[petelanger]

It will come with time. I had mutes in just about every chord, some of them I didn’t even notice until 6 months after learning them (E and A chord). Now things are fairly good with the open chords, barre chords are another animal altogether and it will probably take me close to a year to conquer them.

At first when I attempted to play a G chord I muted 3 or 4 strings most of the time. Now I can form it cleanly, still not fast but I’m working on speed. I practice the C and the A minor at the same time since so little movement is required in the transition. Practicing transitions is more useful than just the chords individually. Same with the G and the B7!

Set a timer for a minute and count how many transitions you can make between chords, don’t worry if they’re muted sometimes, fix the mute on the next transition. I have a spreadsheet with dozens of transitions and reps per minute recorded. I try to improve my speed. Lately I’ve gotten away from doing this so I thank you for your reminder through your post!

Cheers!

Peter

[petelanger]

I realized that it doesn’t seem your last question was addressed:

I have one other question around the G chord. A three finger version of that chord seems to be most common and I have been used to using that form. The four finger version is more difficult and I decided to see if I could master it. I thought that doing that can only help. I am getting there but I am wondering why we are not using the more usual three finger version. Does it really matter which one we use.

Actually Tony uses a variety of G chord shapes. I have seen at least 3 in the short time I have been a member, including 2 different 3 finger shapes. Many people have to make adaptations while learning to play the challenges and in my opinion Tony encourages us to do what works for us. Always keep it fun!

[petelanger]

I also just got my first guitar recently: it was December of last year. I started 2 programs and darn near quit them before finding TAC in July and I have played nearly every day since. I think it’s admirable to have those goals but, unless you are a very quick learner it’s not only unlikely that you will be able to proficiently play like 5 -10 songs (not sure of your goal since you simply said many Beatle songs plus Hotel California), but it may also not be the best thing for your progress as a guitar player. By focusing on learning a single song, this will take a lot of time away from your TAC routine.
Fellow student @jumpinjeff posted in the forums not too long ago and I would like to share it here because he said some things that really resonated with me and that you may want to consider. Here is a link to the thread if you’re interested:
https://tonypolecastro.com/family-forums/topic/advice-how-to-learn-songs/?bbp_reply_to=2149404&_wpnonce=130cf90587#new-post

[petelanger]

Your are welcome. The A7 is shown here with 1 and 3 but Tony plays it using 2 and 3 fingers.
(Also: of course I meant pinky finger is omitted on high E string for the B7.)

[petelanger]

I hope that some day all the TABs will feature every chord mentioned in the challenge videos. Some do, but not all and I think this should be remedied. Yes it’s simple to look up a chord online, but there are so many variations of the chord shapes and then Tony will frequently show us his own shape (same notes being fretted but with different fingers), and using his shape will often facilitate the transitions that follow.

Tony mentioned 3 Chords in this week’s challenges, the B7 which you mentioned. It is an abbreviated B7 = minus pinky on low E.

Then the A7 and E7.

[petelanger]

@Moose408 is this information (hours practiced) logged by the TAC site or have you been tracking it yourself?

[petelanger]

Take the-old-coach’s advice and read his post in the “Starting TAC” thread!
I didn’t know there was a 3 month option! I don’t think anybody learns guitar in 3 months. I’m new as well, about 105 days in at this point but I am a lifetime TAC member. I think anything less than 3 years makes no sense and at that point it’s cheaper to go for lifetime membership.

[petelanger]

Nice job with this song, thanks for posting!

P.S.: I miss Tom Petty too!

[petelanger]

Incredible! Seems to be some good news in your report as well, that some movement has started coming back. Reading this thread reminds me of an anecdote that Joe Walsh once told: he called Les Paul
“One of the coolest people on the planet. He was a like mad scientist that played guitar.” Joe Walsh reveals the story that made Les Paul his hero

“He was in a car accident,” Walsh explained, “and they said, ‘You’ll never play guitar again’ because he broke his arm in about four different places. He sat down, started playing, and said, ‘All right, set my arm like this. Put the cast on now.’ And he played great.”

[petelanger]

Thanks for your clarification on what you meant by “should I stay with it or not”.
I believe many TAC members have other sources to supplement the instruction received here. So we are responding here to explain why TAC should be in your tool belt.
In my opinion it should because I don’t know of any other that motivates you to show up here regularly. The other programs that I have signed up for, whether it was for guitar or anything else, have not done this nearly as effectively as TAC. I believe a good many members would agree.

I responded in the daily challenge recently that if you are not having fun in the TAC program then something is not right in your approach to it.

I quote: ” I have seen a number of people come into the community support forum to voice their frustrations and state they are on the verge of giving up or leaving TAC. If you are in this place then you are doing TAC the wrong way!
It is designed for you have fun, so always be looking for the fun in it! Don’t get wrapped up in the drive to “complete” every daily challenge. Look for nuggets in the teaching or in your personal playing experience. Share the nuggets you have found in these threads and in the forums.”

Many new people come on here and get frustrated because they can’t “complete” the challenges. These are designed for players at all kinds of skill levels. Naturally any player, who isn’t an expert, will struggle at some point and will think they “aren’t getting anything out of the lesson, it’s too hard!”

But the truth is, when you struggle that is when you have the greatest learning opportunity! In those moments, huge growth is possible and this will produce that magic down the road. When you find a part of the challenge isn’t very hard, in those moments you are harvesting (reaping) from lessons learned earlier on.

[petelanger]

I agree, I find it easiest to just recite the beat in my head before I start playing. It’s definitely not a ONE – AND -TWO

[petelanger]

What a great habit you’ve developed! Very impressive stats!

[petelanger]

Okay @Marty73 , I’m not saying when but I’m taking you up on this. I checked out some videos on how to play the mandolin parts and it looks doable.

IT’S ON!

• This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by  petelanger.

[petelanger]

The song makes me want to be able to play mandolin, doesn’t mean that I am anywhere near being able to do it yet. But your suggestion would be cool!

[petelanger]

Excellent, Coach!

A few words to read but well worth the trouble!

Thanks!