[Braden]

Hey Glenn keep on plugging away at that F as you will need it for many songs down the line. But as others have said dont panic if it isnt coming together for you right away, its the hardest of the cowboy chords because of that mini barre, and it takes a good while before its comfortble. My advice for now is to maybe put off learning too many songs with an F (unless theres one that really important for you) and focus on songs that have chords youre more comfortable with right now. There are hundreds of songs that can be played using that magic 1 4 5 chord progression in the key of G ie starting on a G chord and then any combination of D C Em and maybe Am . The G D Em C progression alone covers a ton of good tunes and these are all pretty doable chords that most people get down fairly quickly…certainly easier than the F anyway. Do a You tube search for easy songs in G and you’ll find lots. TAC is great and will result in steady progress esp related to skills and techniques in my opinion. Tony started doing song covers a few years ago which was awesome bc for me learning songs is really what its all about. Its a great accomplishment when you ve learned a song from beginning to end, including singing it (even if its just for the dog). Its also motivating and makes you want to learn another one…and then another.. But just as important to keep it simple at first and within your skill set so you dont get discouraged. Hope this help bro. Keep on rocking

[Braden]

Hi Crystal as @JTSchrock says dont stress over improvising but dont give up on it either. It took me probably over a year of TAC wednesdays before it started to click. Keep on drilling those scales for now and as per @petelanger ‘s excellent theory class, pay attention to those spaces between notes as per the major scale formula, and specifically what they sound like. These spaces are also known as intervals, and are fundamental in learning how to improvise and solo over a chord progression. Theres about a dozen common intervals, ie spaces between two notes, but for now focus on the two found in the major scale ie full step (two fretts apart) and half step (one frett apart) With lots of repetition you will be drilling the patterns into your brain, but even more importantly imo training your ear to know what notes sound good together and what notes sound good with any particular chord. Ear training is an absolute must and it starts right away with scales and intervals. And like Tony says “if it sounds good, it is good”. And i would just add if it doesnt sound good, move up or down a fret and see what happens. Go slow and like John says you might find just a few notes within your scale that sound good to your ear. Let the notes ring out and listen carefully to the backing track and when the chord changes try another note. And dont worry when a particular week of challenges are beyond your scope or skill set like maybe Old Man. Some weeks are harder than others. Just do your best and then move on. Main thing…dont stress, celebrate the small wins, be easy on yourself ,keep it fun and rock on. Learning guitar is hard and Rome wasnt built in a day. Hope this helps and if you have any questions keep asking.

[Braden]

Hi Wenda sorry but I did have to smile a bit when I read your post…”im not playing, Im thudding”…good one. Im assuming that you are new to this, but not sure how long its been since you first picked up a guitar and tried to play chords…is it days, a few weeks, two months, six months? There are so many variables…first thing tho what is the quality of your guitar and is it properly set up? A set up ensures the guitar is straight, all the pieces are doing what theyre supposed to, and the strings are at the proper height above the fretboard ie the ‘action’. If the strings are too high, it is much more difficult to finger the chords. Most players want the action as low as possible…makes the guitar much more playable. So thats the first thing to check. Btw when I say quality of the guitar im not necessarily referring to brand names or price point. There are many great guitars for 2 or 3 hundred bucks. Also what size guitar are you playing and does it fit your body size? For eg if youre a smaller person and playing a big dreadnaught or jumbo it will be uncomfortable. And vice versa if you have large hands a smaller guitar might not be the best to start with. All of these things are important to check before you start. If youre not playing the right guitar or one that is not set up properly your frustration will increase and you may decide to eventually pack it in…many do. Learning guitar is hard enough as it is so having the right instrument in your hands helps get your journey off to a good start. Re making chords…your hands and fingers are not used to moving like this and easily get cramped and tired. Important to be regularly doing stretches throughout the day to increase your range and mobility. Also how do you keep your nails on your fretting hand? If your nails are too long they get in the way and fretting strings is very difficult. Most players keep their fretting nails very short. As far as fretting any notes, together in chords or one at a time….go very slowly and take the time to make each finger come down right on top and using your fingertip and not the pad of your finger. You may need to shift your fretting arm forward a few inches …this will allow your wrist to angle up more which helps your fingers come down from the top. I would also just work on one chord at a time for awhile before switching. Sit on one chord for a good ten minutes. Pick the one that is easiest for you. Dont worry about being perfect but once you get it so its not just a thud move on to the next one. Learning guitar is a long long game…I know you dont want to hear just keep playing …but yeah just keep playing. Getting good at guitar can take years. Repetition is imo the most important thing…when Im learning something new I’ll play it over and over a million times. Many times when I start to learn a new song thats stretching my abilities I think man this is tough, and does this ever sound bad, but ive learned that if i put in the work and keep at it, in probably several months time I’ll be playing and singing it pretty good. This is another variable…how motivated are you to learn, what are your goals, how much time and work are you willing to put in. I know Tony and many other teachers say just do ten minutes a day. You can do that but if thats all you play progress will be that much slower than if you practiced more often. The more you play the better you’ll get…it really is that simple. And the better you get the more fun you’ll have. But again it depends on your goals etc. And for sure ten minutes is better than nothing….Most important thing is dont be too hard on yourself, keep your expectations realistic, be patient. If you keep at it and play as much as you can you will get better, and it will get more fun. No question. And enjoy yourself along the way, youre doing something many people only dream of. So pat yourself on the back sister and rock on.

