[Loraine]

@allendr1970gmail-com Welcome to TAC. I noticed on your profile that you’ve been a TAC member for a short time. I remember when I first started I actually posted something about having difficulty with the C also. I think it’s fairly common, with different people having issues with different strings and fingerings.

What exactly are you having a difficult time with? Are you muting strings? If so, which strings are muted? Give a little bit more description as to what you’re experiencing, and it would really help to have a photo of your hand position . Provide a little bit more information, even possibly a photo of how you’re fretting the chord. If I remember correctly, my issue was that I was muting a string. I believe it was the D string. What I basically had to do was learn to put my ring finger up a little bit further infringing on the low E string, because I could mute that string, since it’s not part of the C chord, so it didn’t matter if my ring finger pushed up to the side of it, and it took my finger away from the D strings where the pad of my ring finger had been pressing into the D. the pad.

<font face=”inherit”>I think eventually you just learn how much arc you need to put in your fingers and the placement that works for you. Make sure that </font>you’re<font face=”inherit”> pushing your wrist down and forward so it forces your fingers to curve enough and come down straight on the strings .</font>

But first you need to know exactly what is happening that is why it’s so important to play each string individually when you first learn to fret chords. So just shoot me back a message with a little bit more detail as to what the issue is with your ring finger, and possibly a photo of your hand fretting C chord.

And lastly, try to remember to be kind to yourself. If you’re fairly new to guitar, it can be time-consuming and frustrating to properly fret a chord, for it to become second nature, it will happen though. Don’t worry about speed too much right now just focus on trying to learn the techniques as best you can and the fact that you asked a question as fantastic cause I’m I can guarantee there’s lots of people out there struggling with the same exact issue. You have to learn what works and eventually with practice you’ll find that it becomes muscle memory as to where your fingers are placed.

[Loraine]

Hey jbroder, Welcome to TAC. Glad you’re here. Sound like you are like me, I had no experience with the guitar, and I found thins challenging an exhilarating. I agree with @langerking and @the-old-coach , relax and have fun. This sounds like an oxymoron, Take your time, but don’t take too much time. That basically means that it’s all new to you, and Tony will often tell you when finger placement, timing, etc, is important to focus on. Speed is not the goal during those lessons, but he may also tell you not to worry as much about finger placement, but to go as fast as you ca. Regardless of it all, the main point is to keep moving forward. Don’t get bogged down on perfecting it. Do the best you can, and after 10 minutes mark the lesson complete. You can continue to work on it, but the next day move onto the next lesson. Even if you don’t perfect something, you will grow and get better. You can always revisit a lesson, just don’t let it stop you from forward momentum. Perfectionism is not achievable, and it kills the fun of something. Don’t get caught up in that..

Stretching is extremely important. I think you have to finish the 30 days before it will allow you to take it, but TAC may have changed that.

Hold off on the daily challenges until you’ve completed the 30 days to play. Jump into the skills courses anytime bases on your time. There’s no order it’s your journey. I held off on the skills courses until after the 30 days to play. Just play it by ear.

Lastly, guitar is not an instrument you ever master, but you will get better if you follow Tony’s philosophy and teaching. It will take time. My suggestion is to write down why you want to learn guitar, tape it on your wall to remind yourself when you might be having a difficult time. All downs are temporary; Develop short term goals (see Tony’s 90 day check ins. At the end of the 90 days, review your goals. What went well. What did you struggle with, break through/aha moments (small wins); Take video of your progress to look back on to see how far you’ve come, There are several lessons, songs that rotate back sround. It teaches new skills, but mostly it allows you to document your improvement since the last time the songs were taught.

Lastly, again, relax and have fun. But mostly, don’t give up before the miracle happens.

[Loraine]

Nicely done Marisa! I love playing and singing this song.

[Loraine]

Hi Terri. I’ve been with TAC over 4 years and don’t recall Tony doing the Weight. It’s a great song. The B can be difficult, and there is the work around mentioned by Moose. I was always taught by my guitar teacher to never shy away from the main chords. Often times, they’re not as difficult as one initially thought. The B isn’t a difficult chord if you can play barre chords.

Practice transitioning between the chord in front of hit in the song. Start at a slow beat of say 45 on your metronome at a 4:4 beat. Strum on the first beat, and during the 2nd, 3rd and 4th beats transition t,o the B. Strum it on the 1st beat. Then take the next 3 beats again to transition back to the chord above it. When you can easily do it correctly 10x withoujt mistake, increase the metronome by 10 beats and do the same again. Keep increasing until you reach the right speed and can transition.

Then, switch to the chord after the B and start the process again.

[Loraine]

Try some songs from the old song vault too. Great experience and practice flatpicking. https://hub-lkx8655w8n.membership.io/

It used to bother me that anyone could access this, because several of us paid for it in addition to our membership. It wasn’t meant for everyone to access, but that was so long ago and it’s been freely given out by so many others that I guess it’s now a freeby for everyone.

hub-lkx8655w8n.membership.io

TAC Song Vault

All your favorite song lessons in one place!

