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STEP 2: Click the "PLAY" tab below the video to play along with Tony until you can do it on your own.
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Responses
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Finger Pairs Speed Challenge
This warmup is one that will most certainly limber up your fretting hand. For this warmup you will be pairing your index and ring finger as well as your middle and pinky finger. These pairings are ones that you will definitely encounter when executing scales. I often refer to these pairings as “strong” pairings, I feel that more often than not these pairs of fingers are called upon when playing through a scale sequence. This warmup will increase your strength and comfortability when using these fingers as pairs, as well as get your picking hand communicating with your fretting hand. Make sure to start this one slow as it really gets to be a handful as the tempo is increased.
Responses
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Using a metronome, really helping me. This will continue to be a daily practise.
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I just ain’t that fast cleanly… yet.
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WOW! MUCH has indeed changed with the whole TAC access and layout since I was here last! Took several “looks” before I figured out how to find the lessons, plus several more “looks” to figure out the little “note symbol” at bottom of video was actually the TAB.. ;D I KNEW my first day back after major shoulder surgery would be challenging, but WOW! 😀 ha ha! Nope, won’t be trying for ANY speed.. just working on finger coordination and re-building lost callouses on fretting hand fingertips! Just glad my surgeon gave the OK to start practicing a few minutes of CAREFUL playing! 😀 YAY!
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I am cheering for you Heidi, play on!!!
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A little like starting your meal by eating all your veggies… I was only able to do about 110 pbm without buzzy pinky notes. Guess we will see when we come back to it how I have done in a year. I think I have problems with fly away fingers. I need to work on keeping them close to the fingerboard.
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speed challenge, made it to 135 bpm
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I need more coffee for that speed, I am still stuck in the lower gears to do good and clean ,but still a good warm up to get your fingers stretch and working.
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Awww I thought I was doing so well on this exercise!! I couldn’t play it as fast as the video so I got out my trusty metronome, started at 120 bpm and played it fine, kept nudging it up by 10 bpm, and got to 160!!! Perfection. Then I tried with the video again….. Crashed and burned when I realized I was playing quarter notes to the beat and Tony is playing eighth notes to the beat…. Ah well I have it perfect at 80 bpm equivalent. And I am really good and warmed up now. And that’s the important thing 🙂
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two things i am having to intensely focus on: keeping my fingers very close to the strings and maintaining a relaxed C shape with my hand as if I were trying to grip around a football. How open and wide can I hold my fingers and still be relaxed? That is an exercise in itself.
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Still moving at turtle speed but fingers working better than week one this month.
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I liked this one right off the bat in week one. Incorporated it into my daily warmup routine. Great exercise for finger dexterity, both fret and picking. Using the metronome at 150 bpm, 4 circuits (descending and ascending).
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For me, speed kills!
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For me, Tension Kills Speed. When I get relaxed there is a limit on the speed I can achieve and it is governed by when the tension begins to creep in. Playing with that line is where hours of fun lie. I once pushed the line too far, too long and blew out a gasket in my ring finger. : )
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well my speed did not improve…..but oh well, I tried.
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Is anyone else have an issue with the site showing the correct numbers for your “current streak” of consecutive visits to the site? Mine reset to “1” on Saturday, with no recognition that I had done the Friday lesson. Not a showstopper kind of problem, but see the record of consistent practice disappear was kind of a bummer.
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Hi TAC Family! We are aware of an issue with today’s Daily Challenge and are getting our IT Team on this. We should have this resolved for you asap.
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Can’t see challenge…
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Thank you for suggesting the workaround for today’s lesson. I went back to lesson 1 and noticed an amazing thing. I am much quicker than I was at the beginning of the month. That’s a small win!
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THIS IS NOT VIEWABLE ON IPAD, PHONE, NOR WINDOWS DESKTOP COMPUTER. Day after day, week after week…nothing but problems.
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ok…it’s good to know other folks can’t see today’s challenge either! Easy to get back to the first finger pairs challenge and just bump it up a few notches….
