[Loraine]

@albert_d Congratulations on your 4th TACiversary!!! I love reading about everyone’s accomplishments year to year, and it gives me a little boost to continue to improve, because I want to learn what so many others have learned. Sounds to me as if you’re off to a great start to the new year.

[Loraine]

@mcarlson_sb That is a truly awesome win in my book. I never even thought to think it through that much. Guess ai need to revisit Fretboard Wizard. 🙂

[Loraine]

Great win @Jacklcm . Understanding the fretboard is key to being able to improv well. I’m far from understanding everything. My brain quit absorbing details as I aged. It’s a complete crapshoot now. Keep up the great work!

[Loraine]

@sarah_teicherthotmail-com Sounds like an awesome win. When you say you tuned down to have your barre chords sound in tune, was it just because the were easier to play then?

[Loraine]

Congratulations @Guitargeezer-Jack on your 2 year anniversary! I love your routine, and I find it quite fitting. Keep on plunking!

[Loraine]

Great reminder, and the old TAC allowed you to view the prior months lessons, but I think it is more system constraints with the new system don’t allow having both months visible.

[Loraine]

Sounds like a great way to begin. Grasp the foundation and direction, and then try it.

[Loraine]

I’ve seen those before. Very cool. Enjoy your cruise!

[Loraine]

We’ll see if this post sticks. I tried yesterday and it said I posted, but the post never appeared.

I’m not exactly sure I know what you mean when you say you can’t find the rhythm. Are you referring to the strum pattern, the timing, the base beat, or possibly something else?

I had problems with all these for the longest time, and I still do more often than I’d like to admit. I can sing a song and tap out the rhythm to just about any song on the radio, but when I play without the help of a YouTube video or streamed music, I’m at a loss.

I found that knowing the count of a song is essential. Is it a 4 beat song, 6, 8, 16 beat song (my musical terminology is horrible). Knowing this helps me figure out a strum pattern. I watch YouTube videos and listen to music to determine the strum pattern, and then I’ll play the strum pattern on muted strings over and over to memorize the pattern. I typically don’t try and add vocals till I have the pattern down — very loose understanding of pattern and timing, because my interpretation differs from the artists a lot, especially because ai can’t play as fast as most musicians.

A metronome is essential in learning the true beat and strum pattern for a song.

I’m not a true “cover” player. I’m more of a rendition player – my own interpretation. Not sure if I even touched on your issue, but keep working at it.

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by  Loraine.

[Loraine]

@trevor_finally_learns_guitar I feel your pain with finding the key by ear, The best suggestion I have is listen to a lot of YouTube music or other manners of listening to music and just keep trying to identify the key by plunking on the low or high E. And then Google asking what key the song is in to see if correct. If not correct, then find the key through a Google search, and then try that note out while listening to the song again. You’ll probably hear the key in the song then. It’s all about training your brain to hear and identify. I found the songs used in the original Fretboard Wizard (I haven’t tried the new course to see what songs were used) to be difficult to listen to and find the key, because if all the distractions of other instruments. The key (play on words) is to find the key or chord that sounds good as a whole with the music, and that is probably the key then.

Keep at it, and you’ll eventually be versed in finding the key to most songs.

[Loraine]

@sheppy Im very sorry you’re so frustrated. If I remember correctly, I had some trouble with that one too. I think @FolsomJohn gives some great advice that I second. Never allow yourself to become that frustrated with something. It sucks the fun right out of playing. I typically mark lessons complete after the minimum 10 minutes. That doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t keep working on something, but if I begin to feel frustration or anger seep in after giving it a good few tries, I simply move on. Revisit the lesson after a bit of time and see if it comes any easier. I find that things that seemed impossible were easily conquered 6 months or more later, because I had improved in foundational understanding and skills.

Hang in there!

[Loraine]

@mcarlson_sb Sounds absolutely fantastic. You’ve made great progress. Is that your new guitar? Love the booming voice!

[Loraine]

@the-old-coach @Gordon419 Just an FYI, all the lessons rotate back around. Typically every 8 months or so. You’ll have the opportunity to work through them and even see how much you’ve improved since taking the lesson the last time.

[Loraine]

Really appreciate it @Gordon419 !

[Loraine]

Congratulations! Sounds like you had a great time and good learning experience.