Must say I am confused

[tailsawaggin]

First off, welcome. Yes, this program is aimed primarily at beginners, so the lessons are fairly ground-level. As time goes by, and a player develops more dexterity and comfort, they can embellish as they like.

The same thing kind of applies to playing songs. This program isn’t built around playing songs like some other programs are — it’s built around providing you the tool set to play songs. You’ll find a lot of this in the “skill courses” section, where you’ll learn chords, strumming patterns, and so on, so instead of learning to play “Heart of Gold” and getting the G, C, D, and Em chords, we go the other direction here. We learn G, C, D, and Em, then we play “Heart of Gold,” “One of Us,” “Last Kiss,” or any of the 10,000 other songs that use that set of chords.

If playing songs is more your thing, there’s nothing wrong with augmenting what we do here with song lessons as well. YouTube has a ton of guys who are very good at that — Marty Schwartz (Marty Music), Justin Sandercoe (Justin Guitar, though he’s more of a toolset guy too, and the songs are a means to that end), David Potts (Song Notes), Shane Simpson (Guitar at Work), and Shutup & Play all come to mind.

I’ve been watching all those guys for a while, and one thing is for sure — doing what they say to do got a lot easier after some time here with Tony. Tony’s program is sneaky, too — I just do the daily lessons, and songs get easier to play.

Good luck on your journey!

[[email protected]]

Thanks really appreciate the time you took to write this out. I very familiar with Marty and Justin and even signed up with Guitar Tricks which also has some great lessons. I am more into learning Blues and guitar picking and hoping that the exercises will supplement nicely with lots of the song they have. I will try to hold off judgement for a bit now that you clarified some things.

Need to find some folks in the Phoenix AZ area as that truly is one of the best ways to learn to play with others. Again thanks

[GuitarGeni]

The lessons in the skills section will appeal to you if you are interested in blues and finger and flat picking.

I’ve played for a long time, but I am taking lessons here because I like the challenges and filling in the gaps in my guitar education.

[Moonhare]

@tailsawaggin has really hit the nail on the head here. I am finding that by practicing the techniques Tony demonstrates, and having that daily incentive to pick up the guitar and play I am subconsciously absorbing the skills I need to play other stuff – and I’ve only been here 6 months. I know this is working because I follow Angela Petrilli on YouTube and her riff rundowns where you learn a song each week. I could get nowhere near following at tempo 6 months ago. Suddenly I’m able to follow and although I might not get every single one, I am 90% there and I also know the techniques I need to play.

I know some people don’t get on with Tony’s approach, but for me it has catapulted me forward with my playing and I am sure it is that gentle osmosis of technique that is working and not the act of trying to learn the chords to Dust in the Wind or whatever. I also like the support you get when you ask questions and the 90 day party is a blast when they break you out into small rooms to meet fellow TACers face to face. Give it an honest and open try then if it simply doesn’t work for you at least you know you gave it a shot. I think all these courses are personal taste. None are bad, some are just a better fit. My Christmas present from my family this year is going to be the Fretboard Wizard course. I think I’ll be about ready for it by then which I wasn’t in April. Take care, enjoy playing and see you around! Darren (Moonhare)

[N-lightMike]

Hello @[email protected] (ps, I don’t think your “nickname” is working. You need to get rid of the “@” symbol and the period),

So, I am now confused. @tailsawaggin and @Moonhare have made nice comments helping you to understand Tony’s method as opposed to other methods. Tony is teaching us to play guitar. Others just teach us to play a song. It’s amazing to see someone shred a cool song but they can’t play the guitar at all. Other than that song, they don’t know what to do with the strange object in their hands. Some people can learn a few songs and just take off from there. But those who can’t need Tony’s method.

I just need to say that I love the comment that @tailsawaggin made. He said “doing what they say to do got a lot easier after some time here with Tony. Tony’s program is sneaky, too – I just do the daily lessons, and songs get easier to play.” See, that’s because we are learning guitar and we don’t even realize it. Anyone who can play a guitar can pick up a song very easily if they can figure out or are shown the chords. Then there are embellishments and bass runs and partial chord shapes… all kinds of things that give a different and unique sound to a song. Again, once we see what the players are doing in a particular song, we can imitate it easily if we can play guitar.

