TAC Family Forums

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

  • Making some progress! :)

    Posted by RudyB on July 9, 2021 at 3:10 pm

    Barre chords are my nemesis (small hands and short fingers), but the mini chords in the 7/8/21 lesson are much easier for me to manage. I still have to stop and look to do transitions — even after 20 minutes of practice and only able to do slow on speed — but I really like the sound produced. I’ve decided I am just a slow learner on the guitar, but that’s okay since at least I am making some progress after waiting about 30 years to really try to learn the guitar! 🙂

    Ronlad replied 3 years, 5 months ago 11 Members · 21 Replies
  • 21 Replies
  • Loraine

    Member
    July 9, 2021 at 5:29 pm

    I think it is awesome that you are making steady progress! Keep up the great work!

    • RudyB

      Member
      July 25, 2021 at 8:26 pm

      Thanks, Lorraine. I really am grateful for the progress I have – even though I have to use the tabs to be able to play most of it. I take good notes on each one, and can work as slow as I need to do the exercise – stop & start a lot on most – but being able to play the majority at a snail’s pace is still much better than I was a few months ago. ;).

  • jumpinjeff

    Member
    July 9, 2021 at 6:47 pm

    Hi @RudyB , I too like the mini chords and although we call them mini they are actually full fledged chord triads. And I am a slow learner too who waited about 30 years to get on my guitar journey. I am seeing the brilliant strategy of the Tortoise (Tortoise and Hare Fame) playing out in real time. Slow and steady, and every day I win even if it is ever so small. Sometimes though it is gigantic lightning bolt flash wins. Looks like you are winning too.

  • RudyB

    Member
    July 25, 2021 at 8:30 pm

    Jumpinjeff – I was sure not everyone is “lightening fast” on picking up on the daily challenges. Nice to hear that my assumption was correct. I feel more like a snail on my “learning pace,” but even really slow learning with dependency on the tabs is a win from my view. 😊

  • MarkD66

    Member
    July 25, 2021 at 9:31 pm

    @RudyB Congrats, Thats a big win in my book. I am also a slow learner or maybe im just a quick forgetter… lol Seriously though, I remember thinking about quitting because i couldnt play bar chords. Im still not very good and would prefer to stay in comfort zones that ive created. I really like @jumpinjeff reply. You have a great attitude and am looking forward to hearing you play those Barr chords when the time is right… Cheers…….

    • RudyB

      Member
      July 28, 2021 at 11:27 am

      @MarkD66 – Knowing there are other “slow learners” is comforting. Some of the challenges take me all 10 minutes to get through just one time 😉 — being VERY challenging, and some of the theory stuff bounces right off — not even into one ear! 😆 I still stink at most of the barre chords, but I do better on the minis and am still working on the full barres a bit at a time. I just keep telling myself to just keep hanging in there. I didn’t learn to play piano in just a few months either — took years of lessons, and I still have to practice whatever I am playing lots to get it right. I am one of the folks that loves music, but does not have a natural talent — so the only way to get it is to just keep on keeping on with the practice. Won’t ever be a “performer,” but I get a lot of enjoyment out of playing just for myself! 🤩

  • Shipwreck

    Member
    July 29, 2021 at 10:57 am

    Congratulations, any improvement is fun. I’ve been playing at learning guitar for years, lessons, online stuff, Rocksmith, Yousician… lots of looking, less learning. I joined TAC today, and hope to be posting my own progress in the near future. Keep it up and I hope to see more from you as I start my journey.

    • RudyB

      Member
      July 30, 2021 at 2:33 pm

      I have been playing Uke for a couple of years now, and find it much easier than the guitar, even though I still have tons to learn about the uke — but the guitar has always been something I wanted to do. I really started last Sept (with time out for Covid — which pretty much wiped me out with all the side effects of it), but I am getting some of the pieces to come together a bit with some of it it “sticking.” Glad to have you in TAC. There’s lots of variety in the weekly lessons. Some I can do fairly well — others, well I guess my fingers just go “Duh – you want me to do WHAT?” It definitely keeps me challenged. Hope you will find your groove in TAC! 🙂

  • johnny67

    Member
    July 29, 2021 at 11:06 am

    Great job making progress, everyone learns at different speeds and different ways you’re doing great and having fun is most important!

    • RudyB

      Member
      July 30, 2021 at 2:35 pm

      Thanks @johnny67. I agree — having fun with it is really important. There are way too many things in life that you HAVE to do that aren’t fun, so it’s great to have something that IS fun!

  • Ronlad

    Member
    July 29, 2021 at 11:15 am

    @RudyB There is nothing wrong with taking one’s time. I think of the old saying, “Slow and steady wins the race.” You are making great progress! I still have problems with barre chords, and I have long, skinny fingers.

