[RudyB]

Good for you Timbothirroul. Any way that works for you is the way to go.

I, however, am like @Loraine, I use the tabs. I practice in my tiny basement where there is little or no WI-FI connection to my home network, so I always pull the tab, work through it listening to Tony on an upstairs computer — making notes on the tab, and then go down to the basement to practice off the tab & notes.

I usually use the tab all week to go back and practice the exercise multiple times during the week.

I guess that makes me “tab-dependent.” 😉

[RudyB]

@pc4sun:

The exercise was from a previous month, and we can only access the current month’s exercises unless they were marked as “favorites” before the older month ends and a new set of exercises are uploaded to the site for the current month’s challenge exercises — replacing the Daily Challenges.

Sorry I am unable to help you locate the Drop D exercises. The good news, however, is that the exercise will more than likely be reloaded in the future as part of a “new” set of current-month exercises. I started with TAC during fall of 2020, as a total beginner, during the COVID lock down, and I see exercises from previous months show up — along with new exercises. That way I get to retry exercises that I did not master in previous exercises, plus trying-out new techniques too.

I am a long way from what I would call “proficient,” but I have learned a bunch from my total “know nothing” from which I started. 😉

Good luck in your learning as we all continue on our learning curve!

Rudy B

[RudyB]

I absolutely hear you on the charge card. I have all I need and some I don’t even use. I have an Amazon card that I use exclusively for Amazon purchases — don’t even carry the card at all. It helps me to track my Amazon purchases really fast that way.

I have ukes, so I am familiar with the nylon strings, and they definitely are easier on the fingers. I have worked really hard to get solid calluses on my fret hand, but there are still plenty of times I just can’t play any longer due to finger pain from string fretting, particularly on barre chords which often cramp up my left wrist and hand with extended playing.

Thanks for the suggestion on the Cordoba. 😉

[RudyB]

Thank you, @ Kitman! It was a fun day! 😊

[RudyB]

Thanks, @Cadgirl. It was a fun day. I don’t have a major problem with tuning the guitar to a different key, but it seems like favorite guitar doesn’t “like” being changed as it takes a day or two after a change to stabilize again and stay in tune again. Changing strings, however, is a different story. Always stresses me out — particularly since I have only done a guitar a couple of times. 😵

As I have two guitars, I decided to use my older, full-size guitar (an Ovation) to make changes to the tuning so I can leave my Taylor GS mini — which is a more comfortable size & my favorite — in my standard tuning. As I leave the Ovation in the guitar case most of the time, I just get it out and adjust the tuning to whatever alternate tuning is being used. It’s not as easy for me to play due to shoulder problems, but I can make it work for the current exercise and still have my mini to play other music without retuning it. 🙂

I would like to buy a 2nd smaller size guitar but will have to wait until I have paid off another expense so I can save up and pay for another new one. 😉

[RudyB]

Thanks, @Stevieblues. It was a good day! 🙂

[RudyB]

Thank you, @StevieBlues. I am “retired,” so you would think there would be plenty of time for everything. I have, however, decided that being “retired” is a misnomer. It should be called “employed without a paycheck!” 🙂

I know folks who complain about being “bored,” but that’s not me. I always have something going, so I have to pace myself to be sure I squeeze in time for my guitar practice. Since I retired, I have been able to start learning to play guitar during the last couple of years — which has been a goal on my list of to-do’s for decades, so I am happy to be making progress on it. 🙂

[RudyB]

Thank you, @Bill_Brown.

I still have sooooo far to go in learning the theory part of the guitar, although, I have to say that I have learned more theory in the last year and a half from Tony than I did in many years of playing piano growing up. Most of my piano teachers were much more concerned with preparing for “recitals” than learning theory — even when I explicitly told them I wanted more theory and NO more recitals.

There are just some patterns of scales that I seem to find easier to follow than others — which is at least partly a part of my lack of full understanding of the theory of guitar and the fretboard. There just isn’t enough time in the day to do all the “learning” I still want to do since I have lots of other interests and activities in which I am involved.

[RudyB]

Thanks @Loraine.

Recording in my basement is pretty difficult with the limited wi-fi ability, and I still need more work on an exact improv pattern before I would attempt it. Once I finish the Southern Gospel Concert tonight (singing with the group – not instruments), get the new pictures on the Amarillo Community Chorale web page, upload the video to YouTube, and streaming licenses set up, I may have enough time to work on this one some more and be able to record and upload a video. 😉

[RudyB]

Thanks, @Cadgirl! It was a good day to have a “win.” I have to agree with you on the barre chords. I know they have lots of good uses, and–there are some that I can get– but any with a 6-string barre are pretty much a total “bust” for me, and there are plenty of them that I just have to stop and get the fingers on the right strings. The 6-strings really discourage me, but I am still working to try to figure out what I can do to “get” them. 😉

[RudyB]

Thanks, @Loraine! Really nice to have fun on one! 🙂 (Sort of balances out the days when I just can’t get the exercise to work for me. 😉 )

[RudyB]

@Moonhare – Thank you. There are still plenty of exercises where I have to stop and look at the strings to get something right, so I can totally relate to you. I have had a guitar for about 30 years (it was a gift) but did not actually start practicing on a regular basis until October 2020. Finishing the 30-day challenge was a great start, but I still have lots to learn and regular practice is really helping me to not always have to look at the strings. Keep practicing. It does really help. 🙂

[RudyB]

Thanks, @Cadgirl! I am doing better about not looking at the strings, but there are still exercises that it is the only way to get it even close to right.

I practice in my tiny basement, and the wifi just does not work down there, so I am finding the use of my metronome app on my iphone to be my “friend” for seeing how well I am doing on speed and making transitions on chords. If I am trying to use the video for backing track or trying to play along with the play video, I can sometimes get the get it to work with the cell signal, but it doesn’t always load, so the metronome app is still sometimes the only way to be sure I am playing in time and making the necessary transitions in a timely manner.

[RudyB]

Thanks, @Loraine. I will take wins wherever I can get them. I still have lots of exercises that I can’t come even close to doing well, so I am really happy on the days when I can! 😉

[RudyB]

Keeping on practicing — even around life interruptions — does pay off in the long run, and, although I still have plenty of struggles, it helps to be able to see how much better you get with long-term practice. 😉