petelanger
Forum Replies Created
-
@scholbrgmail-com @Archenemy64
Yes, you change the speed in the playback video. Unfortunately he never recorded different speeds and this fools a lot of people, I had the same thought when I started here. But believe me, this is a small issue (compared to how great TAC is in general) and after a few weeks you won’t ever think about it again until somebody joins and and asks the question.
-
You are all most welcome. I made them when I was a Newbie and could not remember how to navigate and where to place my fingers. I’m glad that it’s helping others, makes my time spent so much more worth it!
-
It will all make a bit more sense after you’ve done it for a few weeks. This is the simplest program there is because all you do is show up and do the daily lesson, Mark it complete once you have tried for at least 10 minutes, then do whatever you want. Please don’t put high expectations on yourself! These are designed for players at all levels from beginner to expert. There has to be a degree of difficulty to aspire to. I couldn’t do more than a few measures at first, and very poorly at that. This is normal!
-
Update: it has taken me a while to attack the guitar nut and the high frets because my Mom (who is 93) has had a lot of health issues and I’ve been shuttling her around to various appointments.
The nut fabrication worked out quite well. I didn’t buy the premium nut files so it was a slow process with the cheap ones but it’s very functional and I learned the process so that’s a win. I was able to correct a lot of the anomalies due to the 2 high frets with a fret hammer, but fixing this completely is going to require removing some metal off the 16th fret and I’m still not equipped to do this properly and safely.
Mostly I’m pleased that I’m overcoming my reluctance to work on my guitar at this level. Glad that I have sort of a beater to use as my guinea pig.
-
Check out the warmup exercise in the skills section:
https://tonypolecastro.com/courses/guitar-players-daily-stretch-guide/And the 5 Day Barre Chord challenge (will come around in Oct every year):
https://tonypolecastro.com/lessons/day-1-limbering-up-3/
https://tonypolecastro.com/exercise/e-shape-familiarity/
https://tonypolecastro.com/exercise/a-shape-familiarity/
-
@richard-hedgesgmail-com yeah I remember having the same thing when I started, but I thought it was because I finished the 30 Days in 20 days and confused the system. Eventually it stopped and I just got the Daily Challenge screen.
-
@martyepp I’m with @jumpinjeff to go ahead and do whatever works for you right now. As you move on you will find yourself attempting different ways to approach your playing and the things that seemed hard and didn’t make sense are suddenly doable and make more sense. I will always attempt to do what Tony suggests and then make my own decision. Sometimes I’ll stick with his method, other times I choose another way
-
I just remembered that when I switched from the thinner picks (0.46mm and 0.71mm) to the medium (0.96mm and 1.2mm it took a bit of adjustment. I was uncomfortable with them for a few days, but then I started preferring the feel. They’re easier to hang on to and give you better control with a clearer and stronger tone.
-
@Bayvu2
I’m about 2 years in to playing guitar, my 2 year TACiversary is July 3rd. Early on I favored thin picks, but after a while I realized that you have less control and they produce a bit of noise due to the bending of the pick. My favorite now is about a 1mm (0.96).Players will change to thin or thick picks depending on the style of playing and the sound they are wanting to create. Generally for more accuracy you will need a stiffer pick. They are also more durable, but if you are only playing 10 minutes daily that probably won’t be a factor for you
-
I’ve had Mom living with me since ’07. Only the last year has been difficult, before that she was still pretty mobile. She was still driving until 2019. Sadly she’s been falling apart physically for a while and now mentally as well. It’s not Alzheimer’s, she’s not doing anything too crazy and still knows everybody (but forgetting a lot of their names) and I’m having to take control of her meds because she can’t anymore.
-
You’re not kidding, I’m hooked! I’ve got the action set up better than it ever has been.
I keep ordering more stuff and now I have buy a nice tool bag to put it all in. As soon as everything comes in I can get that last pesky fret taken care of and ’99’ (that’s what I call her) should be A-okay.
-
Yes this is normal. To vary the speed and maintain the pitch, the encoder/decoder (CODEC) has to replay sampled audio multiple times to slow down the speed or remove chunks of audio to increase it. Very high quality CODECs can do this a bit better, but there is always going to be distortion (possibly a warble or choppy sound) because you’re not playing the original audio anymore. Analog recorders like tape would give you truer sound, but the pitch would be heavily altered.
-
Good questions Not all weeks will be as elaborate as benchmark weeks are. Since these are repeated 3 times per year, there are even more layers to unpack for all the differently endowed students. First time through you are unfamiliar with so many things. While you get acquainted with TAC it will take you more than 10 minutes, but I would say if you are spending an hour then you are probably trying to do too much. Also practice is not part of TAC, that’s your on your own time. We only play in TAC
Try to watch the first section of the video after the introduction where Tony says he’s showing you how (or “I’m walking you through it). Pause the LEARN video and do that thing the best you can with the PLAY video. We’re not practicing, just doing it 1 – 3 times. If there’s still time, repeat with the next section. If you are past 10 or 15 minutes at this point, mark complete because you have completed the assignment of today. Take a break! (Beginners will only do a small part of the lesson, but next time you’ll find the first section goes easier and you can tackle a bit more.) If you have more time in the day later then come back and watch more of the video. You can come back as many times as you like each day, but you want to know you don’t have to.
Keeping the session at 10 minutes was not possible for me early on, I think I went 20 to 30 minutes usually but now I usually don’t need to watch much of the LEARN video, I can quickly move to the PLAY part. I have already downloaded all the TABs so I can just skip to where Tony shows what we’re doing and then just do. Sometimes I’m done in 3 minutes now. Lessons vary. Wednesdays always take longer because of the scales. Those too go quicker with familiarity.
Don’t forget you can slow down the those videos and play along at your speed!
-
Just jump in where everyone else is, we start Hotel California benchmark week tomorrow. TAC isn’t a linear program, it’s cyclical. You’ll be fine starting at any time in the program because it’s made that way. Some weeks are tougher than others, but they aren’t organized from easy to hard. Just do your best!
-
You don’t have to do anything different. TAC is the simplest program, ever. (Not easy, there’s a difference between simple and easy). Just show up every week day and the goal is set for the day. This holds true for benchmark weeks and all other weeks.
Every month a benchmark song will come into the rotation of the TAC daily challenges. Next week we’ll start Hotel Calif (known here as 5* Hotel-BM3). The following month it will be Old Man-BM4, then Ain’t No Sunshine-BM1 and finally Wagon Wheel-BM2. These four BM weeks repeat over and over throughout the year, since there are 4, you’ll see each one 3 times per year.