dr_dave
Forum Replies Created
-
Very nice, Paul. Love it.
-
Excellent, Joe. Really tasty.
-
Are you kidding me, man? This was outstanding!!!!
-
I really miss the member map, a feature that was recently eliminated. The current method of searching for other members is far inferior, but it’s what we have. Good luck with it.
-
Really great melody @Jonathandavid !
-
You’re in a real sweet spot with this one, Dan. Love it.
-
Hi there, Glen. The daily exercises build skills and also do a little bit to train your ears. You will apply those skills to learning whatever sort of songs interest you. TAC is not aimed at teaching you songs. It is based on skill development and getting you into a regular practice routine.
Don’t worry for a minute that many of the exercises are hard and that you don’t really “get” them within 10 minutes. The premise is to spend at least 10 minutes of focused practice on each lesson, then mark it “complete.”
If you’re with the program for roughly a year, you’ll be seeing repeats of lesons you already completed. Even though you might not have played that exercise for 40 weeks or so, you will be surprised how much better you do when you see it the next time – then even better the third time and so on.
I just passed the 4 year mark a few days ago. Some of the lessons are still difficult, and many of the “speed challenge” warmups still seem superhuman. But generally I can play most of the exercises pretty well these days, and they begin to “fall under my fingers” after only a minute or two of re-acquaintance.
Many people eventually add on the Fretboard Wizard course (at extra cost) because that builds skills that help you learn songs quickly or even write some of your own songs. It is introductory music theory slanted toward guitar and helps you understand how most songs are constructed, i.e what chords go well together to make common chord progressions that are found in most songs. I’ve taken about 10 trips through the FW course. If you decide to buy it, you’re supposed to have lifetime access, but as programs and websites evolve, it’s hard to define what “lifetime” means. But so far, so good on FW.
-
Great post Loraine. I expect it is getting easier for you to memorize licks and songs. The “no-peek” technique demonstrates your bravery and confidence. Either you have a magic pick or you’ve got a real good sense of where those strings are!
I hope you don’t mind me offering one suggestion that I think will ultimately strengthen your flat-picking. Pull up the tab and notice the markings for pick direction. It has made it much easier for me to nearly always follow the convention of a down-up pattern on each pair of eighth notes and using only downstrokes on quarter and half notes. It helps my rhythm and timing, and it just feels more natural, especially as I increase tempo.
You’re well on your way to being a flat-picking star. I don’t mean to be critical, rather I’m hoping this tip will accelerate your progress and get you there sooner. This is a fine effort and your progress is admirable. Keep posting!
-
@Loraine , you’re making me blush. We’re on a journey. I just saddled up a bit earlier than you, but there are a lot of people here who got started before me. One thing you need to understand it that we all learn from each other. The information flows in all directions, and I am convinced I take away more than I am able to give. But Icertainly enjoy sharing ideas that have helped me on my journey.
-
Surely enough, there is a bVII chord in today’s key chord lesson, KC6 In A Accidentals. In the key of A, G would be the bVII (flat 7) chord, the major chord built on the note that is a half tone below the seventh scale tone. The seventh tone of the A scale would be G#. The G natural, which is one half step below the naturally occurring seventh step of the scale! is not a itself a member of the A major scale.
-
Extremely cool C.V. Thanks!
-
Washington U for post-doc? What’s your field – no, not left-center-right or infield v. outfield, since it sounds like you are a baseball nut! I’m curious about your field of study.
BTW, I remember listening on the radio when Maris hit #61, but I was still in single digits at the time.
I realize we’re getting far afield of your excellent Hacksaw Jim Duggan improv, which is the real important part of this post, but learning more about my TAC teammates has always been one of my favorite parts of the game. You are helping me break out of my slump!
-
Quoting AttyTJ: “… as the lessons will disappear from the menus if you don’t (after about a month past the lesson plan).“
Regarding “after about a month past the lesson plan,” I think that “about a month” is the longest that any single lesson remains accessible if you don’t favorite it. Only the lessons from the beginning of a month are available for “about a month.” I believe that the lesson from the last Friday of a given month is only accessible for three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), then immediately becomes inaccessible when the new lesson month starts on Monday. I guess you need to be there at the end of the month or you don’t get to keep your string of consecutive complete lesson months alive.
Until recently, TAC included a monthly guitar giveaway for which the entry criterion was to complete all the lessons in a month. Now that the monthly TAC parties and guitar giveaways were eliminated, you don’t have to worry about missing your chance at winning a guitar, but I’m on a roll and I want to keep my string of consecutive months alive. If I’m able to complete this month’s lessons, it will mark 50 consecutive months without missing a daily lesson.
-
It was apparent that you were using down and up picks. In most places you nailed it, steadily alternating between down picks on the downbeats and up picks on the up beats, but there are some places where the pick direction deviates from the tab, i.e. from down on all the numbered beats of the measure and up on all the “ands.” If you up-pick on a quarter note or on the first of a pair of eighths, it can make it hard to maintain steady tempo. I suggest tapping your foot in a steady rhythm, then having your pick motion mimic your foot.
You’re doing great and really progressing. Hopefully your cut finger is healing too!
-
Small world, Charlie! My wife and I were skiing at Stowe that same morning, and the spring snow was thick. My flat feet were killing me, and we were not skiing all that well, as we didn’t have nearly the ski experience we now have. So I asked her, “What do you say we go see the Phillies this afternoon?” She asked, “How long will it take to get there?” (She had no idea they were playing in Montreal.). I said, “About 2 hr.” So we made the trip. I remember dinner in Montreal that night. it was the first time I ever had Lobster fra Diavolo. I also remember answering the border guard’s questions when we returned to the States that night. When he asked where we were, how long we were in the country and the purpose of our trip, I told him we just went to see Pete Rose get his 4000th Coup Sûr! It’s funny how vivid my memories are of that day that was over 37 years ago.