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Not there but will try later. Until then back to Week One “Finger Pairs” as review.
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OMG! You have to be kidding me? No video, no tab, no nothing.
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I can’t see a challenge!
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Same, nothing but the name shows up here…
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I can’t see it either.
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Taking a speed challenge to a new level, so fast even the video didn’t want to try it. Mondays…
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HA HA – Good one!
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I do not see the video either – of course, since this is a speed challenge I don’t mind.
However, I can go back to week one, and replay the finger pairs adjusting the tempo to be faster. Or use the HUMILITRON (metronome) and play from the tab. Or pigs might fly out my butt. (Shouldn’t Tony, being a Chicagoland guy, have some Wayne’s Worls & Garth themed licks? (Oh Yes, It Will Be Mine, Pigs Might Fly Out My Butt, Game On, Are You Mental, The Mirthmobile). Tony should for sure like Mikita’s Donuts…
See y’all tomorrow. Marking it complete.-
[sic] Wayne’s World.
Party Time. Excellent.
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I took a liking to this warm up at the beginning of the month because of what Tony said about it being beneficial the get picking hand and fretting hand working together…because of this previous practice my speed is good!
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There is no video showing…
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Can’t see the challenge. going to do last weeks Monday challenge now instead
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There is no video showing. Just the comments
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Until it gets fixed:
https://tonypolecastro.com/lessons/finger-pairs-6/
Speeds:
140
160
180 -
hmmm, wasn’t really up for a speed challenge any way. So many other guitar challenges to work on.
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The challenge is not showing up…. only the title and ‘mark complete’……
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Refer to Week One of April “Finger Pairs” Increase speed.
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Thank you LoneWolf,…. that does make sense!
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No challenge for me today. no video.
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I am going back to the original Week One lesson and use a metronome and practice. This will work fine for me. Good luck fixing the programming issue; I know you and your team are doing your best. Don’t get discouraged.
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Well said!
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I am sorry, this is frustrating.
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Dan, just take your time. I like to close my eyes and just kind of feel it. Seems to work for me anyway. I really like this warmup it’s great for finger independence. Keep at it
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Like a bunch of others, the speed challenge is way beyond my ability, so I just went back to first day of week one for April and am taking at a speed that I can manage. Don’t let the speed be a factor in how well you feel about yourself. I am still a “newbie” at guitar, have lots of “life interruptions,” and physical challenges (I’m OOOOOLD!), so I am learning slower than lots of folks, but, I am still learning, so it’s all good. 😉
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I hear you RudyB!! I feel that if I can play it cleanly at any tempo is a win for me too!!
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Ruby – I’ll never be able to do “Tony speed” but I can still challenge myself to do the best I can cleanly. Find a speed you are comfortable with, on the metronome, then work your way up by 5 or 10 BPM. Get in your 10 minutes of focused practice and call it good. BTW, I will work on this all week at the beginning of my practice session.
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Dan,
I have been playing for years and can’t get close to 180BPM. 90 BPM fine. At 135 BPM my fingers flail wildly on the descending portion! But each time this particular challenge comes around, I get a little faster. So don’t get frustrated. Playing it well at the slow speed is a victory.
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Thanks Dan for tossing out a lifeline to those of us who have been playing for a little while (coming up on my 1 yr TAC anniversary) and still are not even in the ballpark of 180BPM. Still a great exercise and I am able to increase my speed from 80BPM clean so its a small victory for me.
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I know, I know. A year ago I too was getting myself twisted about this stuff. Then I took Tony’s advice and I just kept at my speed. Kept it clear. Now 15 months into TAC I can do the ascending at speed. By next year I hope to do the descending. It’s a process, trust in it.
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Dan, I actually thought I had a learning disability when I was shown this many years ago.
You will get it, just wait for it, while you try try try again.
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Completed Finger Pairs week 1 @ 150 accurately. Marked this lesson complete. Thanks to the TAC members guidance for suggesting week 1. When life deals you lemons,,,
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I completely agree and follow your path with the completion. Thank you very much.