[Braden]

Hi Diane these are all great tips and should be helpful. Rolling your pointer a bit so youre using the side of your finger helps and for me leaning my middle into the pointer adds more pressure on the strings and helps with that muting. I just want to add dont sweat that old f chord too much tho. Its a challenge for many players especially at the beginning and of all the open ‘country’ chords its probably the toughest becasue of of that mini barre. Ive been playing for many years, know a lot of songs, post regularly on play forum and last year started busking. My point….when Im playing a song rarely do a play a perfect f, either open or barred. Its usually that damn c note (first fret b string) that gets muted or muffled. Thing is…noone usually notices, and if they do, Im already on to the next chord,Im not sitting on that f for too long. And if its just one muted string, it still sounds like an F, it still works. So keep on working at it, as will I. Its in a lot of songs so need to have it. But dont sweat it if its not always as clear as youd like. Remember learning guitar is a long game…but will time and lots of repetition it gets better. In the meantime dont let perfect get in the way of good. Be easy on yourself and enjoy the journey. Rock on sister

[Braden]

Another beaut @KevinZ very nice great vibe and emotion classic Kevin cover! thanks man

[Braden]

Very nice Phil @Philb . Really smooth playing and the solo was great…and thats not easy! Good job bro, keep em coming:)

[Braden]

Hey @DiscostewLA that was great! Both songs! Althea blew me away…you are so smooth man…barre chords and transitions slick like butter. Really nice singing too….just loved it, very inspiring. And yeah thats a beauty Les Paul…I went electric this past year also. Got myself a PRS SE (which I love…fits me like a glove), and a Fender Mustang LT40S amp. While I still mostly gravitate to my acoustics, been having lots of fun making the transition. And figuring out the gear is definitely a learning curve, my lack of knowledge is vast but having a blast anyway. Youve prompted me to bring “Blondie” out and plug her in. Beam me up Scotty!

[Braden]

Thank you @Marty75 ! Much appreciated…hope youre doing well

[Braden]

Hey Brett im the same way…been inspired by watching many musicians, including on this forum, do their thing. Whether the original artist or folks doing covers…do i sometimes think, “man, i wish i could do that…if only id started sooner…”? Of course! I think many of us do. but that doesnt last long and i have no regrets and like you, im encouraged and motivated to keep plugging away and have fun trying to close the gap.

Thx for shring your story and glad youre liking TAC. I tried other programs too but liked Tonys style and philosophy/methodology. The daily challenges are a great way to pick up skills that become foundational in all your playing and no other program I saw focuses on these quite like this. Having said that, I can go for weeks without doing the challenges, and will use other learning sources, or mainly just focus on songs, learning new ones and continuously practicing ones already under my belt. Lately Ive also been taking a deeper dive into theory, which has been very helpful re song structure, etc. Its also been a lot of fun getting something ready to post on here too, and Id encourage you to do the same (and its a very supportive and kind community!)

Sounds like youre really close…playing and singing at the same time is hard but youve already got the singing part down, which is the main act…the guitar accompanies the singer…so youre well on your way! Pick one of your favourite songs with that easy 1 4 5 chord progression and where the melody follows the chord changes. Separately learn and practice both the lyrics and the guitar. Get them both down so that you can play/sing them in your sleep (repetition over an over). Then when youre ready to put them together start slow…maybe just one beat per measure and sometimes I’ll just say the lyrics or sing very softly. That helps to know where in the lyrics the chord changes happen. Get comfortable with that, then you can get your rhythm and tempo going and next thing you know youre belting it out! Some songs are more difficult than others so to get to “performance ready” can take as little as a week or two, to several months. But of course thats all relative depending on how much work youre putting in. I also think its important to mix up the easy and difficult. Anyway I hope this makes some sense and is maybe helpful. Main thing of course is to enjoy the process, be kind to yourself and keep living the dream. Take care and hope youre having a nice Easter weekend. B

[Braden]

Thanks Phil @Philb, appreciate that! But no, still mostly playing for the dog…thanks bro hope youre getting some good playing in this weekend:)

[Braden]

Thanks @JeffM.22 for watching and commenting. Very appreciated!

[Braden]

Thanks a lot @albert_d Really appreciate the supportive comments brother. Ive been a John Prine fan all my adult life but the cool thing is I still keep finding songs Ive never heard before! So sad that Covid took him after he beat cancer and was rejuvinating his career. But I thank God he left us with all those tunes

[Braden]

Thank you Jack @Guitargeezer Appreciate you having a look and glad you liked it. Prine sure could tell a good story! Hope youre loving your guitar these days:)

[Braden]

Thanks @DiscostewLA for tuning in and commenting. Much appreciated! Ive been having lots of fun working the harmonica in lately so glad you liked it. Living the dream my friend…thanks again rock on

[Braden]

lol Pete @petelanger thats a lots of words! I think Id run out of steam… thanks for watching bro and glad you liked it. Much appreciated!