[N-lightMike]

It’s great, @WAMGOC , that you are improving and having fun. That’s what it’s all about. And as time goes on, your needs will change and your routine will change, but TAC will still help you along your guitar journey. It really works.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hello @andysmith22gmail-com ;

Wow, relax man, take a deep breath. Here are the rules:

1) Play every day… or as often as you can.

2) Have fun… this trumps every thing else.

3) Use a mix of learning new things and practicing old things.

That’s it. So, how does TAC fit into that? Simple.

TAC gives you something to do every day to warm up and work on something new. Don’t spend too much time on that or you’ll become frustrated. It’s all about fun.

Then, move on, using whatever time you have left to learn a song or play songs that you already know. Or, stick on a backing track and jam out playing solos. Or play solos without a backing track. Or, jam out making your own rhythm, whether you record it so you can jam to it later or not. Just play for fun, that’s the idea.

So, what about all the other questions? Where do the Dailies fit in? Where do the Skills fit in? Ok, fair enough. It’s simple. You’ll know the answer to all those questions as you move along your own guitar journey. Right now you are playing as often as you can using skills courses? Then that’s cool, that’s your answer. At some point, you’ll be like: “So, what’s next?”. Well, the Dailies, that’s what’s next. Just something to make it easy for you to start the session every day. What do I do to warm up. What do I work on for a few minutes before I start playing for fun? That’s all. Simple.

So, you see, no one but you can actually answer those questions specifically. The answer is:

Warm up for a few minutes.

Work on learning something new for maybe as long as 10 or 15 minutes.

Play something that lets you get lost in your own sound.

You fill in the blanks. There are no wrong answers.

Oh yeah, the journal. Will it help you? Great, use it. I don’t. Never have. Probably never will. I’m not a journaling kinda guy. But the beauty of this cheeky answer is that I can change my mind any time I want and start doing a journal. Will it help? Probably. But for now, I don’t care. I don’t feel like doing it. Am I making progress? Big time. Am I having fun? Big time. So I guess it’s not a necessity though it will definitely help some people.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hello @OhWowMan ;

I tried skimming the other comments, but I have to confess I really didn’t read through them. Why? Because they were pushing you to do the finger picking lessons. NO!

Ok, I started TAC over 3 years ago. For the first 2 years I did the finger picking exercises by finger picking and the flat picking exercises by flat picking. Then I quit using a flat pick altogether. I used finger picking for the flat picking exercises.

Why and with what results?

My reasons were exactly the same as yours except that I wanted to do finger picking instead of flat picking. So, obviously, I think your reasons are valid.

So, the results? I have grown so much in finger picking, way beyond just doing finger picking lessons, including extra stuff I found on YouTube. I had to figure out how to use my fingers for the flat picking exercises. How could I do the same techniques with my fingers.

Recently, I started using a flat pick occasionally. Not again, but really for the first time. I have messed around with a flat pick before I came to TAC, and I mentioned I used to do the lessons with a flat pick. But I never played a song, ever, with a flat pick. Why? I don’t know, I just didn’t want to. Now, I am actually playing songs with a flat pick occasionally. And you know what? I’m good at using a flat pick. The strings are all in the same place and my hand has already learned where they are.

So my suggestion? Don’t do any finger picking until you feel like it. Maybe never. Use a flat pick for all the finger picking lessons. That is challenging and will hone your flat picking skills and take them to the next level.

And if you ever want to add finger picking? Well, your hand will already know where the stings are and you won’t have much trouble. And for now, you won’t feel as if your energies are being divided.

I hope you do what you want and not listen to what you “should” do. My opinion.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hello @subsailor731 ;

It’s interesting that @Kitman mentioned fretting the B string at the first fret. Ok, so the big difference between the 3 and 4 finger G chords is that it leaves your index free. If you fret the high E string on the 1st fret, you have a G7 chord. That’s the most common of your new options with the index free.

However, you can also fret the high E string on the 2nd fret and get a Gmaj7 chord. Very cool chord frequently used by the Eagles, if you’re into their songs.

So now, let’s cover fretting the B string at the 1st fret. That would change the open B to a C. However, you still have a B note in the chord so it’s not a sustain chord. Instead it would be an add chord. But do you add the 4th note or the 11th note? Well, the C note is in the next octave above your G, B, D on the lowest 3 strings, so it would be a Gadd11 chord, or simply G11 where the add is implied. A true G11 chord would also have the 7 note, or an F note.

