Trust me! Keep at it – keep doing the lessons — It’s alot like Mr. Miyagi with wax on & wax off. Danielson got really upset because he wanted to learn karate, not wax cars…but, it all came together.

    Jeff

    • [email protected]

      Member
      June 4, 2021 at 7:13 am

      Hay that karate kid reference really cemented the bigger picture for me thanx

  • Alfred

    Member
    June 2, 2021 at 3:55 pm

    the TAC daily challenge isn’t set up as a from step a to step b kind of thing. It is a method to get you practicing something new and interesting, and hopefully challenging for a minimum time each day.

    If you have not already done so, try the 30 days to play course which is set up to get you from 0 to playing, or as a refresher if you are just coming back from a long vacation from guitar.

    After that take the skills courses that interest you. The one thing that a lot of other pay sites are missing is the practice portion. Practicing consistently is probably the most important thing you can do with whatever style guitar you want to learn. I have begun using the TAC learning method with things that aren’t even presented here with good effect.

    In the end it is hard to connect the dots from practice to where you want to go for anyone other than yourself. Stay motivated… and if you haven’t yet, take what you have learned and and apply it to learning a song you love. That helps keep the fires stoked.

    • [email protected]

      Member
      June 4, 2021 at 7:10 am

      Thank you Alfred Its nice to know there other people out there who care enough to share. I needed that

  • Sands

    Member
    June 3, 2021 at 7:14 am

    Hi again,

    I forgot about the 30 days to play! Alfred’s reply reminded me. I followed that routine initially and made some good gains. Great program.

  • Marquita

    Member
    June 3, 2021 at 12:53 pm

    @[email protected], I read where you want to play like Billy Strings. I looked up his Biography and found that he was born in 1992. His father and uncle were both a great influence as they were accomplished musicians and surrounded him with acoustic music practically from birth. When he was 4, Billy asked for a guitar, his wise dad bought him one that cost a mere $25 which he learned to play. When he turned 6 years, he joined his dad at bluegrass picking parties. He got the nickname Billy Strings from his aunt. He was playing an electric guitar in middle school in a heavy metal band, but realized it was leading him down the wrong road. He’s only 28 now and if my math is right he’s been around playing for 22 years. Most people want to play well right away. Have faith. My recommendations are
    1) take heart stay determined… don’t let your expectations defeat your desire.
    2) Stay on the path. Lessons that don’t seem logical to a beginner will turn out to be treasured as you progress in understanding.
    3) Enjoy each day of playing. Find something little that you did differently than the day before and keep a journal.
    4) Each lesson, listen attentively to instructions re: fretting hand as well as the picking hand. I make notations under the music that I print out and practice them one measure at a time. It may not seem at the moment that it applies to me, but just followed the good guidance and encouragement others give… Then suddenly, the magic happens.
    I noticed how my playing has improved and how I can recognize chords I couldn’t imagine even 9 months ago. This is because of TAC. Do take advantage of the skills that are offered. And find simple songs at first to use what you are learning. I hear so many different levels of achievement at the VOMs… and so many different styles of playing and songs.
    By the way, we’ve all gone through slumps… Falling into that hole wasn’t fun, but climbing back out, was the best thing I’ve ever done.

    • [email protected]

      Member
      June 4, 2021 at 7:07 am

      Thank you Marquita. Your incoragement really makes a difference and I apprecate you taking the time to write to me. I guess there are no shortcuts. I am just having a hart time seeing the big picture here. So I will stick with Tony he is a great teacher

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