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I just went back to week 1 as well. I probably won’t get “up to speed” anyway but practice makes better.
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150 is fantastic! Congratulations
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Thanks, peter_m- yup – just go back to April 5th and select the speed!
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I don’t see it either.
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also don’t see challenge
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the challenge, “Finger Pairs Speed Challenge,doesn’t come up for me. Only the title then the Makr Complet button. Heeeeelp
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I am unable to see the challenge for today
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Me too Hoss. For anyone else that can’t see it, go back to week one for this month and do the first exercise. It’s the same one…however this time, work on speed. When done, come back and mark complete here.
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same here
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If you want, you can look at today as a good reason to get out the (dreaded) metronome and play at various speeds. since week one was probably 80bpm, 100bpm, and 120bpm, today was likely 140bpm, 160bpm, and 180bpm. for me 120bpm was top speed today anyway so it was kind of a blessing not to have to try 140, 160, or 180. good luck to the brave ones who do!
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Been working On This daily for 10 mins a day taken it from 60bpm to getting 125 today. I usually prioritise form and clarity over speed so take my time going up the speeds but as today is supposed to be w speed challenge I just went for speed. Happy with 125 couldn’t imagine 180! I tried 140 on one string and I think I got close but it’s just so hard to move that fast and concentrate on getting he metronome.
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It is 140, 160, 180 😉
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I think I’d short circuit at 180
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Impressive!
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Thanks for the reminder. Got my metronome out and made a world of difference!
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Hey everyone, just click on week one, ‘finger pairs’. speed it up as fast as you want or can and you will have done the speed challenge.
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thanks peter!
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right on Peter! 140 is a non starter for me so I just adjust week 1speed and enjoy the exercise.
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I print put the tabs so when I couldn’t get the tab screen to come up I went back in my binder to 4-5-21 and used that copy. My small Hands have a difficult time with this starting on the 1st fret. I moved up to the 5th fret for speed and had some success. I will keep working on the 1st fret position also.
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The help center is informed.
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@Kristin1 . . . Thanks for notifying them.
Have to say, as frustrated as some of the TAC members are about the new website, imagine how frustrating it is for the TAC team. There is no way in the world that they were expecting these issues to keep popping up when they went for the change. And they get to hear all of the multiple complaints on top of trying to get the site fixed.
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” …. Have to say, as frustrated as some of the TAC members are about the new website, imagine how frustrating it is for the TAC team, …. ”
Succinct and to the point Darcelle: the difference being the TAC team had a choice.
All together now ….. “Always look on the bright side of life” , dooh-dooh ,dooh-dooh, dooh-dooh, dooh-dooh, …. eg. tab : D7-D4, D0-A2, A4-A5, D4-D2
“Things can only get better “, D-Ream, 1993 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6QhAZckY8w
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-
A couple of useful Guitar Journey tips to digest in this morning’s email :
– Time is on your side
– Whistle while you work
“… Bottom Line: Memorization is not mandatory here and looking at tabs to play is completely okay, but memorization is a great tool that you can develop. Many players think they aren’t cut out to commit things to memory, but if you use these tips and really work at it, you may very well surprise yourself.”-
Thanks for the video CJ – I’ll try to keep that message in my mind for the rest of the week!
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I have struggled over the last year to try and memorize songs as a way to add them to my repertoire so that I can play them without tabs for friends and family. So, these words of wisdom look like they were dropped from above into my lap. For me,Tabs do get in the way sometimes. That is why my new approach is to try to learn songs by ear. Remember to play not with my brain but with my ers and muscle memory is the key. No pun intended. 🙂
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We had WU7 Finger Pairs two weeks ago:
low e-string: 1-3-2-4 (down-up-down-up)
Repeat each string up to the high e-string.Continue:
hIgh e-string: 5-3-4-2.
Repeat each string down to the low e-string.-
Thank you, I couldn’t describe this as succinctly or quickly 🙂
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Thanks that makes it a little easier.
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Only thing there is the “Mark Complete” button.
