Tony’s Acoustic Challenge – The New Way to Learn Guitar › Family Forums › Community Support › Some tips? Help feeling discouraged
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Some tips? Help feeling discouraged
Posted by CeeCubed on April 27, 2021 at 7:33 pmHi fellow TAC members. I started as a brand new member and player last summer and honestly have not done my ten minutes a day but I did faithfully practice at least a few times a week and then noticed that I extended the 30 days to play into months…too chicken to jump into the big world of TAC. Truth is I still struggle with the basics from 30 days to play…so I stopped playing for a while because I convinced myself I just wasn’t going to “get it”. But I am back and determined because, bottom line is, that even if I never play for anyone but myself I love hearing those strings vibrate and I miss it. So, now that my calluses are almost all healed and my courage is low, do you have any tips on how to get back into the swing of things and, most importantly, how not to hide behind the blues shuffle (I find the TAC daily practices super intimidating and waaaay too fast for me so I get discouraged)
AttyTJ replied 3 years, 8 months ago 19 Members · 38 Replies -
38 Replies
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Hi Claudia and welcome back to TAC! Congrats on giving it another shot!
Now, this is just me, but I need to be making music to stay connected to guitar. There are MANY easy 2-chord and 3-chord songs you can learn to play. So I say go on youtube and find some beginner song tutorials (or private message me).
Once I played my first song, the rest was history. I was “making music” and I wanted more. That was my incentive, my driving force. Do this in addition to your continued TAC lessons, because they are truly helpful. Start practice with the TAC lessons and end with the song lessons.
I wouldn’t worry about “getting” it yet, especially if you’re really new to guitar. Just do the TAC lessons and have fun learning to play simple songs.
Do not get discouraged. Remember your reasons for wanting to learn how to play the guitar, and keep that top of mind.
Another tip would be to watch Tony’s goal setting sessions. They are really helpful. You set your goals, and it helps you to focus your practice a little better.
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Thanks Michelle I will definitely follow you advice. It’s funny because I have been finding myself looking for a song I could play with my VERY basis skills just to dangle a carrot in front of myself 🙂 Thanks for your kind words of encouragement.
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P.S. I took almost 90 Days to complete the 30-Day Challenge, and I had already gone through a beginner program elsewhere. I’m thankful to @michaelk73 for encouraging me to start from the beginning
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In my opinion, and in my experience, the advice to get your first song under your belt is absolutely the best advice for (re)kindling the motivation to learn. @Michelle-PSL hit the nail on the head in my opinion on that one. I try to tell folks to learn a song as soon as possible. the rest will come.
If you Like CCR – Bad Moon Rising is just 3 chords D A G – It is really fun to strum and mess with the rhythm with. Hours of fun can be had on just that one song.
Don’t be discouraged, you can do this!
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Thanks! I will! I was in a funk! But I really missed it…thanks for the encouragement and for the song! I will look it up! However I gotta tell you that the obstacle I face is that most songs I like have the D chord and I suck at it even though I practice it. I just can’t get a clear sound
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This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by
CeeCubed.
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On the D chord, experiment with hand position and arch of the fingers to get to a point where you’re pressing the strings straight down to the fretswith the finertips closer to perpendicular to the fretboard. This will reduce any tendency to mute adjacent strings. Take some time picking each string individually to make sur they are all ringing clearly, then strum the chord. After a while it really does get easier. Every part of guitar playing is challending for a while. That’s part of the attraction. It’s “hard fun” that you’ll never outgrow!
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This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by
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Hi @Claudia C , In addition to the 5 weekly TAC lessons, work on a song like @Michelle-PSL said. I also recommend what I call “skull practice.” That’s a football term for studying plays, watching films, etc. It’s not physical practice but mental practice. Here are some of the things you will want to study, learn and commit to memory (My opinion is to learn them in this order as well): Chromatic scale, Major scale pattern, and minor scale pattern. These 3 things alone will be a fantastic start to your musical knowledge. For me, it was easier to learn all 3 on a piano keyboard, then learn how it applies to the guitar fretboard. Here are some benefits of learning those 3 things: 1. You will be able to identify ANY note on the fretboard easily and fairly quickly, 2. You will learn to play scales all over the neck, 3. Where to place the capo becomes easy peasy.
I promise if you learn those 3 things inside and out, then you won’t need to ask me or anyone else what to study next. You will know what you need/want to study next. It only takes hours to learn each one, not days.
