[petelanger]

@barbandjim24gmail-com also, if you have worked a carpenter’s hammer you understand that tapping it is not very effective. You need to drive nails by hitting them with significant velocity. On the guitar you hammer-ons will ring much more fully if you come down quickly on the string. A soft tap will not produce any sound. @jorgemac did mention to press it quickly but I thought giving you the visual of literally hammering might hit on the nail for you.

[petelanger]

I really want to try out a nylon string guitar. My understanding is that is one of the signature features of a classical guitar, I’m sure there are others.

I can’t justify the expense right now, especially not until I’m done with dental procedures. And we have so many things we would like to do with our house in terms of improvements, plus tree trimming on our wooded property is on the horizon.

How much does one have to spend for a decent classical guitar? I’m talking low end but not worthless.

[petelanger]

Muting is the opposite of strength, actually. Just a gentle touch is all it takes. There are lots of ways you can mute, but you have to make it work for the song and within your individual technique.

Here’s the way I do it. I only worry about muting the top 3-4 strings: I just release the chord and keep the chord shape (except for typically touching the low E with my middle finger and I don’t stretch it out like Tony does in the video. That’s not working for me). Then I make sure not to hit the B or high E with my strum, because I’m not muting them. I’m only striking the top 2-3 strings.

I play the whole riff very loosey-goosey. I know they’re called power chords but when I don’t introduce a lot of strength, it’s been working way better for me.

[petelanger]

That’s completely at your discretion, if your having fun doing one “lesson” per day, that’s great but if you would like to do more, by all means. Some people here have gone through the 30 days in just a few days. You can complete it any way you like. You will have to wait about 30 days from sign up before the daily challenges become available, but there’s the 5 Day Routine and any skill course you could ask for on the table for you.

[petelanger]

Welcome back @drgbriengmail-com

Old Man starts in a little over 2 weeks, were you going to wait until then? I would recommend starting up immediately.

This week’s challenges are above average difficulty but next week is a 12 bar blues week, a perfect place to jump in!

[petelanger]

I’m not finding it slower than normal today, it’s definitely had much worse days. When I experience any type of trouble I always experiment with different browsers and devices. It actually has always run very smoothly on my linux laptop on the Firefox browser. It seems to run well on Opera whenever I have tried it. My every day go-to browser is DuckDuckGo, and it’s okay most of the time.

The TAC site has never been very snappy in the 500’ish days I’ve been on it, I would call it about average today.

Edit: I see you have 3 playing sessions so no real reference point. Yeah it’s a sluggish site and us TACers are pretty used to it.

• This reply was modified 3 months, 3 weeks ago by  petelanger.

[petelanger]

I had the very same problem with the g chord and many others as well. You just have to trust what everyone is telling you, it will get better with time. Here are just a few of the things that will change over time:
1. your fingertips get callouses which helps with holding down the string and alleviates the hurt

2. you will learn how to approach the strings, getting the palm under the neck far enough to be able to come at the fretboard at a better angle

3. you will learn how much pressure it takes. Hint: it’s a lot less than you now think!

4. you will learn to place your fingers near the fret wire so that less force is needed

5. your fingers will become stronger and more agile and you’ll develop better placement

6. you can try one of the 3 finger G chord shapes, if you are having trouble with the 4 finger variety.

The G was one of the last open chords that I was able to play cleanly, probably about months after I started playing. Don’t worry you will get those open chord shapes down as long as you don’t give up. Barre chords are whole new kettle of fish with their own challenges. I didn’t get the F mini barre down util a year after the G! Some barre chords are not so bad for me, others are very challenging, only a few are covered in the TAC challenges and Tony always provides a work around.

[petelanger]

Welcome @likalineigmail-com

I am not sure that I understand your question (if it is a question). Are you saying you don’t like the appearance of the site? Perhaps the videos aren’t displaying how you would like, but then you aren’t able to “follow anything by looking at somebody’s fingers”. So perhaps the appearance is not a problem? Help me I am just confused and don’t know how to help you!

[petelanger]

reach out to support! There is a button on the home page bottom right.

support@tonypolecastro.com

[petelanger]

Good stuff @jorgemac !

[petelanger]

When I started, knowing nothing I gravitated to the classical position (I’m right handed so the guitar on my left leg). But since I wasn’t playing classical I set the guitar on the right leg and it feels more normal now, but I catch myself strumming and picking near the end of the guitar neck when I’m not looking so I have to consciously move my picking hand towards the bridge.

[petelanger]

I have a feeling you are a much more advanced player than I. Nonetheless I want to chime in on this topic. I started doing chord progressions, not with my eyes closed, but in low lit and dark areas and trying to look away from the guitar for the past 4 months or so (about a year after I started from absolute beginner). I will usually follow the chord progression of songs, without strumming them while I’m watching TV. Depending on the chords before and after I may use a different shape to make the transition easier. It always helps if you can leave one finger planted while minimizing the movements of the others. If that’s not possible then perhaps the shape can remain largely in tact and I just have to move it 1 string up or down and just a touch up or down the neck.

[petelanger]

@rdrmac that’s quite a threat there! LOL, not to worry!

It’s hard to get that intricate control over your fingers that guitar playing requires, that’s why not everybody plays guitar. The movements that you will be learning in the next few years are unique and just as delicate and intricate as a surgeon’s. We typically learn to move fingers in unison when faced with a new task and the hand typically is opening to release or closing to grasp. The guitar adds a whole new layer of movement to each finger. It’s going to take time but eventually those fingers will obey your command more and more.

[petelanger]

PageFlip Butterfly – Hands Free Page Turner

I just received my foot pedal today and started testing it. So far I’m delighted, it works perfectly to advance the page in pdf files and in OneNote (where I have stored all the tabs for TAC).

As an added bonus, it has some control over TAC video playback:
in both Learn and Play mode it will advance or rewind the player in 5s increments.

I didn’t expect it to work at all interfacing with the TAC site so this is an added benefit. After numerous months of running into the same limitation on a daily basis (having to stop playing to operate my mouse or tablet) I finally said enough is enough and ordered something to deal with it.

[petelanger]

❤