[the-old-coach]

MrKimm–

There have been some great responses to your question- (and from great people). I don’t need to repeat them.

But if I may add one more “perspective”, it would be to expect — and accept that it’s really OK— to feel like you sometimes have trouble with some of the Dailies. They’re designed to push you a little/ sometimes a lot.

If you could just whip thru every one of those Dailies with no challenge– two things:

1) You’d quit because it’s too easy, and

2) You don’t really need to be here in TAC because you are already a good guitar player.

So give the Dailies and the Skills Courses an honest effort, and keep moving.

Your brain is “getting it”…. behind the scenes. You will notice things start to “come together.

My two cents……

[the-old-coach]

OK– I am certainly FAR from being any kind of expert on any of this- (and I don’t know if I’m even asking this the right way, but)- are you “working on the scales” in the sense of playing each note of that given scale…. just from memorizing each note location(?)……..

Or…. are you “working on the scales” in the sense of counting the frets— and “seeing” (and hearing) the major scale formula and its intervals…….. (?)

(hard to put into words— and I don’t always “get that right”; hopefully you understand).

• This reply was modified 3 months ago by  the-old-coach.

[the-old-coach]

md–

Question…… This is a simple-sounding (but huge) question:

Are you understanding it, or just memorizing it and then going thru the motions of playing what you have memorized?

When you start to realize the difference —- when you actually start to focus on the how and the why—- is when- (as Loraine says)- “you start to see the magic happen”.

• This reply was modified 3 months ago by  the-old-coach.
• This reply was modified 3 months ago by  the-old-coach.

[the-old-coach]

Love it!

[the-old-coach]

Yeah– read it just now as a matter of fact!

We were just down (sort-of) in that general area a couple months ago, driving from Newport over to Corvallis, and then also maybe 3 years ago we drove from Eugene out to Florence- (our #2 granddaughter went to Oregon and we were visiting her at the time— and heading home via the coast). So we have been thru Veneta, but I honestly don’t remember anything about it.

Let me do some thinking on sending you a couple tunes……… I am the definition of living behind the times…. on purpose– (I still have a flip-phone….. and love it).

Be cool/ keep in touch.

M

[the-old-coach]

Jeff—

This is such a wonderful post you have made here! Clean. Focused. Inspirational. The complete package; the story of exactly where you are– and right where I want to be in a year or 3. I’ll get there…… Hope you are leaving some crumbs to follow……

[the-old-coach]

I was in TAC for three years- (now out– at least for now).

I’m a “saver”; and printed-out every single Daily Challenge for an entire year; kept them organized by the month (and wrote the date at the top of the page); in a big 3-ring binder– labeled for the year. (example– “TAC Daily Challenges– 2022”). When the “second-year” rolled around- (my anniversary was in Jan.)– I simply started another binder. Did it for 2 years!

But—– there was a difference—— In the “second year”– before I printed the “new ones”– I went back and checked in the “first” book– to see if I already had it- (no sense in printing it again- just to be printing it). Sometimes I would find it, but it would maybe be a month or two prior or after; and sometimes, there would be an entire week of new lessons. The second book was much thinner– but there WAS some new stuff not from the first year.

So in my recollection of it all— (to respond to the original question)— this is what I remember….. they “generally” repeated somewhere around every year…. give or take; with some new ones “added-in” (and/or moved- (or removed)- every now and then; maybe just “moved-around a little”.

I dunno if this answers any questions or not— but this is what I remember- (and have the binders to prove it).

Even though I am no longer in TAC– at least right now– I still thumb thru those binders… I love to just open them up to some totally random page, and play that Challenge as a part of my practice(s). And– it keeps me thinking I want to join back in!)

[the-old-coach]

Great post Pete– and agree wholeheartedly that 10 minutes every day is great stuff!

But at the start of this thread, we were sort-of comparing “10-minutes” to longer periods of time– (but still every day).

(From Tony’s excerpt)-

“Similarly, sports science shows that weightlifters who trained twice daily for 15 minutes improved more quickly than those who did one long session per week-proving that frequency trumps duration.
And when it comes to guitar, a study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that musicians who played for 10 minutes daily made 30% faster progress in skill acquisition compared to those who played infrequently but for longer periods“

Yes, the excerpt noted here refers to how good shorter-sessions-every-day are…….. but instead of comparing them to longer sessions every day- (like at the outset of this thread)– it compares them to “one long session per week” and then “played infrequently but for longer periods”.

Of course, playing every day is gonna provide better results when you hold it up against playing only “one long session per week”. So will playing multiple-short-sessions during every day— in essence playing more than ten minutes every day.

The “earlier” comparisons in this thread were legitimate comparisons. “Every day for 10 minutes” ……. or……… “every day for more than 10 minutes”.

