[jumpinjeff]

recalibrate future trajectory to align more precisely with present desire! Nice job on the hang out the other day too : )

[jumpinjeff]

Hi Todd, my thoughts? My initial response is like the @Bill_Brown and @albert_d , but I know our goals are aligned. Having read many things they write about I think they and I are here to learn to play guitar. When I started in 2015 that was my goal but I did not know it. I was lured by those songs which captured my imagination and I set about learning them quite unsuccessfully. I was unsuccessful. Even the songs Tony was teaching way back when were versions of what I call finger choreography. Learn the sequence, commit it to memory, then repeat it. I found my memory was not good enough to learn songs like Santana’s Europa or Angeline the Baker. What I came to find out: what I really wanted was to learn to play guitar. Tony morphed his ideas into exactly what it needed to be successful and sure enough if found success decoding music down to its building blocks so that I could play everything without having to memorize it. I have take a month to learn a song. I have been working on several songs for 9 years. There is always a change to be manipulated or the sixth note of a scale to work in because I think it is cool etc. Perspective is our difference. When I take a month it represents less than one percent of my developmental time. With you it represents a much greater ratio of your developmental time. Pursue your songs for the length that you want. As long as you are engaged and having fun and you have already solidified your practice routine to the point of habit you will benefit from any type of playing. Could you have progressed faster? Maybe. If you get frustrated, do not worry….return to regular exercises/challenges. They will be your juggernaut to break through any ruts or walls blocking your progress. Finding the balance between these two things may be the recipe for your success. I guess maybe that is one of the tremendous values of the forum. It keeps us from going out on limbs too far. What ever you choose, keep reporting back on your progress or if need be vent some frustration. Between Tony and the forum I find 99% of what I need. Wishing you always, fast progress toward your desire.

[jumpinjeff]

I love those song goals. My problem is how to sustain playing until that time when I could record those in one take. The only way I found was adopting progress as my success. Also by never ending my playing in a poor mindset, I found progress almost everywhere I looked. That is when this got suuuuuuper fun!!!

[jumpinjeff]

My problems happen when I am logged in too long and write a lovely response and it disappears. Am I right @the-old-coach ? I realized this happens when my log in expires and I don’t notice. My fix: I copy what I have written but can’t post, logout, log in and hit paste when I get back to the page for which I intended to respond, then Post. If I logged in and out every time I would also solve my problem. The trouble is I have no way to tell when my login expires. Being the clever fellow that I am, I figured my own hack. (Determination is my strong suit.) Maybe that will help you too Mrfredsporty!

[jumpinjeff]

YES!

[jumpinjeff]

Hi David, he is muting either with his palm or in the case of the Dm chord he is muting with his index fingers across all strings as he strums. Tony has some fantastic dynamic control, he is getting the wood sound out of his guitar without totally dampening the ring. Maple guitars especially make a very cool sound when this technique is successfully employed. All guitars do it in varying degrees.

[jumpinjeff]

I said index finger mistakenly. It is his pinky doing the muting. apologies for the confusion.

[jumpinjeff]

The A note is not part of G major Triad. Triad is a 3 note chord. If you place a finger on the A string at the second fret the note becomes a Bnote. B is one of the tones in the Gmajor triad. This is a common way this chord is played. By muting the A string Tony takes the middle tone out of the chord. Tony is playing a chord with only two tones G and D. It is a cool sound. All the strings are either G or D. It seems floating and non-committal. That middle tone lends direction to the chord anchoring it one way or another (mostly). Without the anchor the listener is left floating. There is also another reason less obvious in this lesson. When he mutes the A string it frees up his index finger. Having that index free is magic for the G chord. Having this in your tool kit will make space for even cooler stuff later.

[jumpinjeff]

Hi Roy,

within the context of 30 days to play…move on. The larger question is how to get your power chords working. It does depend on what type of person you are. I am a terrier. For better and worse, when I am faced with something I cant do that I would like to be able to do…I cant let it go until I get it. I wish I had learned early to move on anx revisit after more experience. It may have saved me time. The medium would be to hit your power chords a 5 min session at any point in the day as long as it it everyday. Your consistent effort will be your best friend and the key to your progress, long term. Let’s find the way to keep you engaged with the impossibly challenging tasks while having fun.

[jumpinjeff]

Short fingers are as much and advantage as a disadvantage. some things you will do better and some things you will have to work around. Your mindset is the most important of all. Now, for me, having fat fingers….I have yet to find their advantage. Fortunately while being last in the musical talent line I was first in the determination line. It is a mindset.

[jumpinjeff]

Thank you Brandon K. You have a mindset and it works for you. I will lend the knowledge of my experience as much as is helpful. Wishing you fast progress toward your goals always.

[jumpinjeff]

Oh, I totally get what you are saying Brandon K. Guitar is a successful transactional experience for about 1 in 100,000. The rest of us have to find a way to continue through rain snow sleet and hail. Good, clear instruction, the type of instruction that makes the complicated plain, is the first ingredient. The second is determination and the third is love. Tony provides the first but if you do not have the second or third even with the instruction part nailed down you will not be happy. I learned great finger choreography in 6 mo. I was frustrated that it led me to what I saw as a dead end. What I found and put into use here at TAC was how guitar as a practice could make me the player of my desire. If you want to learn a few songs in a time frame, I am going to go out on a limb and say this may not serve your intentions best. It will help you for but in 6 mo or when time frame X comes to pass your result may not match your intention. I hoisted the deficit onto the shoulders of the teacher. I have seen others do the same. It did not help my progress. It is why the introduction of time in goals is a two edged blade. If you already play a stringed instrument disregard all I have said, your fingers hands and arms are prewired and your progress will be much faster.

[jumpinjeff]

Yes, I am all about what Moose is pointing out. All the queries about how long it took to play a song (yes I went down that path)…only led to my greater frustration. My goal is to recognize MY improvement when it happens and what did I do to facilitate the improvement (most of the time it is working through the boredom of repetition on challenges). I focused on the process not the destination, I am my own worst enemy with time and expectation. These are the two questions I ask with fantastic effect: am I better than I was? am I as good as I want to be? The answer is consistently yes to the first and no to the second. That is all I need for motive. I show up and do the challenges and it has been a marvelous learning experience.

[jumpinjeff]

thanks Moose for the followup. Super interesting and thought provoking too. Now to find the Brainjo book : )

[jumpinjeff]

That is a great question. The only time I finger pick is for TAC challenges. I will pay attention and see. Otherwise I always have a flatpick in my hand. I is in my strumming as well as my improv. I always blamed the gauge and tension of the B string. Then I tried the parabolic strings and …same problem. It was/is my technique. I actually have to spend some time doing tone drills with only the B string to keep it sounding sweet. That is nothing fancy just striking the B string in time with different rhythmic patterns.