All that having been said, the part that confuses me is your statement “Third, a lot of the lessons Tony is treating the viewer as if they never played before. I know he is trying to keep it light and fun, but at times it seems a bit basic.” Then @tailsawaggin says “yes, this program is aimed primarily at beginners, so the lessons are fairly ground-level.” If you all can play all the daily lessons easily, then you are an accomplished guitar player, so I don’t understand why you have spent the money to join TAC. But if you are learning even though you have played the guitar for years, why do you think this is aimed at beginners? A very large percentage of TAC members have played the guitar for years. They are people who weren’t able to continue progressing and continue gaining new skills for whatever reason. Now they are learning new skills and honing old skills. And yet, beginners are able to follow the material and learn from the ground up with the very same lessons. So yes, Tony needs to make sure everyone understands the terms and concepts he is using. But hey, one of the biggest problems I see with any type of instruction is that the instructor assumes his audience understands all the terms or concepts they are teaching. It has nothing to do with the lesson being for beginners, it has to do with actually being a good teacher and not someone who can’t relate to his audience.

Anyway, there are a lot of people who find that the standard ways of teaching guitar don’t work for them. However, Tony’s method works for everyone… well, except the person who judges TAC harshly and bails. So I guess I have to amend that statement to: Tony’s method works for everyone who tries it instead of judging it. I have never had a single person say that TAC didn’t help them after doing the daily lessons for just a month or two.

I played the guitar for 20 years before coming to TAC. I learned more in the first 6 months than I had in 20 years. And that is a common story among TAC members. Everyone has an opinion. Mine is that Tony’s method is the best… period, bar none. Segovia himself couldn’t teach anyone who didn’t already have mad guitar skills. I’ve tried so many different methods and instructors, online and off. Nothing worked for me until I started using TAC. See, it’s not about what Tony teaches or what you think you are learning. It’s about the doing… what Tony gets you to do causes your hands to learn guitar in spite of your head trying to sabotage your efforts.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I hope this helps you. I hope I haven’t stepped on any toes. Sometimes my opinions come off too strong. If that is the case, I apologize.

MG 😀

[the-old-coach]

Mike-

I’m one of those who have had— and sort-of-played— and sort-of-learned— some things- (or at least we thought)- because we could play along with the guitar tabs to a couple of Creedence songs. Oh the memories….

As bad as that sounds- it was damn FUN!- and we were really somethin’ cool- especially when there were buddies, and their guitars, and maybe beer involved. And actually, we were LEARNING guitar stuff- (basic chords, transitions, and maybe even a sense of rhythm).

For quite a few of us- (me for sure)- it’s now “fast-forward” to today- (30-40 years later)—– and TAC. Like you said, Tony’s method and philosophy- (to me anyway)- steadily and subconsciously teaches us NOT how to play — “A” — song, but rather, gives us the tools to play ANY song- (of course with some song-specific practice).

Not to mention teaching me how to RE-LEARN things I learned WRONG- (and there were a few of them!)

My two cents—- This program– and this Community– are great…… period.

Mark

[N-lightMike]

Yes, the important thing, Mark, is to have fun. Life got in the way of your having fun with the guitar and now you are back and having a whole different kind of fun with your guitar. That’s just wonderful.

MG 😀

[[email protected]]

Fair enough. I just put out some first impressions. In actuality I am liking what I am seeing and skill building is really important to playing those great songs we all know and love. So I am sticking with it and building those skills to improve my playing. Thanks for your opinion and support.

[N-lightMike]

I am happy you are progressing and having fun Alan. Like I ended my post, I hope I didn’t come off too strong.

I remember when I first came to TAC, I was confused about how things worked. And when I had been here a couple of months, I had definitely made progress and it seemed like it had happened by magic. I have thought a lot about that “magic” and made many comments about it since then.

After a certain amount of time, some people say they are bored with the lessons. Ok, some people get way better than I’ll ever be and can actually play all the lessons at the high speed. I can understand why they would get bored. But I don’t believe I’ll ever get good enough to get bored with the daily lessons.

MG 😀