    • RudyB

      Member
      July 30, 2021 at 2:45 pm

      @Ronlad – I guess everyone pretty much has some type of “finger” problem. I have small hands and short fingers, so I guess my problem is the opposite of yours. Some of the reaches are really hard with the pinky. I pretty much have to shift my hand position to get it to reach. Tony is sooooo smooth on his fingering–able to reach all the spans in one position, it just kills me. I know he has had years to get that way, but my fingers just flat can’t reach some of the spans without a hand-position shift, so I just do it the best way I can figure out with the short-finger problem. I am working on how to get my fingers to hold all the strings down on barre chords. I know they are more difficult chord shapes, so I will just keep on with my “snail-pace” chord changes to get them right. 😉

      • This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by  RudyB.
  • Sands

    Member
    July 30, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    I have huge hands and long fingers. Barre chords are extremely difficult for me … but I’m sticking with it and making slow progress.

    🙂

    • RudyB

      Member
      August 2, 2021 at 6:47 pm

      Seems that either end of the scale – large or small – has more problems with the barre chords. You have to “fit” yours in, and I have to adjust to make mine try to reach the required span! 😆 This is where the “average” size probably has the advantage! 😊

  • Cadgirl

    Member
    July 31, 2021 at 3:48 am

    Barre F chords kill me! I am going to have to look at the mini chords. Good job and thanks for the post.

    • RudyB

      Member
      August 2, 2021 at 6:56 pm

      I can do the F mini pretty well most of the time — not fast, but I am beginning to get it. The full barre F — like all of the barre chords that require a finger to cover all 6 strings across the neck — I just have not been able to get any of them yet. I can get get some at 4 strings and occasionally a 5 string barre (if the other fingers aren’t too contorted), but the full 6-strings are totally not happening. 6 strings on my index finger is over half-way between the 2nd joint and the knuckle. I just haven’t been able to get enough leverage to hold all 6 strings at once — no matter how hard I press down — getting lots of “thuds” on the G, D, & He strings — and I get cramps in my hand and wrist when I work on them or more than a just a couple of minutes. 😜

      Hope the mini chords will work for you. I definitely do better at them, but I am still trying to work on the full barres a bit at a time. 😉

    • Ronlad

      Member
      August 20, 2021 at 10:48 am

      Barre chords are enough to hurt any guitar player. I still have difficulty barring chords. It is really an artform.

  • andy_e

    Member
    August 1, 2021 at 11:01 am

    Dear @RudyB, I am so glad you are enjoying your progress! Sometimes I think there may be too much premium on speed. Personally, one reason I like to play slower is that I get to appreciate the beautiful tone coming from my guitar.

    • RudyB

      Member
      August 2, 2021 at 7:14 pm

      Thank you for your kind and encouraging post.

      I was feeling really pressured on speed at first, but I let that go. I just play the lessons at a speed that I can do — not necessarily any particular speed.

      I have also been playing each string in chords — just to make sure I can getting clear tone, and I have to agree with you, that playing slower can really let you hear the tone from your instrument. I guess that’s one of the reasons I really like the lessons where you do lots of individual strings — so I can hear the tones and know that I am getting it right.

      Just starting from scratch last fall — when I didn’t even know the names of the 6 strings, I am really happy that I can look at the tab sheet and recognize which string is which. It’s a really small “win,” but I will take every one that I can get! 😉

  • Ron-N

    Member
    August 2, 2021 at 7:50 am

    Rudy, thanks for your inspiring comments. I started playing 50 years ago. I too am a slow study on the guitar. Since my return, 822 TAC lessons later, I can play a full F, B minor, C minor and a few other bar chords. I struggle with transitions but they are improving. Every time I think about playing the “mini” cord I figure if I suffer through the bar chords eventually they will come. Glad to hear your enjoying TAC.

    • RudyB

      Member
      August 2, 2021 at 7:04 pm

      I admire your persistence on the full barres, and you are definitely waaaay ahead of me. I also struggle with transitions, but I am continuing to practice a variety of chords I have memorized — pretty much every practice session to try to help with my transitions, and that’s the real key to transitions from what I see.

      I do resort to the minis just to be able to play some lessons all the way through when I can’t get the full barre to work, plus a bunch of the full barres give me some major cramping in my wrist and hand if I play them too long.

      I am definitely a slow-poke on the lessons most of the time — not playing anywhere near the speeds indicated for the tab, but I figure if I can make it through the lesson (at any speed I can manage) is a “win” for me, and I can play some of the material faster than when I started a few months ago.

      As long as we are sticking with practice and learning a little bit at a time — we are definitely “winning” in the long run! 😊

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