[Loraine]

@BrandonK I understand your questioning and some frustration. I think I was shell shocked at first realizing how difficult it was to play guitar, and I was brand spanking new to guitar too. I was surrounded by some great people, however, who coached and mentored me and basically taught me to persevere and not give up. Going to local jams and open mics helped me a lot. But getting back to beginning guitar, the beginning (and I am talking the first 3 years) were very slow and challenging for me. I was progressing, however. I think I picked up a few 2-3 chord songs to learn. Just google 2 chord songs, and you’ll find all kinds of things. Try something like Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little star, etc. Even if it takes you a while to learn the chords, and to transition between chords, you’ll be at least adding to your skills. Try one strum per chord. Remember, TAC is teaching you foundational skills that you can then take out and apply to songs, but playing songs is pretty rudimentary in the beginning.

I say to try and keep things light and fun, but also realize it takes years of practice to develop skills necessary to play halfway decent, unless you have an inane ability and skill that most of us don’t possess.. If it’s something you really strive to do, then don’t give up before the magic happens. For me, it happened in my 3rd year of playing, where all of a sudden, I was transitioning between chords smoother and faster, was able to play most songs I picked up, and was able to sing to most songs. To get to that point, I participated in TAC’s Lessons, I attended open mics, went to jams, posted the good, the bad, and the ugly of my playing on TAC and other forums. I did begin supplementing TAC with weekly private 1/2 hour lessons. My guitar teacher said that from working through the lessons on TAC, I was more advanced than many of his students who had a lot more time playing. This alone was proof to me that TAC worked. I have well over a hundred songs that I can play. I play them better now than I ever have, and even then I don’t always play great, but I can definitely say I’m having fun. I still post the good, the bad, and the ugly.

[Loraine]

@lytlejohnn I read your profile. not sure how long you’ve been back with TAC though. I’m glad you made it back. Guitar is a funny and fun and frustrating instrument. It’s definitely not the easiest, but if you stick with the basics, you will get better. There will always be ups and downs, but if you’re that unhappy right now, maybe a break is necessary or like you said to work on some of the skills courses. You’ll know what’s best for you.

[Loraine]

Welcome back @Gigemagz ! Sounds like you’re in the right place and are having a really good time. That’s exactly how it should be. Keep at it!

[Loraine]

Hi @nynatvegmail-com Welcome to TAC. I can understand the initial confusion or feeling overwhelmed. Break it down to simply what can you do today. The goal of TAC is progress over progression. It is a suggestion that you commit 10 minutes per day to playing. This basically means that you spend 10 minutes on a lesson and then mark it as completed. You can practice longer than that, but at a minumum try to do 10 minutes. You will get better. The other part is to keep moving. Don’t get bogged down on a lesson. Do your best and then move forward. It takes the fun out of it when perfection of a lesson is sought. Lessons roll around again months down the road, so you’re not missing out on them. If you’re unable to play every day, just jump on that days lesson. Don’t try and make up for missed lessons. You’ll still gain skill and knowlege by doing this and will progress.

Just do the best you can and if it is too much or you’re unable to play, don’t worry about it. Just pick up and play when you have time. I practice sporadically 10 minutes here and there, and other times I can sit and play for an hour or so. But I only do what I’m able to.

Hang in there, and you’ll do great!

[Loraine]

@aniccasimogmail-com and @musicrme me Congratulations on completing the 30 days to play.

If you go to the Skills Tab, there will be a Tab called Getting Started. It lists the courses that most new people are directed to take. They are:

30 Days to Play

5 Day Guitar Routine Challenge

Daily Stretch for Guitar

Strumming Jumpstart

TAC Quick Start

Your Next Six Chords

I suggest taking a look at these courses. Then from there, you can jump on the daily challenges and take any skills courses that you find interesting. This is your journey, and you can do whatever you want with it. I prefer the organized direction, which leads me to the above courses after completing the 30 days to play.

You could take a look at the Techniques, 5-day challenges, and Learn the Fretboard tabs too. There’s a lot of good things in there. The flatpicking and fingerpicking Jumpstart courses were good.

[Loraine]

@jmullanygmail-com That’s awesome! The Bm is an essential chord that is in so many songs.

[Loraine]

Hey @jmwood59gmail-com that’s a great win. I enjoy doing hammer ons (not a huge fan of pull offs though), but you will get better and better with them over time. There are a lot of songs that use hammer ons, especially in the introductions and riffs.

[Loraine]

Hi Anthony. I would say yes to your question of whether it is normal not to play the full song at the end of a week. As Skyman pointed out, TAC teaches foundational skillsk that are necessary to learn and play songs. You then take the foundational skills you’ve learned, find the chord or tab sheets and lyrics, and learn to play the song. I suggest using ultimate-guitar.com, which is free. There are other sites too, which I could message you the sites. Out of respect for TAC, I don’t mention them openly.

[Loraine]

Great job @Marty73 !! I’ve been playing Can’t Find My Way Home to. I love playing it. I swear you and I must be on the same wave lengths regarding songs to play, because you post a lot that I’ve been working on too. Anyway, you always do such a nice job playing. Is your guitar plugged in? My Martin is boisterous like yours, but I don’t have electronics in mine.

[Loraine]

Aw, you’re welcome @albert_d ! It’s contagious playing the oldies. Lots of fun from that time period.

[Loraine]

@Comfy Thanks so much!! I learned a new word today too – “cahoneys” lol Love it! You can do it! Just keep at it. I told myself and others that I was going to put myself out there – good and bad. I think I’ve grown a lot in my playing from doing so.

[Loraine]

Hey friend – Long time since we’ve spoken. There shouldn’t be a reason to tune up. That’s way too much pressure on the E string. The G, B, and E are under a lot of tension as it is. They rarely, if ever, get tuned up. I think you should be tuning down to D, and that actually takes pressure off the string and lowers the tone.

Hope you’re doing well. 🙂

[Loraine]

Martin’s typically have pick ups, but mine doesn’t. It’s loud enough as it is. No need to amplify it. My microphone is set at least 1 1/2 feet from me and still picks up my guitar and vocals.

Peace out buddy!

[Loraine]

I have a good friend, who is actually a professional jazz guitarist in Alaska and Illinois (where we’re originally from). I send him videos, and he says he plays along with me. Makes me smile every time, because he is ultra talented.

I really appreciate your listening and playing along with me. That means a lot. 🙂

[Loraine]

Ha! I’ve never been told I was brave before for my barre chords. I’m a sick puppy, because I actually like barre chords. My guitar teacher said he’s never had a student say that or not shy away from them. I’m getting better at transitioning to them. There are so many more opportunities out there if you can do barre chords.

Thanks for your observations Albert.