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I have literally been downloading and keeping tabs. There is a WU with the same name I saved on 6/4/21 or there abouts ie not too long ago. Maybe this is the same challenge but with expectation of some improvement in accuracy if not speed.
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6/4/20 maybe?
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And there it wasn’t!
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I have the TAB for it Brian — wanna guess where I keep it?? 😉
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That would be in your folder I guess Michael!
(I have it in mine too!)
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I can’t find the challenge !
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Me too.
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Congratulations, !
Challenge complete
Come back tomorrow for your next challenge
Using a metronome, really helping me. This will continue to be a daily practise.
I just ain’t that fast cleanly… yet.
WOW! MUCH has indeed changed with the whole TAC access and layout since I was here last! Took several “looks” before I figured out how to find the lessons, plus several more “looks” to figure out the little “note symbol” at bottom of video was actually the TAB.. ;D I KNEW my first day back after major shoulder surgery would be challenging, but WOW! 😀 ha ha! Nope, won’t be trying for ANY speed.. just working on finger coordination and re-building lost callouses on fretting hand fingertips! Just glad my surgeon gave the OK to start practicing a few minutes of CAREFUL playing! 😀 YAY!
I am cheering for you Heidi, play on!!!
A little like starting your meal by eating all your veggies… I was only able to do about 110 pbm without buzzy pinky notes. Guess we will see when we come back to it how I have done in a year. I think I have problems with fly away fingers. I need to work on keeping them close to the fingerboard.
speed challenge, made it to 135 bpm
I need more coffee for that speed, I am still stuck in the lower gears to do good and clean ,but still a good warm up to get your fingers stretch and working.
Awww I thought I was doing so well on this exercise!! I couldn’t play it as fast as the video so I got out my trusty metronome, started at 120 bpm and played it fine, kept nudging it up by 10 bpm, and got to 160!!! Perfection. Then I tried with the video again….. Crashed and burned when I realized I was playing quarter notes to the beat and Tony is playing eighth notes to the beat…. Ah well I have it perfect at 80 bpm equivalent. And I am really good and warmed up now. And that’s the important thing 🙂
two things i am having to intensely focus on: keeping my fingers very close to the strings and maintaining a relaxed C shape with my hand as if I were trying to grip around a football. How open and wide can I hold my fingers and still be relaxed? That is an exercise in itself.
Still moving at turtle speed but fingers working better than week one this month.
I liked this one right off the bat in week one. Incorporated it into my daily warmup routine. Great exercise for finger dexterity, both fret and picking. Using the metronome at 150 bpm, 4 circuits (descending and ascending).
For me, speed kills!
For me, Tension Kills Speed. When I get relaxed there is a limit on the speed I can achieve and it is governed by when the tension begins to creep in. Playing with that line is where hours of fun lie. I once pushed the line too far, too long and blew out a gasket in my ring finger. : )
well my speed did not improve…..but oh well, I tried.
Is anyone else have an issue with the site showing the correct numbers for your “current streak” of consecutive visits to the site? Mine reset to “1” on Saturday, with no recognition that I had done the Friday lesson. Not a showstopper kind of problem, but see the record of consistent practice disappear was kind of a bummer.
Hi TAC Family! We are aware of an issue with today’s Daily Challenge and are getting our IT Team on this. We should have this resolved for you asap.
Can’t see challenge…
Thank you for suggesting the workaround for today’s lesson. I went back to lesson 1 and noticed an amazing thing. I am much quicker than I was at the beginning of the month. That’s a small win!
THIS IS NOT VIEWABLE ON IPAD, PHONE, NOR WINDOWS DESKTOP COMPUTER. Day after day, week after week…nothing but problems.
ok…it’s good to know other folks can’t see today’s challenge either! Easy to get back to the first finger pairs challenge and just bump it up a few notches….
Not there but will try later. Until then back to Week One “Finger Pairs” as review.
OMG! You have to be kidding me? No video, no tab, no nothing.
I can’t see a challenge!
Same, nothing but the name shows up here…
I can’t see it either.
