[petelanger]

@KevinZ – beautiful as always!

I am not a huge fan of the music genre you often cover, not that I hate it, it’s just not my first GoTo. But I always enjoy your renditions! You’re one of the players on TAC that really inspire me. Maybe in a half dozen years….

Was wondering, have you ever covered Suspicious Minds?

[petelanger]

Great setup! It’s so important to have that place in your home that calls out to you to pick up a guitar and play!

What you said about “building volume with blocks of time – no matter the length of each” – very true. In fact, I would argue that six 10-minute blocks during a day will benefit you more than playing for an hour once a day.

Chunking it down and focusing on different aspects will most certainly help more while you retain it for a longer period.

[petelanger]

You’ve got real quick chord transitions!

[petelanger]

@BarbaraM just try to stay positive! Did you record yourself when you started? If so you might want to look at that and notice your growth.

Have you looked at any of the skill courses recently? Maybe you can find something there that can tighten things up. There are all sorts of courses for both the fretting and the picking/strumming hand.

Some of us take longer to learn than others, I am right there with you. Learning to play guitar has been slow going for me as well, but I can see the growth because

1. I remember when I couldn’t play at all
2. I have taken notes quite frequently while playing through the challenges
3. I have recorded myself at least every few months

One habit that has really exploded my growth has been playing while watching TV. I’ll stream one of my favorite shows and just have the guitar on my lap while I am looping through some exercise or playing a lick. This really helps getting it into your subconscious mind because you’re doing another thing simultaneously. In other words you learn to do things without having to think (automatically), like riding a bike or driving your car.

[petelanger]

Very nicely done @Marty74 . I pray to have half your competence one day!

The Lord is good all the time, but we mess up a bunch and need His help!

[petelanger]

It’s always a good feeling @oldgal when you can feel or smell progress with your guitar playing. You may feel like you’re going backwards momentarily but then before long you’ll take giant leaps as your fingers gradually begin to obey and that can be just glorious!

[petelanger]

Don’t worry about us Loraine, if you need to come on here to vent, no matter how many characters you put down in your post, we’ll read ’em! Always here for you, sister!

[petelanger]

Sweet! Always been one of my favorites! I wouldn’t call it talking, your half singing! Nicely done @Philb !

I was 64 when I started TAC last July (a day before my birthday)! I’m 66 now. 🙂

[petelanger]

Thanks @BarbaraM !

While I don’t have arthritis in my fingers and I’m most thankful for that, I agree with everything what you said about it simply taking time to understand your true limitations. I have found that so many challenges that seemed impossible at first and I almost gave up, were in fact doable at a later sometimes after a few days, months or a year later. Children can learn guitar much more quickly (I wish I would have learned then, I wanted to!) but after decades of using our hands to do many different things we never developed the very different and specific movements that are unique to guitar playing! You have develop muscles and new brain connections! This can only happen over a period of time.

[petelanger]

Very nicely done @lecassandra !

It’s been remarkable to watch you growing as a player. Beautiful vocals as well. Thanks for posting.

[petelanger]

@lecassandra and @Loraine thanks for yo watching and responding. I really appreciate any interaction with my fellow TAC members. I intend to post a lot more video eventually, I am getting to the point where I am less self conscious.

[petelanger]

You can learn finger placement separate from strumming/picking, that makes it simpler and easier to do while watching TV. Lauren Bateman teaches how to memorize chord shapes in your fingers (muscle memory). https://youtu.be/QCBmVesk8X8

[petelanger]

The divided attention thing is the point. You are trying to get your moves to become automatic. Of course you do have to rehearse them while looking for some time but it all possible you can try to feel rather than look, that would be preferable.

[petelanger]

Thanks for the smiles! Beatles 4ever 🙂

[petelanger]

Yes I like it a lot, it’s definitely the one I play the most currently.

It’s a Donner brand, model G1 Rising

I’ve given accounts here in the forums before which you can find by searching there for the term Donner G1 Rising

or clicking this link and ignoring the top item returned since it’s this very thread. The next 3 will lead you to my feedback on this guitar which is even less expensive now than when I bought it earlier in the year.

https://tonypolecastro.com/family-forums/search/Donner+G1+Rising/