Starting TAC

[Kristin1]

It is a rotating system. Just start at the beginning of a week. And if you don´t want to wait until next monday: If I were you I would do the first challenges of this week in the right order and skip the last days. If you start on the “right weekday”: just try a little chunk. Otherwise it might be overwhelming. AND MARK THE CHALLENGE AS COMPLETED AFTER 10 MINUTES OF FOCUSED PRACTICE.

[petelanger]

What Kristin said is absolutely correct, and no questions are silly. It’s silly not to ask when you have thousands of people at your fingertips who have been doing this thing for longer than you!
Just jump in and try the challenge of the day! If it seems too tough to even attempt a measure or 2, then perhaps go to Monday’s challenge of the same week. Don’t worry about how much you can do or how many whole daily challenges you can go through. I always try to find “nuggets”: a nugget could be a thing that I learned or a small win of some kind. Maybe I surprised myself because when I heard Tony play and then looked at the TAB, it seemed so overwhelming but then it became doable! Some days you might discover a big win. Some days, and I’m quoting Tony here, your win might be that “you showed up”.

It really helps to share your experiences in the Forums where you can get feedback. Also it can be useful to record your thoughts some place where you can access them again after you have forgotten them. I use Microsoft OneNote, I download the TABS and paste them into the Notes and record my comments there also. When the challenge comes around again I’ll have my past experiences to compare to.

You know Tony made a really interesting point in today’s challenge: if the challenge comes under your fingers quickly, that doesn’t mean you just made huge progress. When you are really challenged and start to think I can’t play a lick right now, it’s all too hard and you just want to give it up for the day, that’s when you need to push on and go a little further in because there’s a nugget just a little bit deeper in this mine; just a few more strokes of the hammer and the pick!

Those times it comes easy, that’s you reaping the rewards of past challenges

[petelanger]

Hello Kristin. I see that you live in Germany. Are you German speaking? I am originally from Austria and speak German. But I have lived in North America for most of my life.
Mach’s gut!

• This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by  petelanger.

[the-old-coach]

(To all— before I posted this— I proof-read it and realized it is REALLY long……. Please accept my apologies for that. But I hope it makes some sense and maybe helps someone).

BDU–

Since this thread is entitled “Starting TAC”, I had to throw in my two-cents. This entire post is likely my opinion only, but here goes.

The Daily Challenges are all these various tasks, nowadays kind-of lumped together in “week-long chunks”. Sometimes it may feel like they don’t really show you any consistency or direction as far as “learning guitar” goes. One week you’re doing this; the next week you’re doing that; the next week it’s something completely different from either—- it doesn’t seem to make much sense. It’s easy to get lost in all these miscellaneous, small, tasks; so much that that starts to maybe seem to be a never-ending bunch of “why-the-hell-do-I-need-to-learn-that?“‘s. It’s like a constant swim underwater against the current.

So, this may take you to…….“Tony’s not really showing me anything about playing guitar and playing songs– and that’s what I wanna learn, right?……. isn’t that why I’m here?”

The point of this opinion and post is that…….. sometimes maybe we need to “take a few steps backwards– so that we have a bigger, more-broad, view of the whole thing/ the whole process/ the “reason why”……..the real goal.

(Side opinion here– totally my own– TAC does not do a great job of giving you a big “road map” when you start out. There is no “you have to do this, then do that, then this, then that”. This is why the subject of “what do I do next” is always coming up. And I think it’s because we all are at different levels when we start, and also have different overall goals).

Anyway– I think the TAC program is GREAT. But we have to remember that it is a bottom-up process.

When you build a house, the foundation work is tedious, difficult, slow, and messy. There’s nothin’ fun about working in a muddy ditch, and putting-in concrete forms and rebar. Then, there’s a LOT of hard, slow, repetitive work in framing and erecting the structure itself. There’s nothing pretty here….. yet……. But you have to remember…. every one of those tedious, difficult, boring/slow, steps HAS TO happen….. in that order…… at the start…… for that beautiful new home to be finished. It is- (again)- a “bottom-up” process.

Now, take a second and re-read the third paragraph here where it says- we sometimes “need to take a few steps backward- so that we have a bigger, more-broad view of the whole thing…… the “real goal”.

As you/we all get farther along the trail in our journey(s), certain things will start to appear. The “direction” to go- (there are plenty— writing songs, becoming a skilled-excellent guitar in its own right, becoming a “theory junkie”, singing/performing for others, starting a band of your own, being able to play/sing “by ear”, etc, etc…). You will gravitate to the direction you want to go– as your skills develop.

So, it seems I’ve blabbed on and on quite enough for today. Don’t be put off by these Challenges that seem to mostly be “why the h*ll do I need this?”. Just do them/ remember that they are just “challenges”, not life or death/ and always….. ALWAYS….. try to see the fun in this journey– because it IS about the journey….. not the destination.

From the construction-example above– you are “building a beautiful, new, home”……. you just don’t know it (yet), when you’re shoveling mud in a ditch.

Again– sorry this is sooooo long!

theoldcoach

• This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by  the-old-coach.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by  the-old-coach.

[petelanger]

Excellent, Coach!

A few words to read but well worth the trouble!

Thanks!

[WhyNotMe]

Well said. My sentiment exactly.

[Tricia_Lynn]

Just an add on to some of the other comments. Although, you will get to a point where you are questioning what is it that you are really learning here… or what is the point of this. All of sudden, in a couple/three months… you are really improving with your playing. You do not know how but it is. (assuming you play everyday).

Also, for me, on the in betweens or if I want to keep practicing on any given day. I will go to the Skill Courses and do those. I am working through the technique ones now. The skill courses help a lot as well. So, don’t sleep on those.

Welcome to the TAC fam… and enjoy!

[petelanger]

It’s a shame that so many players just give up, or appear to anyway by no longer participating in TAC. @BDUmedic seems to be another member gone inactive, after numerous TAC members tried to pour into him.

[Skyman911]

It makes me wonder what the stats are, and how many people actually stick with it. I think many people start out wanting to play, and then get discouraged because it can be so difficult to learn.

[petelanger]

Me too! Fender says that 90% of beginner guitar players give up within a year. I would hope that the TAC statistics are more favorable, but who knows?

If you search members in your location you will typically find a small number of active (last few days or weeks, months?) and then a bunch more that haven’t been active in quite a while. I don’t know if members who don’t renew, stay in the database or not. We don’t know if a member has a quarterly or annual subscription. I suspect, since there are 68,327 members, that IT isn’t purging accounts from the list