[Loraine]

I’ve heard others say the same thing when it came to using a pick for the first time. As for holding the pick too tight or too loose, you’ll eventually find a balance. It helped me to use gorilla snot. I kept a good grip without worry the pick would turn in my hand and there was no need for a death grip. Finger. And string awareness take time. Just keep up the great attitude of not giving up, and you’ll be fine.

[Loraine]

UPDATE: 2ND SURGERY SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY 26 NOV.

TO TAKE TOP PLATE OUT THAT IS HOLDING WRIST COMPLETELY STRAIGHT. I CANNOT WAIT. My only concern is that the nurse questioned why he was taking it out sooner than he normally does. I’m going to call to discuss with him again, but he said I passed all his tests. I could turn my wrists forward and backward , touch all my fingers to my thumb and I could make a fist. Also, I wasn’t as numb in my fingers and thumb as I was 2 weeks ago.

[Loraine]

I just typed the whole thing and it disappeared on me. It really bothers me when that happens.

I’d like to make a suggestion to help you with your transitions between chords. Find a song that’s not too difficult and has more than two chords. You want at least 3 chords minimum.

Take the first 2 chords of a song and set a metronome to about 45 beats on 4/4 time. On the first beat strum the first chord . Take the next three beats to change chords and get correct fingering. Strum on the first beat. Then take the next three beats to switch back to the first chord and strum on the first beat, repeat this process back and forth until you are able to do 10 in a row cleanly then increase the beats by 10 to 55. Continue to do the same process increasing speed as you’re able to play clean chords on each 1st beat for at least 10 times cleanly. Try to go up to 100 150 whatever you want and then go to the next 2 chords, which would actually be the second chord that you’ve already been playing, and the third chord in the song. Start back at 45 beats and again work up to the same speed that you did with the first 2 chords. You will definitely get faster, be more timely and more accurate doing this.

[Loraine]

You’ve come so far Stew. This was great playing, and the vocals are bit stronger. Where did you learn the strumming pattern. Was it a particular site? As a courtesy to Tony and TAC, please don’t mention a competing site openly. Maybe message me with the info. I perform this, but it’s a straight strum pattern.

[Loraine]

71 is young still. There are many older than that in TAC. Guitar is not an easy instrument to learn,, and everyone has to start at the beginning, which is strife with learning curves. It does get easier with time. Hang in there. You’ve only been at it a month, which is very early in the game. It takes time to learn barre chords. Just practice a few minutes every day. You’ll eventually get it. Many, many people dislike them and struggle with them. Even professional musicians and many advanced players in my jam club outwardly growl and grumble when a song with them is played. Just don’t avoid trying. You’ll be a more versatile player if you learn them.

[Loraine]

Actually, it’s the other way — Everyone here lifts me up and is inspirational to me. I’ve learned from the best.

[Loraine]

Hi Terri. I appreciate you asking about the arm. I’ve never tried or even heard of red light therapy, but I’ll definitely look into it. Someone else mentioned acupuncture , which I’ve tried in the past. The issue is the copays that are $75 a visit. I’m scheduled the 25th for my 2nd surgery to take out the fixator plate that runs from the top of my hand to about 1/2 way to my elbow. It has held my wrist completely straight while all the bones and incisions healed. It hurts, and I have a perpetual bruise and swelling of the hand and fingers from it I’m probably looking at the end of December to mid January before I can play again. I’ve been practicing finger style patterns with my right hand. It’s hit or miss on how that progresses, because I have tremors in my hands, and my hands and fingers jump and make it difficult to fingerpick. Even when I’m strumming, my right had goes rogue on me and jerks away from the strings. The left hand doesn’t like to bend fingers sometimes. I bought a slide to try, but ai can’t fret, so I’m just pushing 1 string with the tip of it, but it sounds horrible.

[Loraine]

I’m working on 2 finger picking patterns. I’m using a metronome for time and different speeds. So far my tremors haven’t been too bad, so I’ve actually been able to do them.

I bought a glass slide to try on different not open tunings. Not doing that well with it though. I thought a slide would be fairly easy, but nope … haha. But, I’m using my damaged left hand an holding slide on top of strings and just goofing with it. I can’t put a lot of effort into it, because the fingers and hand still hurt. I’m using my rubber bridged guitar with flat wound strings for more of a bluesy sound.. I do like all the different voicing from the open tunings. Have tried open D, C, B, E. Still have F, A, G to play with

[Loraine]

I appreciate that Kevin! I’ll check it out. I’ll have to wait until after Xmas fr my wrist to heal. My 2nd surgery is in 2 weeks.

[Loraine]

It helps to understand the process. You’re much more advanced than me. I don’t thing zimadd much of anything except a slide here and there and some hammer-ons. My pull offs don’t sound right, so I avoid if possible.