petelanger
Forum Replies Created
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Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal! You are approaching things the right way, the 3 string version is perfectly fine (you want to try and not play the High E string if you aren’t able to turn it into an F.
It probably took me about 14 months to get to where I am now which is about 75%. To explain what that means: if I have a second to set it up and can play the F mini clearly. Depending on where I’m transitioning in from I’ll hit it clean some of the time. Other times the B or E string might be partially muted, not a clear ring.
I’ve written plenty here in the forums about this chord. I’ll search for some of guidance I’ve given in the past and post it below. Maybe something in there is helpful.
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In this thread a lot of people give their take on the F-mini. I want to give some updates on my comments in there:
I talk about “pulling my elbow tight in tight towards my rib cage” and a whole lot of hand rotation and what not. This was 9 months ago and now I can say that most of it is not necessary for me to play this chord today. However, it is quite possibly the journey I had to take to get there. I don’t think going through a lot gyrations in pursuit of playing a clean F-mini is harmful, it most likely helps in the end.
– You have to “feel it” and in order to do so you must feel all the ways it doesn’t work. The F mini is all about getting the optimal position. All chords benefit from good hand position but the F-mini just needs so much more than other chords do.
– AVOID PRESSING TOO HARD! New players (as I was and still am but I’m starting to lose that moniker, tend to push down on the strings with brutal force in an attempt to stop muting and buzzing. It takes a while until you learn that you don’t have to press that darn hard! With a gentler touch this chord is easier to do. Find out how hard you need to press to fret the 2 bottom strings with your index. Keep easing off until they buzz, then increase a little bit. Notice this is probably less than half as hard as you’ve been pressing until now. Then position your hand in such a way that you can fret the other 2 strings. It might help you to raise the guitar neck to improve positioning
https://tonypolecastro.com/family-forums/topic/challenge-with-f-chord/#post-2153829
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Good question. I always interpreted that as meaning: “remember the fretted positions” since he goes string by string and gives you the fret number as he moves from top to bottom or bottom to top.
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Don’t know any shortcuts but I too was a very clumsy strummer, it simply takes a lot of time to work out the motions until they are more natural. I’m much better timing-wise than I was in the beginning, working on consistency, that is hitting the strings with the same touch (not too hard or too soft) and hitting the strings that are supposed to be hit. Generally we hit the entire chord going down (4 – 6 strings, depending) but coming up you will only need to (even should only hit) 2 – 3 maybe 4 strings)
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Congrats Marty to your 8th! Hope you’re able to play as much as you want to this year!
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It’s been amazing to watch your progress @lecassandra , I sort of recognize this as one of those I wouldn’t dream of trying. Just kidding! But you really are tackling some very difficult songs, impressive!
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I like it.
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@jorgemac are you suggesting that one should learn how to mute each string separately? I’m a little confused by this essay in juxtaposition to Tony just saying to lay your palm near the bridge and mute all the strings.
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Nice, Stan! You are making me jealous! You’ve got some really interesting instruments in that bunch and dozens that I can’t even distinguish because all I can see is their profile.
I think the one thing that maybe you don’t have, (and I’m not sure if you do because it’s a very specific item) is a foot pedal to control your TAB sheets in pdf form. I ordered this unit about a month ago:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LIROF7W?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
It works great with Tony’s TABs and it can also in TAC one you have them set to go and paused, start and stop the LEARN and PLAY videos. It’s a pretty highly rated unit, but I had bad luck with mine, it kept reporting that the batteries are dead when I had fresh (brand new) ones in there that I tested as having a full charge.
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@srfrantz2 that channel is very impressive. I only took a brief look, but it was plenty to notice you’ve got some chops! Welcome to TAC!
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Oh and just like @jorgemac said, the Quick Start Guide explains how to navigate the site.
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What goes up, Must come down
Spinning Wheel, got to go round
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@gmhendersonme-com @laurie-d-jacksongmail-com
I was a very inexperienced on guitar, had been playing sporadically for about 3 months, I did the 30 days in just under 20 days.
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Glad you liked it, I’ve been following the band for quite a while. Look ’em up some time, they’re called Switchfoot. The name comes from surfing terminology, they’re real California surfer boys, unlike the Beach Boys who just sung about it.
They’ve released 14 albums since 1997, so many great songs I really struggle to pick a favorite. I think Fading West would have to be my favorite album and it’s loaded with great songs, but if I had to pick: “The World You Want” (https://youtu.be/gQevo3OfR4A). But if you like heavier rock you might like “Afterlife” (https://youtu.be/j6z-H3_hgEU) from Vice Verses
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@HB_rhr I am trying to recreate your situation on my laptop. Unfortunately things have been even more slow than earlier today. Navigating around trying to set up different scenarios has been nightmarish. Also I was baking bread this afternoon and also helping my wife prepare dinner so I’m just now getting back to it.
On the Home page you have the option to start the latest daily challenge. When I click on the that button today (Sunday Jan 4th, 2026) it takes me to the challenge of Friday Jan 2nd. It’s defaulting to the Learn video tab, when I click the play triangle it plays the LEARN video for me. If I click over to the PLAY tab. This all appears normal to me, albeit very slow loading screens and launching videos. These are the choices I would expect to see.
Now if I wanted to get the prior week I would go to the home page where there a section that says View Previous Challenges. There I can hit the back carrot (left arrow) and go back up to 6 weeks. Hit the right arrow to move forward in time. That’s about all the navigation you have within the challenges.
Other than Daily Challenge you have several categories you can launch from the task bar:
Fretboard Wizard (an add-on that costs extra)
5 Day Routine
Skill Courses
ForumsIf you can’t see all these things on your Mac, if it doesn’t look like the screen capture below, let me know!