Taking a speed challenge to a new level, so fast even the video didn’t want to try it. Mondays…
HA HA – Good one!
I do not see the video either – of course, since this is a speed challenge I don’t mind.
However, I can go back to week one, and replay the finger pairs adjusting the tempo to be faster. Or use the HUMILITRON (metronome) and play from the tab. Or pigs might fly out my butt. (Shouldn’t Tony, being a Chicagoland guy, have some Wayne’s Worls & Garth themed licks? (Oh Yes, It Will Be Mine, Pigs Might Fly Out My Butt, Game On, Are You Mental, The Mirthmobile). Tony should for sure like Mikita’s Donuts…
See y’all tomorrow. Marking it complete.
[sic] Wayne’s World.
Party Time. Excellent.
I took a liking to this warm up at the beginning of the month because of what Tony said about it being beneficial the get picking hand and fretting hand working together…because of this previous practice my speed is good!
There is no video showing…
Can’t see the challenge. going to do last weeks Monday challenge now instead
There is no video showing. Just the comments
Until it gets fixed:
https://tonypolecastro.com/lessons/finger-pairs-6/
Speeds:
140
160
180
hmmm, wasn’t really up for a speed challenge any way. So many other guitar challenges to work on.
The challenge is not showing up…. only the title and ‘mark complete’……
Refer to Week One of April “Finger Pairs” Increase speed.
Thank you LoneWolf,…. that does make sense!
No challenge for me today. no video.
I am going back to the original Week One lesson and use a metronome and practice. This will work fine for me. Good luck fixing the programming issue; I know you and your team are doing your best. Don’t get discouraged.
Well said!
I am sorry, this is frustrating.
Dan, just take your time. I like to close my eyes and just kind of feel it. Seems to work for me anyway. I really like this warmup it’s great for finger independence. Keep at it
Like a bunch of others, the speed challenge is way beyond my ability, so I just went back to first day of week one for April and am taking at a speed that I can manage. Don’t let the speed be a factor in how well you feel about yourself. I am still a “newbie” at guitar, have lots of “life interruptions,” and physical challenges (I’m OOOOOLD!), so I am learning slower than lots of folks, but, I am still learning, so it’s all good. 😉
I hear you RudyB!! I feel that if I can play it cleanly at any tempo is a win for me too!!
Ruby – I’ll never be able to do “Tony speed” but I can still challenge myself to do the best I can cleanly. Find a speed you are comfortable with, on the metronome, then work your way up by 5 or 10 BPM. Get in your 10 minutes of focused practice and call it good. BTW, I will work on this all week at the beginning of my practice session.
Dan,
I have been playing for years and can’t get close to 180BPM. 90 BPM fine. At 135 BPM my fingers flail wildly on the descending portion! But each time this particular challenge comes around, I get a little faster. So don’t get frustrated. Playing it well at the slow speed is a victory.
Thanks Dan for tossing out a lifeline to those of us who have been playing for a little while (coming up on my 1 yr TAC anniversary) and still are not even in the ballpark of 180BPM. Still a great exercise and I am able to increase my speed from 80BPM clean so its a small victory for me.
I know, I know. A year ago I too was getting myself twisted about this stuff. Then I took Tony’s advice and I just kept at my speed. Kept it clear. Now 15 months into TAC I can do the ascending at speed. By next year I hope to do the descending. It’s a process, trust in it.
Dan, I actually thought I had a learning disability when I was shown this many years ago.
You will get it, just wait for it, while you try try try again.
Completed Finger Pairs week 1 @ 150 accurately. Marked this lesson complete. Thanks to the TAC members guidance for suggesting week 1. When life deals you lemons,,,
I completely agree and follow your path with the completion. Thank you very much.
I just went back to week 1 as well. I probably won’t get “up to speed” anyway but practice makes better.
150 is fantastic! Congratulations
Thanks, peter_m- yup – just go back to April 5th and select the speed!