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Are the 3 things you recommend: Chromatic Scale, Major Scale Pattern & Minor Scale Pattern on the TAC site? I searched the skills section using those words and did not get a result. I keen to learn and have zero music background, I kinda know what is a scale is but don’t know what would be the differences between the 3 you recommend or where I can go to learn more. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Hi @polarpeak75 , all three of those things get addressed in the daily lessons. Now that your curiosity has been piqued pay close attention to the daily lessons written introductions as well as the video explanations and these things will start popping out at you like corn in hot oil. Focus as much attention as you can on not only executing the daily lessons but mentally comprehending them as well. My first few years here I missed a large part of the mental theory comprehension because I was so focused on the physical execution of the exercises. It’s all in there though. And if you get stuck put it out there in the forum.
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Just doing an internet search for “musical scales,” “major scale,” “minor scale” or “chromatic scale” will produce many results that will get you started. Although Tony occasionally gives some explanation about one or more scale types in the daily lessons, it will take a long time to answer your question via TAC daily lesson references, especially since we no longer have access to the “Libraries” of daily lessons. You’re going to need to look outside of TAC to get much information if your needs are current, and I think they are.
If you do a little internet research, you’re likely to find some discussion of “modes” of the major scale. Don’t worry if you don’t understand all of that at once. Let it sink in over time. You will see in time that the natural minor scale (there are actually several scales that have a “minor” or “sad” sound) is noting more than the sixth mode of the major scale. The major scale is defined by the intervals or distances between adjacent notes. I will not fall into the trap of writing a book here again as I did in many posts on the old forum. I will leave it to you to find what you need because it is very easy to find.
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Thanks so much! I really appreciate this and will do it for sure! I will ask to borrow my neighbours keyboard!!
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Some great comments and suggestions here Claudia. Also, keep trying the daily lessons. Slow them down if need be, but try for at least 10 minutes per day and then mark them complete. You will advance in your skills just by doing this. I had absolutely no experience with the guitar when I started last year, and I can say that the daily lessons really do add to skills and advance them for use in other areas of play. Also, try some of the skills courses. You can take them at your own pace, but they’re set up in small increments. Suggest starting with the flatpicking or fingerpicking jumpstart courses, or even the strumming courses. You’ll feel as if you’re learning new things and it builds upon the 30 days to play.
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Hi @ccarnevale , Thanks for the question… “do you have any tips on how to get back into the swing of things and, most importantly, how not to hide behind the blues shuffle (I find the TAC daily practices super intimidating and waaaay too fast for me so I get discouraged)”….The responses are all right on. In your profile there is a way to explain more about where your are in your guitar journey and allows the community to understand how to help you better. Look at Michelle-PSL’s profile and you will see a great example. Goals have been mentioned and are an amazing tool for engagement/re-engagement and putting them in writing and posting them in your profile only helps solidify intention thereby bolstering determination. I am also one of those people who plays for myself, as in, NOT a performer, but as my guitar music sonic vocabulary increases I realize I do have something to say. Having a musical conversation (no words just music) with another person or people has become high on my list of goals. I did not know this at the start. I have come to know, this is my biggest motivation for playing. What do you want to play? Put that out there, draw a line in the sand and start moving toward that direction. Clarify your vision if you can. I have relied on the community to help me find the path toward my goal when I couldn’t see it clearly myself. I had to let them know what it was which included me figuring it out too. The daily lessons were the key for me. I encourage you wholeheartedly to pursue them. They can be slowed down to make them easier to get under your fingers. Additionally you can utilize a small portion of them and still benefit, gain in skill, moving you toward your goal. For example take todays scale lesson: work the first two shapes only, back and forth. Play combinations of 1/4 notes and 1/8 notes using only those two shapes, do that for 10 min. If you find the success in just that, you will be winning. This will propel you toward the next bite, the next two shapes (strangely a mirror image of the first two) and so on and so on. You don’t have to comprehend the whole lesson in total but you can end on a high note by knowing a piece of the puzzle. As you get back into the swing of things shorter duration for playing time but with greater frequency may yield faster progress for you. Keep the mindset goal oriented and solution based. We can redirect “intimidation” into “welcome challenge”. Set your mind free and your fingers will follow. Remember the only thing that does not work is setting the guitar down and leaving it. From one guitar geek to another, Go Play and have fun. Feel the strings under your fingers and revel in the sounds of the vibrations. Again thanks for the question, keeps me engaged in my own process.
