[N-lightMike]

Wow, that’s great @DonTheMyth , we must be on a parallel course. I just hit 700 a few days ago also. The whole play every day and cumulative effect thing really works. Congrats.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Yah, how cool is that @Whibs ? Congratulations and thanks for sharing your win. It inspires all of us when we share it. 😀

MG 😃

[N-lightMike]

That may be a restricted thing on the new site @JohnV . Perhaps you could summarize the material for us?

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hello @Greg_F_Lee ,

I’m not sure why I’m bothering to make a comment as you have had so many comments. And @dr_dave weighed in at the end. I learned a lot from dr_dave and @jumpinjeff . Any way, here is what I was inspired to say when I read your post.

When you first start playing guitar, with the right guidance, you will see a lot of progress fairly quickly. The reason so many of us came to TAC with years of playing under our belts is because that phenomenon can’t be maintained and we found ourselves deep in a rut. Learning guitar can be fairly quick. Gaining proficiency on guitar takes a life time. What saved most of us from our guitar rut was to STOP trying to “master” the guitar or even any aspect of guitar, but rather to have fun playing guitar.

The method Tony introduced to make that happen was simple. He gave us a fun little challenge to spend a few minutes on every day. Regardless of our ability level, we could have fun and gain greater skill and knowledge… very slowly and incrementally. Being able to play the lesson like Tony was unimportant. For most of us, it would take years to play some of the lessons as demonstrated. But, we had a reason to pick up the guitar everyday and had a suggestion as to what to practice. What we did or did not understand about the process he was guiding us through didn’t actually matter. His lessons were connected in a very subtle and counter-intuitive way. His lessons help us with the full range of guitar skills every single week and over time we learn about guitar and music the way a child learns. Not by organized study, but by exposure to new ideas while having fun.

Tony has explained how and why his approach works. I get it, but I can’t explain it as well as he does. What matters is that I’m sold on spending a minimum of 10 minutes on the daily lessons. I never have to spend any more time than that… for what ever reason. I don’t like it. I’m not good at it. I’m not in a good mood. Whatever, I’m getting the exposure that is having it’s effect on me… over time.

Now, that brings me to your routine. Here’s what you do: spend 10 minutes on the daily lesson. Reserve some time for a warm up at the beginning. Now, if you’re inspired, spend more time. But you won’t be inspired everyday, and that’s great news. Because now you can spend a few minutes on one of the skills courses. And some days, if you have enough time, you could do the daily lesson and a skill course and then another skill course. Here’s why:

You can only spend so much time on any one thing before you’re just wearing yourself out. That’s why these short little bursts work. And why we can actually be making progress on several fronts all at the same time.

Anyway, those are my thoughts and experience. I hope this helps.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Which is most expensive? Is there an issue with space? Is there an issue with possible damage?

Bring which ever one you like the best if you can protect it from water and physical damage and you have plenty of space.

I got rid of my small travel guitars because I didn’t play them very often and when I tried I could play them very well due to small scale length and resulting tiny fret spaces.

When I take a guitar on a trip which will increase the risk of damage or loss, I always opt for the least expensive guitar that I like to play. There are other ideas on this. I hope you get a suggestion that works for you.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hello @MJV ,

@JohnV has already covered the most important points. Let me reiterate: your fingers must be arched. Hand and wrist position can help you do that by bringing the thumb farther down the back of the neck so your hand rolls up around the neck giving you greater reach. Now, one other thing of utmost importance, fret the string with the very tip of your finger, not the pad, but just shy of the nail.

One other thing, after years of playing, I can now play different finger positions when I play the G major chord, but when I started, I could only manage one. And that one is with the little finger on the 3rd fret of the high E, the ring finger on the 3rd fret of the low E, and the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the A string. The middle finger being the longest it has the most arch. Besides which, there are several other very good reasons for learning this as your basic, go to G chord, like G dominant 7 and G major 7, played with the index finger on the high E string.

Hope this helps.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

The answer to your for instance is “yes” @Jonesy . If the video is 140 bpm and the speed is set at 1.5, then the resulting bpm will be 210.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

So, I just wanted to say that when we tag you with the @ symbol, we are actually notifying someone else. You picked @pab1lb for your nickname, so that’s what we need to use to tag you. You could use PaulA or Paul_A or Paul-A if they are not taken.

Hope this helps.

MG 😀

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by  N-lightMike.

[N-lightMike]

Wow, sounds like two great wins Alisa. Playing and singing with your hubby and learning a song beginning to end. Oh, I guess that’s three great wins, you accomplished your goal in the time you set. Just awesome. Thanks for sharing.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

🤣👍

[N-lightMike]

You are so welcome @Greg_F_Lee (and @mkjohnsons ).

Yes, that’s the fun of it. Not only is it fun because we don’t have to fret (hehehe) about what ro do everyday in our parctice, but we don’t even have to worry about getting better of if we’re “good” enough. The daily lesson is our excuse for whatever negative stuff our head is trying to feed us. Wee did the lesson? Then we did it right for that day.

Sometimes, I’m feeling so good about my guitar journey and I’m so involved in what I’m doing at that time that I hardly notice the daily lesson. I did it, but I can’t remember doing it at the end of the day except it’s checked off on the TAC site. Other times, I’m feeling discouraged about something, usually my ability or progress, and the daily lesson becomes huge. It allows me to counter the negative feelings and say “I am a guitar player and I am getting better because I did my daily lesson today”. I can’t forget that I did the daily lesson on days like that because it was the highlight of my guitar journey for that day

Anyway, I’m glad you are having more fun. I loved what @Raye had to say. Thanks for starting this thread.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Wow, @Raye , what a wonderfully worded comment. Thanks for being a contributing part of the community.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

😊👍

[N-lightMike]

It sounds like you have found your way out of your rut @Greg_F_Lee . I think the “rut” is simply a feeling or an attitude. When I have clear direction and recognize that I’m making progress, then I’m not in a “rut”. My “rut” happens when I don’t know what to play or practice and I don’t think I’m any good or not making progress.

I’m glad you are making progress again and you’re having fun. That’s what’s important. To have fun with what skills we have now and continually working on something that will help us improve… over time.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Here is my experience with this “phenomenon” @dr_dave . It seems that you can only do so many edits. Consequently, when I have written a long comment, if I have to make edits, I copy and paste it into my word processor and fix it there and then plunk it into my TAC “reply”.

I hope this helps.

MG 😀