[Moose408]

Here is an easier Bm that should work.

[Moose408]

Tony hasn’t done in the 18 months I’ve been here.

Here is the version I play. The struggle as a beginner is the Bm chord

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/the-band/the-weight-chords-61597

[Moose408]

I’m on a practice streak of 393 days and have been trying to keep it alive. I have been on 16 trips during the period. For road trips I take my electric guitar (so I can wear headphones when around my wife in the hotel) and I ended up building a travel guitar that fits in my carry-on for airplane trips.

It can be hard to find the time and fit in the practice. Most places I’ve been this year have had good internet, for those that don’t I have binder of exercises that I take with me and just practice them.

As for what to do when you get back just jump into whatever Daily Challenge is going on that week (maybe start on the Monday lesson). All of the Daily Challenge weeks are stand-alone so it’s not a problem if you miss a few weeks,

[Moose408]

Congrats!

What’s your setlist?

[Moose408]

That’s great! Congrats.

My in person instructor gave me tips that made it not so pretzel-ly. It was to make sure that my index finger is exactly parallel to the fret and not angled. The other tip was to move the neck away from my body, almost a 45 degree angle.

[Moose408]

I started in-person lessons in Sept and he gave me a tip that made barre chords much easier. He had me move the headstock further away from my body. As @Skyman911 mentioned you use your strumming arm to press the guitar against your body and with the neck moved away from you, you have a lot leverage against your index finger. It made a huge difference.

[Moose408]

I been working on the barre F chord for 6 months now. It still takes me 2 seconds to get into it (which is still too slow to use in a song), but I’m getting better. Guitar is hard. Try to enjoy the journey

[Moose408]

I think everyone struggles with the C chord.

A couple things to try.

– lower your thumb just a little on the neck. That will allow you to get more arch in your fingers.

– the other thing to practice is to make the C chord and then pick each string individually. If one is muted do micro adjustments with your fingers so that none are muted and the chord rings clearly. Then remove your hand and repeat. I typically do this for 5 mins each day. It took me 4 months to get a clean C chord. So be patient.

[Moose408]

One other thought. There is no rule that you have to do next week’s challenge. Maybe go back and work on a week that you enjoyed and want to get better at. I always skip Wagon Wheel week when it comes around and I don’t think I’m any worse because of it.

[Moose408]

I’ve seen 6 year old kids do barre chords so I would agree that small hands are not necessarily an issue.

I struggled with barre chords until I started private lessons last month and he showed me that my form was wrong on both barre chords and scales. My thumb was too high up and my elbow as not pressed up against my side. As a result of both of these my knuckles were not parallel to the fretboard which limited my stretch and reach. As soon as I lowered my thumb n the back of the fretboard my reach improved. It also allowed me to get my index finger parallel to the fret for barre chords.

Two minor adjustments made all the difference. The other thing he taught me was to place my barre finger first which insures it’s up against the fret.

I still have a lot to practice to get quick at it but now see it is possible.

As for your arthritis that may limit you. You asked what to do, the answer is modify the chords to something you can accomplish. Play the mini-F instead of the barre F, play an open C chord as opposed to the barre C. Tony often shows alternatives to barre chords during lessons because he dislikes barre chords so perhaps look through some past lessons to see his modifications.

[Moose408]

Here is my $0.02 worth

Being able play songs next June is doable if you devote the time. For me it was around 250-300 hours of dedicated practice time before I could comfortably perform songs in front of others. I could play a few songs around 150 hours but not reliably. It’s 223 days from now to June 1st, so if practice everyday for at least 45mins to an hour and your are results are similar you can get there.

[Moose408]

Easy answer first. It doesn’t matter whether you use the 3 finger or the 4 finger G. The 4 finger sounds a little fuller but either is appropriate.

Guitar is hard, you are going to suck at it for a long time, it’s ok to suck. People get frustrated because their expectations exceed their ability. We all want to be able to play an exercise perfectly the first time and we can’t. Heck we may not even play it perfectly the 4th or 5th time through when it comes around again. The goal of Tony’s program is progress over perfection. Every attempt you do during the 10 mins a day results in learning just a little bit more.

Everyone struggles with finger dexterity. We are asking our fingers to operate individually from each other which they aren’t used to. It will take months for that to improve but it will improve.

Wednesdays are about a lot more than just soloing. It’s teaching you scales and where notes are on the neck. But more importantly it is teaching you aural and timing. Being able to hear and really listen to what you are playing is a valuable skill. Being able to vary the tempo and rhythm of the notes will help with chord transitions and adding accents to your playing. You can certainly skip it, and just repeat Monday or Tuesday’s lesson. Or go back the previous week and redo one of your favorites. There is no set rules on what you can and can’t do. Everyone is going to be different so cater to your differences.

Above all don’t get frustrated, try to enjoy the journey. It took me a while to understand that. It’s going to take me years to get where I want to be but every time I pick up my guitar I get closer to that goal.

[Moose408]

As close to the fret as possible without being on the fret. You want just enough pressure so that the string doesn’t buzz.

[Moose408]

[Moose408]

I track it myself. I find the TAC website to not always be accurate.

I use an app on my iPhone called Andante. It gives me great stats and logging capabilities.