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Thanks so much for the concrete advice and encouragement. I left the guitar for two weeks and two days and missed it so much….I am not letting this go….the last thing that had me discourage was the D chord. I was looking for songs to follow @Michelle-PSL advice and so many of the songs I like have the d chord and I truly monumentally suck at it. But I am not going to stop trying.
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Thank you, Claudia, and thank you to everyone who has responded. I’m also taking a loooong time to work through the 30 Days to Play. I’ve also gotten discouraged — I had to laugh at the “hide behind the blues shuffle” — Ha! Me too!
One thing that has been helping me is to not focus on completely, totally, fully nailing a lesson. Obviously, I’d like to do that, but in reality, when I keep pushing myself to really nail it, I tend to take a loooooong time and many, many sessions working on it, which then leads to me feeling discouraged and feeling like I’m making zero progress.
For example, that dang Blues Boogie has been totally confounding me! I finally moved on to chords , which have been making a lot more sense to me right now. I do go back and give it a go each session (and often will practice other prior lessons that I feel I need review on ), but then I move on to a new lesson. I know I really do want and need to learn the skills that I’m having trouble with, but getting bogged down on NOT figuring something out is so discouraging.
I’m also searching for some EASY strumming songs just to keep myself motivated. Please do share what you play & I will with you. 🙂
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Hi @noelle, I will definitely share any songs I find and thanks for making me laugh. The latest obstacle was finding a simple song with no D chord (I seem to like the D chord) because I suck at it! Suck!
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One of my favorite sayings is, “If you want to be good at something, you have to be willing to be bad at it (suck) for a while.” You WILL master the D chord if you practice it regularly and frequently. After you master the D chord, you get to be bad at bar chords for a while LOL. There’s something called “divine discontent.” Being unhappy or dissatisfied with something in our lives motivates us to make it better. So in a way, it’s great to be frustrated!
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Hi Claudia,
I took four months off from guitar last year because I was so discouraged with my progress. It’s an understandable reaction. But it doesn’t help. Guitar is HARD, there is no way around that fact.
Fortunately there are ways to deal with it!
First, go ahead and do each daily exercise… but slow down. I mean WAY down. Way slower than Tony’s minimum speed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Don’t even consider perfecting the exercise. Put in some time and move on.
Second, find a few finger exercises you can repeat each day. Do them slowly for a few days or weeks until you can do them reliably, then (and only then) start building speed with a metronome.
Third, search YouTube for “three chord songs” and, again, go slow. When you find a chord transition difficult, focus for a few minutes every day on that single transition between the two chords.
This stuff IS difficult. But difficult problems can be overcome with regular, consistent practice. Sad but true. (Gratuitous Metallica reference)
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Cool! Good luck!
Also want to add, progress DOES happen—it’s inevitable—and when you realize it, it’s magical. I took a few days off (ongoing arm/back trouble) and when I picked up again, my transition to the full F chord had improved dramatically. It’s like your muscles and nerves can figure things out by themselves, if you just keep giving them a little direction. Magic!
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Great advice, @punder , and we can all benefit by thinking what you suggested through, and executing that plan.
Hard, yes, but when progress happens, (and it will if you do a little each day @CeeCubed and others here) it becomes so much fun. If you do that, I predict someone in your life will make a comment like “I know that” or “I really like that” and you will be hooked forever. Feeling discouraged will be in the rear view mirror, and you will start to be the guitar player you see in your head.
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Hey, you have a life. It’s all good. Your stubborn streak will be a true asset. 🙂 A lot of times after I listen to Tony ‘teach’ the next ‘lesson’ I turn off the volume because I am way….. too slow. I’m still training my brain to match fingers to strings, fingers to frets, and read the tab. LOL …… Keep coming back to the forum and you’ll see that we all have these feelings during this adventure. The forum is one of the best components of TAC, at least to me. I need you all, especially this past year. So, Claudia, check the forum a lot, feel better, it does get easier, some days. LOL
ursula
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Thanks so much Ursula! I stayed away two weeks and two days 🙁 I missed it though and am not doing that again.
Thanks for your encouragement it means a lot!
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@CeeCubed, You are in a great family here. I agree with the support I read… and honestly couldn’t add anything other than when I don’t “Get” a lesson for whatever reason, too fast, too complicated, I click on the heart so I can return to it. The rule of thumb is if you have given it your 10 required minutes you can mark it complete. I didn’t believe that when I first asked for help. But Now I see that these lessons return to our screen and trying them a second time around is somehow much easier.
