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Thanks for the feedback and encouragement… I’m not looking to get discouraged watching others… I find it inspiring. I’ve been noodling around with guitar for about 50 years but never really took the time to study. I was even in a band for a couple of years playing pretty poor rhythm… fortunately I can sing pretty well so my main contribution was there.

I was just trying to get an idea as to the effectiveness of AC for others… so far I think it is the best online instruction I’ve tried and I’ve tried a few. So similar to you, I retired about 3 years ago and one of my challenges to myself was to really study guitar and reach my initial goal of being able to comfortably accompany myself when singing and get to the point where I play decent rhythm with some accidental picking thrown in here or there.

I can see AC has already helped me improve a ton and it is definitely repetition and consistency that is going to get me where I want to go… I think AC really gives us a good way to figure out what to practice on any given day and that is very valuable to me. I augment with some songs I want to pick up and those are improving slowly but surely. The comfort level is still not there but I know it will come with time! 🙂

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I really like your right hand technique and I’d be soooo happy if I could get to the level while singing at the same time. Just wondering how long you’ve been playing and how much of that was time with Acoustic Challenge. Thanks and great job!

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So much great advice here! Glad I read down through this thread… I can’t add any more so I’ll just say thanks!!!

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Thanks Tony. Glad you guys are on the job. As a former IT Tech, I can relate but having more members is a good problem that should result in more resources to manage the infrastructure. Good luck!

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I think one of the very big concepts that we get here is the idea that you don’t have to master every exercise before moving on. I used to think I had to master what I was learning before I went on to new exercises, techniques, songs, riffs, etc. What that did was keep adding to my practice until I was working on a dozen things at the same time… if I got close to or achieved mastery on the first thing I started working on, I figured I had to keep hitting it night after night to keep that mastery. This turned out to be a big trap leading to frustration and failure as my practice routing got so long and convoluted, it just wasn’t realistic any more. I like to stay with about 3 things a session and I don’t need to master before I move on. The weird thing is sometimes, when I haven’t hit an exercise for a few day but rather, worked on something else, I go back to the exercise and I’m a ton better at it. Having “played at” guitar for a few decades, starting and stopping serious study several times but playing well enough to do a few songs around the campfire, I feel I’m making real progress into the intermediate stage with AC. Good luck!

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Thanks! It’s getting a little better… I guess my hand needs to be a lot less rigid. Part of the overall technique learning. This is one of the “magic” things I think about AC is that seemingly unrelated skills impact many other aspects of your playing and raise the overall level. But mainly I think the daily or near-daily approach, even for 20 mins is huge!

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Remember that everyone struggles with the barres. They are HARD! It will definitely take longer to master them and the progress will be slow sometimes and you’ll even regress now and then. Be consistent, don’t focus too much on them as there are literally 1000’s of great songs that do not use them. I’m usually working on 3 or 4 songs as part of my practice… it isn’t as fun when it’s just drills… and you can see progress on those songs as the result of our AC weekly challenges. Pick out some easy songs and work one or two into your routine… it helps me remember why I’m doing all this.

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This was a lot of what I was going to say… after many years playing I still have issues with the sound of the F sometimes and the other barres. But I think one thing that AC has taught me is to keep moving, keep your rhythm, play with confidence, and be consistent. My F has gotten a lot better since beginning AC and as I toss in a few practice songs with it, I’m learning more transitions from and to other chords. The key is to remember that mastery happens over time with consistency. Enjoy the journey!

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Thanks for taking the time for such a long and informational reply! I think getting down a song to the point of performing it is a great goal and one I’ll definitely add to my list. Great advice as to how to achieve mastery of each segment… slow at first and then add tempo once things start coming together. There is nothing that helps get you motivated than a clear goal. I wish you all the best and am glad for the great advice!