I don’t see it either.
also don’t see challenge
the challenge, “Finger Pairs Speed Challenge,doesn’t come up for me. Only the title then the Makr Complet button. Heeeeelp
I am unable to see the challenge for today
Me too Hoss. For anyone else that can’t see it, go back to week one for this month and do the first exercise. It’s the same one…however this time, work on speed. When done, come back and mark complete here.
same here
If you want, you can look at today as a good reason to get out the (dreaded) metronome and play at various speeds. since week one was probably 80bpm, 100bpm, and 120bpm, today was likely 140bpm, 160bpm, and 180bpm. for me 120bpm was top speed today anyway so it was kind of a blessing not to have to try 140, 160, or 180. good luck to the brave ones who do!
Been working On This daily for 10 mins a day taken it from 60bpm to getting 125 today. I usually prioritise form and clarity over speed so take my time going up the speeds but as today is supposed to be w speed challenge I just went for speed. Happy with 125 couldn’t imagine 180! I tried 140 on one string and I think I got close but it’s just so hard to move that fast and concentrate on getting he metronome.
It is 140, 160, 180 😉
I think I’d short circuit at 180
Impressive!
Thanks for the reminder. Got my metronome out and made a world of difference!
Hey everyone, just click on week one, ‘finger pairs’. speed it up as fast as you want or can and you will have done the speed challenge.
thanks peter!
right on Peter! 140 is a non starter for me so I just adjust week 1speed and enjoy the exercise.
I print put the tabs so when I couldn’t get the tab screen to come up I went back in my binder to 4-5-21 and used that copy. My small Hands have a difficult time with this starting on the 1st fret. I moved up to the 5th fret for speed and had some success. I will keep working on the 1st fret position also.
The help center is informed.
@Kristin1 . . . Thanks for notifying them.
Have to say, as frustrated as some of the TAC members are about the new website, imagine how frustrating it is for the TAC team. There is no way in the world that they were expecting these issues to keep popping up when they went for the change. And they get to hear all of the multiple complaints on top of trying to get the site fixed.
” …. Have to say, as frustrated as some of the TAC members are about the new website, imagine how frustrating it is for the TAC team, …. ”
Succinct and to the point Darcelle: the difference being the TAC team had a choice.
All together now ….. “Always look on the bright side of life” , dooh-dooh ,dooh-dooh, dooh-dooh, dooh-dooh, …. eg. tab : D7-D4, D0-A2, A4-A5, D4-D2
“Things can only get better “, D-Ream, 1993 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6QhAZckY8w
A couple of useful Guitar Journey tips to digest in this morning’s email :
– Time is on your side
– Whistle while you work
“… Bottom Line: Memorization is not mandatory here and looking at tabs to play is completely okay, but memorization is a great tool that you can develop. Many players think they aren’t cut out to commit things to memory, but if you use these tips and really work at it, you may very well surprise yourself.”
Thanks for the video CJ – I’ll try to keep that message in my mind for the rest of the week!
I have struggled over the last year to try and memorize songs as a way to add them to my repertoire so that I can play them without tabs for friends and family. So, these words of wisdom look like they were dropped from above into my lap. For me,Tabs do get in the way sometimes. That is why my new approach is to try to learn songs by ear. Remember to play not with my brain but with my ers and muscle memory is the key. No pun intended. 🙂
We had WU7 Finger Pairs two weeks ago:
low e-string: 1-3-2-4 (down-up-down-up)
Repeat each string up to the high e-string.
Continue:
hIgh e-string: 5-3-4-2.
Repeat each string down to the low e-string.
Thank you, I couldn’t describe this as succinctly or quickly 🙂
Thanks that makes it a little easier.
Only thing there is the “Mark Complete” button.
I have literally been downloading and keeping tabs. There is a WU with the same name I saved on 6/4/21 or there abouts ie not too long ago. Maybe this is the same challenge but with expectation of some improvement in accuracy if not speed.
6/4/20 maybe?
And there it wasn’t!
I have the TAB for it Brian — wanna guess where I keep it?? 😉
That would be in your folder I guess Michael!
(I have it in mine too!)
I can’t find the challenge !
Me too.