TAC Family Forums

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

  • Posted by JerrySfromNC on April 30, 2021 at 11:24 pm

    1.) How many days per week do you play?

    In a perfect week, I guess would play a couple times a day seven days a week. But life usually isn’t perfect, so I’m happy if I get once per day for five days a week for at least 10 minutes. Anything more is gravy!

    2.) What time of day do you play?

    I usually play after dinner while my daughter is getting ready for bed (usually sometime around 7:30 pm). On the good days, I’ll also play a little just before going to bed or maybe even sneak something in during a break in the work day if I’m at home. I wish I could play first thing in the morning like many discuss here, but that’s just not in the cards for me at this point in life.

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    <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>3.) Where do you play?

    In my home office/guitar stuff room

    4.) 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 played guitar for several years before stopping 15-20 years ago and could fake what I knew pretty well – to the point that friends were asking me to play coffee shops with them, but I really new nothing about the guitar beyond what I had memorized. Sure, I could show up at a house party and play a couple songs and people would like it, but really truly that was it. That was all I knew. No understanding of music theory at all. Start to jam, I am lost. Nothing going on below the surface! About a year ago, my 7 year old daughter kept begging me to get out and play the guitar in the back of the closet and kids don’t quit, so I gave in. It wasn’t long until I started to wonder “Why did I ever stop?” Then I found TAC and saw it as an opportunity to learn guitar the right way. After being here almost a year, I picked up the guitar the other day and realized I had this feeling of familiarity and being in control of the instrument that I have never had in my life. TAC has exceeded my expectations. I have exceeded my expectations.

    Ways my guitar routine has helped me:

    – The magic of picking up the guitar (most) every day!!! Just pick it up and play for 10 minutes. Wash, Rinse, Repeat! Some days feel great. Others not so much, but with the repetition you are always growing! And sometimes those frustrating days end up leading to the biggest breakthroughs. Other times I realize my off day was because I forgot to trim my nails on my fretting hand.

    – Slow down to move forward. Until TAC, I never realized how playing slowly – often times imagining myself in slow motion can help you work through those sticking points in anything you are learning. It seems to go against instinct, but truly go slow if you want to go fast and play it well!

    – I have an ear for music and the guitar!!!! WHO KNEW?!! I didn’t. Just hearing the guitar everyday helps with the familiarity, and then when I did the Fretboard Wizard I realized that I have a pretty good ear. It was a super power I never knew I had! This is exciting!

    <b class=””>5.) Bonus Question: What is one non-guitar item that is a must have in your guitar routine?

    I’m going to say Spotify (or insert your music streaming service of choice). It’s a go to for listening to different versions of songs that I want to work on or types of music that I’m into at the moment, and I inevitably get exposed to new stuff as well – also good for quickly referencing whatever Tony is talking up on Acoustic Tuesday. I keep a playlist called “Setlist” for all the songs that I want to learn in this lifetime here on the planet earth.

    JerrySfromNC replied 3 years, 9 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • jumpinjeff

    Member
    May 1, 2021 at 8:25 am

    Hi @JerrySfromNC , it took me a few years to figure out that playing slow was the key to playing fast. It wasn’t until I watched fellow TACer @Carol-3M-Stillhand , that I saw the tremendous benefit of tension management. For me that meant slowing down to 30 bpm and almost doing a slo-mo flow with my hand. This allowed me to expel the tension not only from my fingers but also from my mind (equally important for me).

    • JerrySfromNC

      Member
      May 1, 2021 at 10:37 am

      For sure @jumpinjeff – I’m with you on that! Even though Tony gives us all the golden information from the start, it takes a while for it to sink in. Luckily he keeps stressing these concepts every day, and somewhere along the way I have developed the instinct to slow way down when I’m tripping up – yes 30 bpm is just fine. The previous version of TAC only allowed us to look at slow, med, fast. Now the new one allow us to do slower than slow – 0.5 or 0.75 or can use a metronome for even slower. I now am convinced that’s were you want to be to get better. It gives your brain time to think about your next move and send the message out to your fingers – once your brain isn’t needed anymore you can speed it up! I really want to focus on timing more this year and being on time regardless of speed.

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