[Skyman911]

After your accident, you were back playing much faster than I expected. Knowing you, I’m sure you’ll recover even quicker this time. Life can sure get hard sometimes. So glad the guitar can keep you grounded, and you have a happy place to escape to. May the guitar gods watch over you.

[Skyman911]

Big win in my book. Goes to show the power of consistency, and your brain subconsciously knowing the tone of the high E after thousands of tuning sessions. Gotta love that feeling.

[Skyman911]

The great thing about this course is, you don’t need to “fret” about missing a daily challenge. They come back around throughout the year. New content is slowly introduced. TAC was a great platform to get me in the habit of committing to play everyday. Even if it is only 10 minutes. Today, I play everyday for at least an hour, more if I don’t have the family distractions. I don’t always to the daily challenges, and that’s OK. I don’t ever feel like I’m behind, or not caught up because the purpose of TAC is constant progress. @petelanger nailed it with his description. I do have Fretboard Wizard, and have gone through it twice now. Will probably go through it quite a few more times, as every time something else clicks. There’s actually a pretty big correlation between Fretboard Wizard and TAC. After you’ve gone through Fretboard Wizard a couple of times, you’ll notice on the next daily challenge you do. Play Happy!

• This reply was modified 6 months, 1 week ago by  Skyman911.

[Skyman911]

Also, different pick materials make a lot of difference as well. Not only in sound, but feel. There is Nylon, Tortex, Ultex, Celluloid, Acrylic, Metal and so on. Each material has different qualities depending on the thickness used. Thicker picks tend to deliver a deeper, louder tone. Thinner picks deliver less volume, less control, however easier to learn with in my opinion. Guitar is a very personal experience. Experiment to try to find what works for you. Most stores sell a variety pack of picks. A lot of folks like the Dunlop Primetone picks. I’m personally not a fan. I’ve personally settled on Blue Chip picks. 1.0mm, .89mm. These seem to be the only picks that don’t spin or move in my hand like other picks. Seems to deliver nice tone as well.

[Skyman911]

I’m probably not the best one to give advice on this subject as I don’t like playing with a pick, however I do need to learn and try to use one everyday. I’ve been pretty diligent for the past year. One thing I’ve done that has helped me, is having less pick exposed. I only have about 1/16 to maybe 1/4 inch if the tip exposed. I keep trying to go less. This has helped with my accuracy, speed, and not having the pick getting caught in the strings as much on the upstroke. It also seems to keep the pick from rotating as much in my fingers. @petelanger also gave great advice. Try different pick, pick shapes, pick materials, and pick thickness. I’ve gone to a much thicker pick than when I first started.

[Skyman911]

I know this may be hard to explain, but try using more of the outside part of your index finger, and not so much the fleshy part. It can be a little uncomfortable at first. One trick I would suggest is, Try to get as much of the outside part of your finger barring the third fret in (C shape). Just use the index finger, and then anchor your middle finger kind of on top to help press the index finger into the fret. Just do this for a bit until you start getting a nice clean sound. Then start lifting the middle finger off and try that for a bit. Also, pressing the body of the guitar into your body, creating a bit of leverage toward the headstock will also help with not squeezing the neck too much with your thumb and fingers. Just work on the index finger for a bit, and then start incorporating the other strings when you feel more comfortable.

Don’t give up on barre chords. They are vital in my opinion, and I practice barre chords everyday. They’re still hard to nail though. Sometimes I’ll just play the F shape up and down the fretboard for some fun practice.

[Skyman911]

Sorry to hear this. I hope it starts to get better soon.

[Skyman911]

I’ve also been working on Blackbird. But the actual way that Paul McCartney played it. He never learned Travis picking, and only used is thumb and index finger, and he kind of “flicks” the strings with his index finger. I learned this song before, not the McCartney way, and it’s been pretty challenging changing lanes and trying to play like the original. I saw an interview with him, and he kind of showed how he does it “wrong” and jokes about it. It sound pretty right to me.

[Skyman911]

Agree with petelanger. Keep moving on. Stagnation is the enemy of progress. You can always come back and do the 30 days to play again if you feel the need to. Don’t spend too much time on each lesson, but always do at least 10 minutes minimum.

[Skyman911]

I’ll have my wife of 30 years with me. She’ll keep me under control.

[Skyman911]

It sounds like you already know how to play songs. TAC in my opinion is not teaching you how to play songs. It teaches you how to play guitar. Most lessons are based on songs, however Tony is not teaching the songs per se, he’s teaching all the techniques used in the songs. Some are simple, and some complex. You take all these techniques you’ve learned, and can then incorporate them into ANY song.

I’ve been playing almost 5 years as well. I don’t feel like this program is basic at all. As a matter of fact, I think this is actually pretty advanced if you compare this to some other learning sites out there. The great thing about TAC is, it has something for the beginner, intermediate, and some advanced players.

How long have you been doing the TAC program?

[Skyman911]

1000% correct!

[Skyman911]

I think this is true to a point. Basic chords, and add9 chords just won’t have the same resonance as some barred chords. I look at Dm for example. It is literally in hundreds of songs. Yes, you can do a Dm workaround, but the end result isn’t the same. But the greatest thing about this is, this is YOUR personal journey. One can play anyway they like, and should not be judged. We’re all on different paths. If just playing E, C, G, D, just these chords could keep one happy and satisfied, and there would be thousands of songs to play.

I just wanted to play simple cowboy chord songs when I first started. Then the sickness happened, and I wanted to learn it all.

[Skyman911]

Great point @petelanger. My first guitar teacher was like this. I had to perfect every single note, over and over again. It was not only discouraging, but it made me question why I wanted to try and play this complicated instrument. I dreaded going to practice and quit after almost a year. The TAC system if used to its full extent is based in science, giving your brain small chunks of information, then the small chunks come back again in a few months and its more familiar the second time, and third and so on. The brain is stimulated with the “small wins”, and those small wins keep you motivated and going. Your progress can also be tracked and measured reinforcing what you are learning.

[Skyman911]

I’m too chicken to post anything 🙂