But…. they are completely different from these “latest” comparisons(?) in Tony’s message.

At any rate, I believe the TAC program is great stuff.

[the-old-coach]

David—

(your words)— “I’ll never get better, I’m not progressing as I should, my skills are nowhere near where I thought they would be….”

It seems you are buried in your own (self) expectation. You are comparing yourself to where you think you should be……

And that has never— and will never— work.

Look– I completely understand…. we all completely understand- (and have ALL been where you are right now!). But this is not about time. It’s not a race (against your own expectations).

Learning to play is S-L-O-W, because it’s supposed to be. There is a LOT of unusual information going into your brain right now, and your brain needs time to absorb it, period.

Good news is— actually— you are in a great spot in your guitar-journey!

Go slow.

FOCUS on everything– the TAC method is a good one– let it do its magic!

Pay close attention– (I mean really close attention) to every single movement of your hands; and every single sound you hear for your guitar. Feedback is the key!

Learn accuracy over speed; your brain will learn the habits you teach it– (but– they can be good habits or bad habits).

Your brain will pick it all up and store it– automatically!- (you just may not know it yet).

Give it some time/ lose all the “expectation-pressure”

Forget the destination/ enjoy the scenery of the trip!

Hang in there David— you are not alone— we are ALL there for you!

• This reply was modified 5 months ago by  the-old-coach.
• This reply was modified 5 months ago by  the-old-coach.

[the-old-coach]

Braden—– “Yup, that”.

[the-old-coach]

I know this is a “divisive” subject, and has been hashed-out in here– (and other guitar-group-Forums). I get that… but…… (and I have said this before– many times…).

The whole “give me ten minutes…..” / “only ten minutes a day…..” mindset is a bunch of BS, unless you plan to live to be 100+ years old; or…….. you just want to call yourself a “guitar-player” because you can play a few chords on play along with a YouTube video of one of your old favorites- (notice I didn’t say play one of your old favorites/ I said “play along with“…. (there’s a difference). I have been there/ done that….. and it only works for so long, friends.

I certainly have a long way to go in my own guitar-journey, and I’m the first one to admit it, and also that I have NO standing to sound any kind of condescending….

But let’s face it, folks……… If there’s a challenging Daily, and you play just the ten-minutes, and then pat yourself on the back because you put in just the ten minutes………. then you gotta accept the consequences that come with that.

Someone who digs into that challenging Daily lesson, and really gives it some (extra) effort…. deserves to progress faster. Those who don’t, don’t.

This is Tony’s Acoustic Challenge , and we ALL joined-in knowing that it will be a challenge…. (at times difficult!)

Faster, more-rewarding progress is there for you to go after……. IF YOU GO AFTER IT.

But all this “ten-minutes-per-day-and-you-will-be-a-guitar-player” hype…..

Think about it some……… It doesn’t work that way……… For anything in life……..

• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by  the-old-coach.
• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by  the-old-coach.
• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by  the-old-coach.

[the-old-coach]

Pete– I guess I don’t quite understand how you are describing this exactly. Is there a different way to put it? I’m always looking for easier ways to understand and then use things, and many times, the very best help comes from other guitarists! Thanks in advance!

[the-old-coach]

@petelanger– I echo @Skyman911 ‘s message word for word!

• This reply was modified 5 months ago by  the-old-coach.

[the-old-coach]

Moose—

Thanks for the suggestion– ordered it this morning!

[the-old-coach]

Great response, Pete- (as always)—

I guess I have just never been of that lackadaisical mindset. Joining-in on something like TAC is not “required-reading” in life. We have all made the deliberate choice to be here. I’m not putting down those who just “coast along”– it’s just never been in my DNA I guess.

Learning how to play a guitar– (and actually understanding things)– is a tough ask– requiring time, work, dedication, and persistence. It’s NOT easy.

I just don’t see how anyone would want to plunk down their $200 each year- (or much more w/ the Lifetime thing)- and not want to really get after it. I know we all have time constraints……… but……… the choice was ours when we joined.

As an old coach (for years)– I know that people quit when they are not “doing good” in whatever it is; they get discouraged because they are not “improving” as fast as they thought they would- (or should).

This thread was started because a guitar-player was thinking of quitting- (maybe because he wasn’t doing as good as he expected(?).

As I said earlier– I never want to see anybody quit— but how fast they see improvement is directly related to how much effort (and TIME) they put in.

Ain’t no gettin’ around that fact. And not just in learning guitar.

I’ve stated my opinion, explained my reasoning, and I’ll shut up now….. I’ve likely overstayed my welcome.

Yer Ol’ Pal—

• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by  the-old-coach.
• This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by  the-old-coach.