Moose408
Forum Replies Created
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As a counterpoint to the two previous posts I was playing songs, at least a resemblance of a song, at 3 months. I’m now 9 months in and can play a dozen or so songs and feel like I at least know what I’m doing with the guitar. Everyone is different and everyone learns at there own pace. But it does take time.
I tried guitar 18 months ago and quit after 6 weeks because my ability did not meet my expectations. I restarted last June with the realization that I’m going to suck at guitar, and I’m going to suck for a long time. That lowering of expectations as served me well, although I still have to remind myself periodically that I’m still a long way away from being a decent guitar player and that I’m OK with that.
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They do disappear at the end of each month but Tony has been including a link in his weekly newsletter. However the link in today’s email was incorrect and points to February.
I save every lesson url to a spreadsheet so have them all. I’ll post when I get back to my computer later today.
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As for when to pick up vs down there are a couple rules of thumb.
– down pick on the beat and up pick on the off beat.
If you have 4 quarter notes then it is all down picks, if you have all eighth notes it’s dudududu. When you do the count pick down on the numbers and up on the “ands”
– if doing arpeggios you pick in the direction of the next string. So if you are picking strings 5,4,3,4,5 you would pick DDUU and then either U or D depending on where the next string is after this sequence.
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It is called a tie if it is below the notes, if above the notes it represents a slide.
Tabs don’t really provide rhythm information, you need to use the notes to determine timing.
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If you want .mp3s for TAC classes you can only download the backing track on Wednesdays which happens to be what is learned on Thursday.
To play it back and be able to loop you should look at DAW software. There are dozens available from free to $1000s. I use one called Aducity that came with my Focusrite audio interface. If you are on a Mac, Garage Band might be able to do what you want.
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I completely understand the feeling, I have had it too. But then I try something that requires double stops, palm muting, improv, etc and realize how much I’ve actually learned here at TAC. It’s hard to see day to day improvement but easy to see month to month improvement.
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Yes, they go away at the end of each month. You can save them as favorites so you can refer back to them, but the UI for the favorites isn’t great because you have to remember the name of the challenge.
Each month I just copy the links of each challenge into a spreadsheet so I can refer back.
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I use the tab for fingering and the note notation for timing. Tony’s instruction is often critical to show me which fingers to use and I will often stop, rewind, and restart the video to make sure I have the correct fingering. Trying to figure it out on my own is often an issue and results in problems playing because of using the wrong fingers.
If I print out a tab I enlarge it when printing, it most of the time, I just zoom in on the computer to make it large enough to read.
I’m really surprised that the audio and video aren’t synced for you. Even an old computer should keep them in sync. Do you have a smart phone? Perhaps play the video on that.
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I highly recommend the book. The Laws of Brainjo.
It explains how the brain learns and gives other tips about how to improve both strumming and rhythm.
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The answer to the first question about strumming is to practice strumming in isolation. Mute the strings with the fretting hand and spend 5 mins a day on trying to strum without so much force. Make sure you are just using the tip of the pick and angle it up or down depending on the direction you are strumming. Go slow to start (this is the hardest thing for me).
The 2nd issue is similar. Try isolation by just placing your fingers without strumming, do this slowly for five minutes, then add strumming but keep it slow. Slowly increase your speed over time. I highly recommend using a metronome. If you make mistakes 3 times in a row then slow down the metronome. Once you can go 3 times without mistakes increase the tempo by 5 or maybe 10 bpm. Rinse, repeat. Depending on the challenge you may get up to speed in a single practice session, but more often it will be several days or weeks to get up to speed.
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Tony’s version of the song typically shows up on Thursday, when he does chord progressions.
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Just to clarify what Tony is saying. You don’t have to stop after 10 mins, but that should be your minimum. Feel free to spend more time. But also don’t overdo it. If you aren’t getting something in 10 mins it’s not going to get better by spending an hour on it. Mix up what you are focusing on.
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Just an FYI. I save all of the month’s lessons at the beginning of the month so I don’t miss any if I get busy at the end of the month.
If you just tried to click on future lessons it will tell you that they aren’t available, however if you right-click on the lesson there is an option copy the link. So copy the link and then paste it into my spreadsheet.
I just did this for the entire month of April, so I’m set if I get busy and forget to do it.
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“What I think I was trying to ask is, if you don’t read notes, does playing by ear and memorizing slow you down or enhance your learning?”
I don’t know the answer, but I have several thoughts.
When learning something new the brain needs feedback in order to learn. A good example of this is free throw shooter, they can see when the ball goes on the basket. Now if you hid the basket so they could not tell if the ball when it or not they would never get better. For guitar our ears are our feedback, so being able to determine by ear when a wrong note is struck or timing is off is essential.
This works great for songs where you know how they should sound. This issue is when you don’t know the song, you have to rely on the tabs/notes to figure out what it should sound like. Overtime you will learn what it sounds like and your learning with happen at a faster pace because you can rely on your ears, but until that time you will struggle. If trying to play mainly individual notes like we have been doing with Fast Car this week I find being able to read the notes as quicker than the tab.