petelanger
Forum Replies Created
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Well done! Record yourself, you’ll be happy you did! No need to post, just for yourself so you can see your progress in 4 months, then 8 and 12 months.
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@jumpinjeff has been here a long, long time and is full of guitar-wisdom. I would listen to him!
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In my humble opinion, based on about 22 months experience (18 of those in TAC), I believe that more concentration is required in the beginning phases of learning but the goal is to move what has been learned to your subconscious.
When you drive your car and you see a child running out onto the road, do you concentrate while applying the brakes? No, this has become a reflex and it is automatic. When you were learning to drive you had to think about where the brake pedal was but that was a long time ago. That’s a simple movement and what you do with your fingers are far more complex, but these movements also become automatic, part of your “muscle memory”.
Concentration might be required to remember the chords and which strumming or pick pattern you are switching to, when the chorus begins and the bridge etc. But many of these can also become more automatic as you do them more and more. I like to practice in front of the TV, now my brain is split between focusing on the plot of the show and playing guitar. I’m trying to fast track the move to my subconscious mind by putting the show I’m watching front and center while I try to play without thinking.
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@JonnyGee please don’t hesitate to post in the forum! Everyone here is very friendly and willing to help. Most (if not all) have gone through everything you’re experiencing right now and are able to give you good guidance.
My first benchmark was Old Man also and I had to settle for doing small portions of the daily challenges. The F mini was a total no go, didn’t really get that under grips until about the 4th repeat and it’s still being improved. I also couldn’t do the folk G, so all those mods were out.
Little by little all these parts start falling into place though, this program works!
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My first guitar that I purchased almost 2 years ago (2/28/24) was electric. I began using my wife’s acoustic when I started TAC on 7/3/24). Since then I have bought 2 more acoustic guitars. I use all of and I know many here in TAC play electric also. Yes, the electric is easier due to the lower action on the strings but over time as your proficiency improves you might find the acoustic less difficult. I have played on 5 different acoustic guitars and all of them feel different to play. Getting a good setup by a luthier will definitely make your acoustic easier to play also.
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I believe that many if not most beginners, when they take up guitar have some expectation of where they will be in a year’s time. I know I did, some of it was shaped by my understanding of my ability to learn new things but then there are a number of YouTubers who will sell you this idea that you can learn in no time if you just sign up for their program. Whatever your expectations are when you come to TAC, it’s best you figure out how to manage them. Guitar, however, uses your hands in such unique ways, mostly contrary to how you use those fingers in everyday life or most any other endeavor. So you can’t compare learning guitar to typing or driving a car. The learning curve is going to look totally different.
Bang on @Skyman911 – wiser words have rarely been shared in this forum, which IMO really sum up what many responders are trying to articulate: “The key is, I’m always having fun, no matter what I’m doing. This wasn’t always the case. The fun only arrived when I learned to accept where I was in my guitar journey, and stopped being upset at where I wasn’t. If you’re always disappointed in where you aren’t, you’ll never have fun. And IMHO, if you’re not having fun, you’re not progressing.”
The number 1 reason why people quit is because their progress is lagging behind their expectations. Most of us will have to do a reset of those from time to time Tony has us do a self evaluation every 90 days and the “Guitar North Star” annually to do exactly that. I wish it was a little more formal than it is, with some accountability. Many achieve this by playing with others. especially gathering with the same people.
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This is exactly how you should approach the benchmarks and many of the other challenges. Do what can, attempt the others but don’t worry if you don’t get all the way through! I think it was the 3rd time through before I even tried the F chord mods, I just skipped over to the C and G. Now (5th time) I was able to do the F mini modifications fairly well. Still room for growth for my 6th and 7th attempts.
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To Infinity and beyond, my friend! Not to worry if a challenge gives you some trouble. Rock ‘n Roll Hoochie Koo is a very tough one that I’ll stumbling over for a while yet. Those reaches are extreme! With any challenge you just do what you can and mark it complete. I really wish they would change the label on that “COMPLETED!” button. It should say “Played for 10 min” or “10 min Given”
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@terry-stewart-azgmail-com at times it will seem that you are not improving. I can assure you that as long as you are playing regularly you are indeed improving: you’ll be doing this same thing for the longest time and it seems that it just isn’t getting better. All of a sudden, weeks or even months later, you discover out of the blue that you can do what you were struggling with and even more than that! It will completely surprise you because you don’t remember that you learned it but your brain and fingers will “magically” be able to do it!
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You have to hit the home page, this advances the counter. Every morning I go to the main page where your stats are and I watch the counter roll over. Sometimes it takes a refresh of the page for the Longest Day Streak to catch up to the Current Day Streak, but as long as the Current rolls over to the next day, your session will be counted. Of course there can be only one rollover per day. Multi session days don’t count extra.
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Do you think it would be a lot?
I’ll tell you: it would be next to nothing!
Progress tends to come in spurts. Yes you can find small gains by rehearsing over and over again and see noticeable strides from week to week But the really monumental times where you catch yourself taking giant leaps – those frequently come when you’re not expecting them at all! That’s what we call the magic and all too often people quit before it can happen.
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@KnottyJim when you struggle and feel that you aren’t progressing, be thankful!! This means you are being challenged and while you don’t know it, you are progressing more than you can imagine! When things seem very hard and undoable, you’re being pushed a lot more.
If you could do the challenge of the day immediately, how much would you have just learned?
Any idea?
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@Kerby that’s a good point that I neglected to mention above but I often emphasize in the forums. When learning/practicing chords you always want to be transitioning. Of course in the very beginning you are just learning the shape and you will do that for a few minutes but after you have the shape down, now move in and out of it from other chords you know. Try to find an anchor finger that works for you, this will make the transition so much simpler!
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@CamiB I love it! Whatever it takes to get your spirits up and make it fun again! Just try to keep a lid on your expectations, acoustic guitar is hard and it will take time to learn. How long? That varies from person to person and how much time you devote to it. Keep your sessions short though! Four 15 minute sessions spread out, with at least a 30 minute break in between will benefit you much more than playing for an hour. I’m retired so I spread my sessions throughout the day, I will often play 5 times or more and rarely fewer than twice daily.
Wow, your injury was 50 years ago. I’m no physician but something tells me it’s going to be a lot harder to get your left hand going than if it was only 10 years. I suspect that guitar exercise is good though, also the stretches that are in the skills section might be useful, but perhaps a bit more targeted therapy would be in order. Wish you all the best on your journey!
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This principle of doing the best you can will always apply in TAC. After you move on to Daily Challenges you will run into challenges that are beyond your ability. But don’t worry, these things are taught over and over again. You just try to do whatever portion of it you can. It might only be one measure or even just part of a measure. There was a time when the challenge was so difficult all I could accomplish was the rhythm, so I rested my fretting hand and just did the rhythm part with my strumming hand. The next time it came around I was able to hold down a chord while doing it and then additional chords.
You show up and try your best for at least 10 minutes then mark it complete.
After that if you still have time and want to continue, you can go at it for a bit longer. But then you should take a break, play something else and then put the guitar down. You can come back later or another day.
The skills are repeated over and over, there is no beginning of TAC and no end. Each daily challenge is a self contained lesson and is performed by players at all levels from novice to expert. A novice approaches the challenge differently and focuses on different aspects but everybody gains something.