[Braden]

Loraine that was excellent! slapped the capo on my Taylor and played along:) Some fun sister and thanks for teaching me a new song. Even tho everything hurts more than it used to, you forget where you put things, get your kids names mixed up…i could go on…we will rock on. Keep the old man/lady at bay. And keep being you loraine youre doing great

[Braden]

Way to go Phil! Sounded great and good job on the solo. Cant go wrong with the Beatles. Glad to see youre on the mend brother rock on

[Braden]

Hey Sean that was great, really liked it! very nice playing and singing excellent job!

All the best brother, stay well and keep on making music…will get you through those tough spots

[Braden]

Hi Barbara great discussion and good on you for initiating it in such an honest way. I think yu can see from the responses that everyone goes through these kind of challenges in one way or another. Its mental and physical at the same time and it not easy. I often struggle with a lack of confidence (imposter syndrome) and its hard to not compare myself to other players, esp those who have been playing as long as me or even maybe not as long. Plus there are things that I know I’ll never be able to do on the guitar…its just physically not going to happen. It often bums me out… But…I’ve also been ble to devlop this love of playing so that keeps me going. Im always striving to get better, but at the same time Im content and proud of how far ive got. Im lucky in that I want to play just about every day, its not a chore or burden…dont get me wrong, its sometimes a struggle, but not burden. I hope the same for you Barbara.

My advice is like others have said, maybe time to branch out bit as it sounds like TAC is maybe getting a bit stale. If there are weeks that you find too difficult or not really into, I would skip them altogether and spend the time doing somethiing else, either re-doing \ week you do like or anything else as long as its something that brings you that joy and fun, eg mayb learning a new song or working on ones you already know. And if you cn find a teacher that you like thi cn work wonders for some of those techincal issues you mentioned. Even finding one of two other people to jame with can be enlightening and reivigorating.

You commented tht you have to always remember why you started learning guitr in the first place. I dont know what you specific goals are but I know tht if you keep at it you will reach many of them…maybe not all, but many. You also said youve been on this road for a few years now. Thats great and you should pat yourself on the back….most people who start guitar dont last that long. But to be honest, in ths game two or three years is really not that long. You are still at the beginning of your journey. So hang in there, dont be too hard on yourself, keep learning and challenging youreslf but mainly focus on those things tht bring you joy and fun, especially right now when youre at a bit of a low point. Hope this might help a bit and remember sister, youre not alone. We all go through this one way or another.

[Braden]

Hey Anthony when youre just starting its pretty hard not to a little bit…you have to be able to see where youre going. Try not to tilt it too much tho as drilling in the proper form is important. You kind of have to really stick your neck out over the guitar too to help you see better. Eventually you wont have to look so much and/or so closely and your fingers will remember where to go, but for now its pretty normal to be watching them. So yeah if you need to tilt the guitar up a bit no problem, just dont let it bcome your main way of playing and always work back to the proper position…eg if youre making a chord and you have to turn the guitar to get your fingers in the right spots, do that but then hold on to that chord and move the guitar back to the right position and do some strumming/picking. The more you play the sooner you’ll see progress. Main thing is enjoy the ride, embrace the suck, and dont be too hard on yourself. Patience is good to as its a long game. Hope this helps brother…rock on

[Braden]

Classic Kevin cover of a great tune…great emotion, excellent playing and man what a voice. you continue to inspire brother…thanks keep em coming

[Braden]

Hey Dee hammer ons are tricky and take a lot of practice. Takes accuracy and lots of finger strength to get them to sound out. Be as religious about your strenghtening exercises as you are about practicing them. lots of repetition so even when you dont have a guitar with you keep on working those fingers eg practice on your leg while watching tv. Building up your strength will get your volume up. While its important to be able to hammer with all four fingers lots of songs require only the pointer and the middle so dont be too hard on yourself if your ring and pinky are quieter. I think the pointer and middle are naturally stronger so easier to get a good tone with them. Embrace that…but keep on working the ring and pinky too. And likewise with the stretch/reach on the fretboard…lots of finger stretching every day will help and youll see results. Hammerons are a great embellishment and add a lot of colour to your playing so keep at it sister and you’ll get better. This is vry common for lots of players at the beginning, especially the ring and pinky, so dont get discouraged. Hope this helps.

[Braden]

Great discussion @Moose408 and ive got it bad. Music is always going in the car and a song will come up and i’ll think “how is it i dont play this song…better learn it”. Then when i get home will look it up and add it to the growing list. I do the same as many and have three lists: performance ready, developing/practicing, and next up. The developing list has a sub category called learning. There is a distiction between learning a song and practicing it. I may know how to play a song…I just dont play it very well…it doesnt sound very good and in fact may suck pretty bad at first. When i do pick a new song to learn from my shiny list I pretty much exclusively work on that song and not much else until i know it beginning to end. Depending on difficulty this can take 15 minutes or most of a week. Again I might not be able to play it well at all and only barely recognizable, but i know how to play it…I know what my hands and fingers are supposed to do. So it now moves into the practicing category, where it may stay for a long time…months, years… before it moves to the performance list, again depending on degree of difficulty. So Im usually only learning one song at a time. But theres 25-30 in the developing/practicing list of which 7 or 8 are new additions ie just recently learned. I have 15-20 songs I consider performance ready and of course have to regularly play them or I risk losing them. So theres always something to play…

Im a big proponent of learning songs as early on as possible. We have access to a ton of songs with just a few simple chords. As well I think its important to learn the whole song, whether its instrumental only or youre singing. Stick with it until you have the whole thing under your fingers. Being able to learn and eventually play the whole tune is very satisfying, lots of fun and makes for a better performance down the road. Adding the singing to the playing is a whole new challenge. Some songs are just easier to sing than others. My advice is to learn the guitar and lyrics separately before putting them together. And go slow and simple when you do combine. And theres nothing wrong with getting som e help from an IPOD etc.

One last thing…I took to heart when I heard Tony and other teachers say to make the song your own. Play it the way you want to play it and as your skills allow…it doesnt have to sound like the original, it just needs to be recognizable. Dont let perfect get in the way of good, or at least not half bad. Takes the pressure off.

[Braden]

This. wise old coach…

[Braden]

Thanks Kevin, glad you liked it! Slowed down the tempo and tried to put a little swing into it hope youre doing good my friend

[Braden]

thanks Sean appreciate you watching and glad you liked it:)

[Braden]

Hey Phil @phil988aol-com ! Playing and singing is challenging but so much fun. Sounds like youre doing great man so keep working at it and it will become more and more comfortable and natural. Im inspired and motivated by many on this forum so Im really happy to be able to pass it on and assist you. And thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment…much appreciated. Rock on brother and have fun with Wagon Wheel:)

[Braden]

hey John @JTSchrock ! thanks for watching and hope youre doing good bro

[Braden]

hey thanks @tedcybercoast-com glad you liked it and thanks for watching and your comments..much appreciated

[Braden]

rock on @petelanger