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Small to some, big to me
After a couple of weeks of working on 30 Days to Play & Fretboard Wizard, I finally spent some time looking around the site and found the forums.
Since I had a very short lived session of lessons 50 years ago, I just now picked up a guitar again. Working on the Blues lines, basic chords, recognizing keys of songs, & working on scales.
Getting to where I can do the 30 Days blues lessons fairly well, but still screw them up. I shake my head, take a deep breath, and start again. When I pick up the guitar, I generally work through all of those that I mentioned, then work on chord practices. Most of the time I spend at least 30-45 minutes and sometimes close to an hour.
Overall, I’m happy with how it’s going, but frustration sets in occasionally. When it does, I put it down and walk away. Then I usually pick it up again later in the day. I’m stubborn. 😉
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16 Replies
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Those are some great wins Rando! It sounds like you have a good start to your guitar journey. When I get frustrated, I stop and move onto something new. Then I come back to the place where I got frustrated, and things work out. Well most of the time.
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Welcome to the TAC community Rando! Sounds like you have a great handle on things, and those are some great wins! We all get frustrated at times, and I approach it the same way you do – walk away and return after a time. Seems to work every time.
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Welcome to tac and congrats. Those are some mighty fine wins
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Thanks for the replies and words of encouragement.
I’m getting pretty good with the G and D chords and the associated exercises, but the last joint on my ring finger just doesn’t seem to want to bend far enough to clear the D string for the C chord. I can finally get it, but then when I slide farther up the neck during Tony’s exercise, I lose it. I feel like a contortionist trying to get my hand, wrist, & fingers in the right position. While I was looking for something on Google, I came across a video that may explain part of my issue. This person suggested angling my fingers across the frets as opposed to keeping my fingers square to the neck. Now, I haven’t looked yet, but I think that staying too square may be part of my issue. But, as I said in my first post, I’m stubborn. I’ll get it.
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Nice wins Rando, keep at it I do the same when things aren’t working right 👏
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I decided to get away from the 30 Days and Fretboard Wizard for a bit and looked at the Skill Courses. I’m a blues fan so I thought I’d see what I could do with the 12 Bar Blues. I picked up the first day pretty well and I’m working on the second. The biggest challenge isn’t the actual playing but getting the measures correct so that I don’t play something too many times or not enough. I’m liking it.
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Woo hoo!! It was a great day! After working on my blues skills, I went back to my 30 Days and picked up with my chord work. I actually got my C chord down pretty well. It still needs work but greatly improved today. My transitions need a lot of practice, but much better. Even the things that I had already been practicing went much smoother. I practiced for almost an hour and it only seemed like 15-20 minutes. Maybe my fingers are actually starting to listen to me. 😁
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I’ve been working on the 12 Bar Blues Skills Challenge. The first couple days went pretty well, 3rd & 4th days are giving me some issues. But today I tried Jimi’s Chord. I’ve never tried plucking and percussion, but this went pretty good and it’s a lot of fun.
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Very impressed by your motivation @Rando – your postings the last two weeks show really good progress. Focusing on what you enjoy (the Blues) is smart for self-motivation.
I also found going through the Fretboard Wizard early in my TAC experience helpful and I have learned a lot from already completing many of the Skill Courses.
Keep enjoying the ride Rando. Hope to see and hear you perform some Blues tune on the Play for Us forum in the future. 😎
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Thanks Guitargeezer-Jack. I appreciate the encouraging words. I was working on Fretboard Wizard, but between it AND 30 Days, I was jamming too much stuff in there all at once. So, I stopped both and went to the 12 Bar Skills. Problem is, with all the stuff I’m “learning”, I have trouble remembering everything and end up accidentally combining things. 🤔 Hmm. That didn’t sound right.
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A very good small win. Actually I’ll call practicing 45 minutes more than a small win. Good job on that. I found if i put your guitar where you see it. your more apt to pick it up during the day. Good luck
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With this consistent effort you can’t help but build the muscle memory that will free you from the mechanics to the emotion. Keep it up. You are doing great.
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Thanks Cadgirl and albert_d. The kind words and encouragment is always nice to see. I don’t really notice the long practices cuz I get so involved in it. Some are just 15-20 finger stretchers, then I get distracted. As long as I get some every day. 🙂
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This is all awesome. You are clearly making fullest use of TAC.
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Thanks, Mark. Kind words appreciated.
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OK. Went back to 30 Days and been working on strumming, Boom Chick & Boom Chick-A’s. Just started the scale to get ready for my first “solo”. 😳
Getting to where I can run the scale pretty well in both directions, but still gotta work on that stretch from 5th to 8th fret.
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