You have the best advisors in @Michelle, @Alfred and all those who posted to your discussion. Also, consider joining the open mic on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday… even if just to watch. You’ll see that we all struggle even the best of them – we’re not afraid to make mistakes because we have support and encouragement of the TAC family… Please don’t ever consider giving up. You’ll be glad once things become clear. Clarity comes over time. It’s like when you learned your alphabet as a kid… now you’re writing on forums… it DOES work!!! You can message me as well. Best wishes!
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Hi Claudia, and glad to see you back at your guitar!! There is so much good advice on this thread already, I can only say that if you love playing guitar, don’t give up!! Keep trying, have fun, and make a list of your goals, both short and long term. Have fun crossing off all your guitar goals, and make sure to notice all your “small wins” as they all add up over time to equal incredible progress.
Also, be kind to yourself. Expect progress, not perfection. Keep trying and don’t stop playing for 35 years like I did (and so many other guitar players).
Best wishes, Carol 3M
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Hello, all.
Maybe everybody learning guitar must have those times when either things just seem too tough, or when you don’t know what to do next. Weirdly– I hope so, I guess.
KInda hate to admit it, but I sometimes feel like- “where’s all this going?”- and that bothers me. It’s vague. I feel like I’ve got my foot on the gas, driving into a dense fog bank, and I can’t see 50 feet……
I remember a post a couple of months back, where the “poster” was actually an athlete and football coach- and I think I remember him say he was kind-of in a “OK- what’s next” mood. I remember his post because he compared all the TAC’s lessons with doing lots and lots of “practice drills” – (or cone drills?- something along that line), and I think he was wondering how all that works directly into playing…. I am sure this isn’t the exact wording- but it’s the jist of it that’s important.
This is a great thread(!)- and I have read every word of it- twice….(yes EVERY word- twice), and wow there is some great advice in here!- (from some great people).
OK- my question- (note- I do OK at the “nuts and bolts” of the lessons- not great , and not “Tony-speed”, but OK). Following this thread, I see in here quite a few times- the phrases “play a song”, and “learn a song”. I’ll come back to that….
My own problem/worry/issue is that I have been workin’ on Freight Train for 2 1/2 weeks now, every day, at least 10 mins per day, and I still have trouble with that thing! I canNOT get thru that- even slow- without several mistakes and pauses. Kind-of discouraging…..
So when some of you folks say “play a song/ learn a song” are you meaning play along with a song- (as in “tabbed songs” on say e-chords?- while watching a You-Tube video of it?)— or are you meaning play a song– as in every note– like as in “Freight Train”?
Even with my limited musical knowledge- I know there is a he**uva big difference between the two.
I know the real joy is in the trip- but the goal is the carrot- (and I know there will always be a “next” stage of learning something like guitar as I learn). More carrots.
Anyway— maybe it’s some sort of combination of the two/ maybe it’s something I don’t know about yet- (bring on Fretboard Wizard!)- but I don’t know if me taking a month- (or more)- to learn a really short/easy tune like Freight Train is a good sign…….. at all……
I wanna (at least) start building that bridge between the cone drills and playing songs.
Help!
Still pushin’ that boulder up the hill (Jeff)–
Mark J
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Wow- CeeCubed- Please accept my apologies for “horning in”😧 on your original post! I think I just took up on your feelings because I get them too.
Believe me- I get the “thought I wasn’t going to get it ” feelings.
Anyway- I am glad- (like many others)- that you are rejuvenated from all the great advice and encouragement!
This is why I read this thread- twice! It’s close to home.
Again- (all)- very sorry for getting caught up the moment and jumping all in like that………
Mark J
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I struggled for ages with C, and only played Fmaj7 for years before I played barre chorrds to get an F – the mini F NEVER worked for me.
How did I get over it… Well for some of it I just let that C chord sound bad with muted strings and buzzing just to get through a song. Otherwise it was a matter of being patient enough to slowly put my hand in position every day and in a very bored manner plucking each string until I had a clean chord. If I knew then what I know now, I would have stopped that practice once I got the clean chord each time but… hindsight
Eventually your fingers learn and it gets easier. If you can get something that looks like a D and 2 of three strings ring, then go ahead and play your song. It probably won’t sound as bad as you think.
If your D is only muting the high e string for instance, it will still sound fine when you strum the song. not a soul will notice unless they have “perfect pitch” and are just being picky.You can do this.
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I would recommend the daily challenges. Set down 10 minutes and do as much as you can and then mark it complete. Save the tab to your computer. Maybe if it’s something that was easy? You could practice it again to gain some speed. Or something that was hard, you could practice till you are able to complete it in under 10 minutes. Good luck
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