petelanger
Forum Replies Created
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@Moose408 I think @met-bjtcomcast-net isn’t on the challenges yet, being only a few days in the program.
On the page I”m linking to you should be able to navigate where you want to go.
https://tonypolecastro.com/courses/30-days-to-play/
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It’s really all spelled out in the quick start guide on the home page:
https://tonypolecastro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TAC_User_Guide-v5.pdf
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Welcome @williamgersbachgmail-com – You made the right choice coming to TAC, it really has no peers when you evaluate the program as a whole. I’ve been here 16 months but there are many members with 5 or more years that will swear by it as well. Some might be better in one small aspect or another, but all in around effectiveness nothing can hold a candle to it.
No need to repeat the 30 Days over and over, you are good to go. We always favor progress over perfection. By moving forward you will soon see those things in 30 Days show up again in spades and you will gradually improve.
I suspect that with the head start you had coming in, you will move through the challenges with a little more ease than some of us. That means that you can develop some of the higher level things sooner than we did.
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That seems a bit strange that the daily challenges “popped up”, are you talking about in your email? I don’t recall getting invited to jump into challenges before I completed my first 30 Day and 5-Day material. Perhaps there was a glitch.
No worries, you were right to ignore those and start the Dailies after the Intro stuff. -
The challenges are not ordered. You say #25, I didn’t know they had numbers but it doesn’t matter because there is no beginning or end. They are structured to be self contained each week and you can start anywhere. While some are more difficult than others, they always have layers so more skilled players can go deeper. The skills that are taught are repeated many times per year so you can gradually get better at them. The 4 benchmarks are repeated 3 times annually, these let you see your progress but beyond the repetition of challenges you will be doing some of the same elements in different challenges.
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You can dial back 6 weeks on the Challenges home page directly. Beyond that you need have the lesson link saved:
1. By adding the challenge to your favorites
2. Saving the link somewhere. @Moose408 has championed this for us, see belowI don’t think he’ll mind me sharing it: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10CGaT6CrZ783_tw-burdSd7W_KWiliiei03_h0T5dgA/edit?gid=1278619288#gid=1278619288
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What I said wasn’t entirely correct. Starting at about 10:30 Tony plays 2 barre chords (C#m and G) followed by 2 power chords, a C major (open) and then he does the final Bm as a barre chord again. You’ll notice that for the C#m barre he uses his middle finger to mute the low E string in case he strikes it by accident.
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@CamiB that’s not cheatin’ at all! Use any and all resources available to you! TAC is the single best learning program, I honestly believe that, but most of us have some other learning tools in our belt. I save links to YouTube and guitar channels to favorites constantly. It’s great that you are already playing songs! Sounds like you are way ahead of me now! I still don’t really play any song completely, but it isn’t something I spend very much time on. I am much more focused on knowing how to play a guitar the right way and get to where I don’t to think about chord transitions or strumming patterns, etc. Once all the physical human to instrument interface patterns have been acquired and internalized, the learning of songs will come rapidly.
I think it’s best to go through all the lessons in “30 Days to Play” and then the do the “5 Day Routine” before you jump into the daily challenges.
The Daily Challenges tend to be more challenging than these Intros. Now if you are bored because there so darn easy, then it’s fine to skip them. Otherwise I wouldn’t rush ahead. But by all means don’t try to do everything perfectly. It’s more important to understand the requirement and start it. Your brain continues to absorb it even if you can’t do it all, even as you struggle in the attempt you learn. It’s quite amazing! Everything you do in the Intros will be covered again in daily challenges, so if you miss a lesson or 2 it doesn’t matter. Just keep moving forward.
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Tony just hinted at it, a power chord is typically just a 2 or 3 string chord. You make pretty much the same shape as the C# minor, but you don’t have to flatten your index finger or place the middle finger. So you’re only holding down the A string with your index finger (making a C# on fret 4) then you use ring and pinky on the 6th fret D and G strings (making G# and C#).
Adopt the same concept for the G bar chord. Instead on the A string you are holding down the low E string on the third fret to make a G, and place ring and pinky on the 5th fret.
These are 3 string chords, so you are only playing A, D and G strings for C#m power chord, and E, A and D strings for the G power chord.
Edit: finished listening all the way through and then realized Tony runs through the power chords starting at about the 10:15 mark of the Learn video. You can hardly hear the difference between them and the bar chords – wow, amazing when you have Tony’s playing skills!
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Happy New Year, Terry! It’s good to see you playing again! Very beautiful song and wonderfully performed. Thanks for posting!
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He has chord charts for some but not all challenges. I agree with @andywillis1960 that this should be SOP, I have often stated this in the forums and under the challenges. You can open a support ticket, but I doubt it will do any good.
I’ve created my own charts in the past. Now I’m at a level of familiarity with the material that I know longer need a chart. But these absolutely would be beneficial for newcomers!
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Is this what you are looking for @mudville8gmail-com ?
https://tonypolecastro.com/lessons/part-1-learn-the-basics-of-guitar-with-the-blues/
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Yes, I didn’t mention the Bm since it is exactly the same shape as the C#m only 2 frets below. The index finger on the A string forms the B, the ring the F# and the pinky makes another B.
This question: “Or would that be a B power chord; how to make it minor?”
My reply: I think you are confusing sharp and flat notes with major and minor chords. What makes a chord minor is the flattening of one of the notes that would normally make up that chord. So your question is actually a good one, because what makes the barre chord minor is the minor third, the D note fretted by the middle finger on the B string. This is left out of the power chord, so it’s not minor anymore.
Power chords, by their nature are not major or minor:
I just googled and the AI returned this: “Power chords are neither major nor minor because they consist only of the root note and the perfect fifth, lacking the third that defines a chord as major or minor. This gives them a versatile sound that can fit in various musical contexts.”
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Almost everyone dislikes them, they take forever to learn and make your fingers, hands and arms (even your back) hurt from all the contorting it takes. Lots of workarounds like power chords and 2 finger chords. Very famous players have avoided them completely (Andy Summers!).
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@andywillis1960 I get you, because I was there too when I stated TAC. But now I think all of that made me a better player. Having to learn how to deal with reading TABs while learning to play, all the mental gymnastics you go through really makes you stronger.
After way too much time and having printed out a large number of TABs, and still no way to turn a page unless I stop playing, I finally realized that once I have learned the chords all I need is to write down the chord progression:
I use little 3.5″ by 3.5″ note pad and jot down the sequence – problem solved. Now I can take this anywhere, to my TV room for example and I have it while I’m watching a movie or a show.
D G D D
D G A A
D G D D
C G D D
F F C C