Also, you can fret the 3rd string on the 2nd fret and get a Gadd9.

So yeah, those are the reasons the 3 finger G chord is used much more often outside of Bluegrass.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

@Mrfredsporty , I don’t own a Martin guitar, but I decided to try Martin strings, along with a number of other strings. I picked Martin as my go to strings because of the tone, the playability and the price.

As far as gauge, that was easy for me. I went with light or extra light right from the beginning. The reason was playability and tone. I like the softer, more mellow tone of lighter strings. Also, they are easier on the fingers and better for finger picking.

For me, these decisions are always easy because I recognize I could change my mind any time I want in the future. Our guitar journey takes us places we never could have planned on or expected.

For instance, I have started playing songs with picks. I have messed around with picks from the beginning. I just never used them when I actually played. Now that new door could lead to my using heavier gauge strings on one of my guitars for use with a pick. Who knows. Since I use 10s it would be easy to go up to 11s or 12s. No need to go to the bridge cables that bluegrass players use, 13s. 🤣

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

👍😃

[N-lightMike]

👍

[N-lightMike]

You are welcome Mark @the-old-coach . I agree that this video clarified things for me very well, and the significant thing to understand was the difference between learning and practicing. I found it very “balanced” that he also gave us permission to continue to “misuse” the term practice as that’s “normal”.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Yes, that’s how a forum works, @the-old-coach . It follows a conversation, not a time line. Conversations don’t follow a time line unless it’s only 2 people. So, if you are responding to a specific comment, you need to hit the reply for that comment and NOT the general reply. That would be missed and would cause confusion.

You have been doing it the “right” way. Don’t let the order bother you.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Yeah, getting your fingers into the chord shapes is one thing, but switching is what’s important to play songs, Tom @subsailor731 .

So, take just 2 of them and slowly and deliberately switch between them. Then speed up a little, then slow back down and start again when you start bungling the chords.

May later the same day or later in the same session or may the next day, do a different pair of chords. You only have 3 different pairs, right?

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

HaHaHa, I do that all the time to myself, Denise @Cadgirl , that is, second guess myself. You didn’t try lighter strings. You could have tried lighter strings, but you didn’t. You made a decision. Was it the right decision? Well, if you think it was the wrong decision that’s a bummer cause it’s behind you. If you think it was the right decision than that’s great because it’s behind you. (And you’re right. Lighter strings wouldn’t have made a difference. I know because I did put lighter strings on my dreadnought before I got rid of it.)

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hello @WyoBoy52 ;

It is interesting that you have always played the same gauge as your guitars came with. You might try different gauges and see what you like best.

@subsailor731 , above, said he liked the tone of the lights the best when watching the video on YouTube that compared gauges. I play lights for the same reason. I also like finger picking the best. When I do use a pick I really like the tone of the really light picks, though I also use the heavy picks occasionally for contrast.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

LOL, @jumpinjeff , I haven’t ever tried Santa Cruz due to the price. But I don’t change my strings as often as many people do, so maybe I could afford them after all. 😎

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Here’s the link to “Get better at music by practicing less”. I hope:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsd1b4iF5S8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsd1b4iF5S8

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hey Mark @the-old-coach and Fred @Mrfredsporty .

Mark said: “Earlier on in my TAC-career, very generally, I focused more on “doing LESS, but doing it “better”. Pretty-much perfect was the only option before I moved to the next step. But— I think I felt like I just wasn’t progressing “fast enough” or something….. So I pretty-much abandoned that general philosophy.”

“(Dumb analogy— Nibblin’ away on a giant cookie versus stuffing the whole thing in your mouth at once and chewing forever). Takes the same amount of time either way, right?”

So first, “perfect” can be very misleading. We do need to work on accuracy and people do get to the point where they can play something “perfectly”. But, yes, you say it in your edit, there is a balance. So, where is that balance?

Second, no, it would not be the same either way, and that’s really the point. It does make a difference whether you stuff the whole thing in or nibble.

So, here is a video that really helped my to see how to put the whole thing together. When do I try for perfection, when do I push for speed, when am I wasting my time and maybe even ingraining mistakes, how much should I go over old stuff, how much new stuff to learn? Lots of questions. This made them clear for me.

It’s called “Get better at music by practicing less” and the YouTube channel is Brad Harrison Music. (Just open YouTube and type the title into the search and you’ll find it.)

I hope this helps.

MG 😀