[Loraine]

Congratulations on your 2 year TACiversary @Barry2021 . I completely understand how it is possible to all of a sudden find life back in the new norm post Covid makes it difficult to maintain the momentum. I’ve experienced the same thing (and I’m still working from home – go figure), and the nucer weather tempts us elsewhere.

I have to remind myself to step back to basics and commit to just 10 minutes per day at a minimum. I keep a guitar next to my desk and often find myself reaching for it for a spurt of playing for short breaks. That helps me stay connected.

[Loraine]

Beautiful composition @Marissa. Your voice was a good match for the key.

[Loraine]

It’s amazing how your playing will take off and improve when playing with others, and it is a lot of fun. Great win @Carnelia !

[Loraine]

Thank you so much John.

I pulled it from Ultimate Guitar (ultimate-guitar.com), which has free chord sheets and tabs

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/van-morrison/brown-eyed-girl-chords-134895

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by  Loraine.

[Loraine]

It takes practice. Pay attention to your hand and wrist positions. You want them to be positioned so that you can lay your fingers basically flat to fret, and only play the strings that are fretted. My personal suggestion is to drop the third finger. It really isn’t always necessary to make a song sound good.

[Loraine]

@Wyatt Im not in the Houston area, but I hope you’re able to find some guitarists that would like to grow and jam.

Have you searched on the member link found in the drop-down next to your name. You can search just by Houston, but that limits the results to just Houston residents. If you want to see surrounding areas, you’ll have to either search by individual cities or (and this is my suggestion) to search just by TX and then scroll through and see what cities people are from. If you find some locals, you can send them messages through TAC to gauge their interest.

Good luck, and I truly hope you find some people. I’ve grown so much since I began attending jams, and they’re a lot of fun.

[Loraine]

I’ve always been envious of those that can tap, such as Mike Dawes and others. Great job at persistence @sarah_teicherthotmail-com ! Keep up the great work!

[Loraine]

@KenV Im so sorry you’re experiencing problems with your pinky. I agree with @Carol-3M-Stillhand that you have your health, and that’s the most important thing. I also recommend seeing a neurologist, if you haven’t already, and I concur that some physical therapy might help some with that. COVID has affected so many people in different ways with lingering post illness symptoms that haven’t been addressed.

There are many people with varying levels of disabilities that are able to adapt and play the guitar. Some are missing fingers, have MS, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis,etc., but they’ve overcome their limitations through adaptions.

I like Carols suggestion of a classical instrument, because it would be kinder due to the wider nut and easier fretting. That would probably compensate a little for the mis-frets on a steel string. Maybe you could rent one to try out. Most music stores rent guitars.

[Loraine]

Hi @dawnmaddessgmail-com and welcome to the TAC community and congratulations on your great start with the 30 days to play, the next 5, and the 5 day challenge!

I suggest getting started on the daily challenges. They run Monday through Friday and always cover a different foundational skill. If I remember correctly they are Monday is a skills course, Tuesday a lick, Wednesday a scale and improv, Thursday is rhythm, and Friday is chords and chord transitions. Some are more difficult than others, but give them your best shot for at least 10 minutes.

You can start on the skills courses. I suggest the Jumpstart to Flatpicking, Fingerpicking and Strumming courses to get you acclimated to different styles and skills, and you’ll learn 2 songs in the flatpicking and fingerpicking courses. The skills courses can be taken in any order. Whatever your interests are is how you should proceed. This is your guitar journey. Have fun with it.

Good luck on your journey!

[Loraine]

Fantastic first performance @TJC ! Strumming was very steady, and your vocals were spot on and timed well. Overall a great cameo appearance. My only request is that I’d like to see your guitar and fretting and strumming hand in the videos. We’re geeks that like to see the chords, and hands in action.

Keep up the great work!

[Loraine]

@MisterBee Id be interested too in whether you heard anything back from your local GFV. I Tthink the emails are monitored by volunteers, so if you haven’t heard back from them, there may not be a volunteer available at your local VA. Suggest you contact the main GFV site and ask rttheir assistance. They have an application that you complete and send in.

[Loraine]

@Mike-F Three great wins based on your post.

1. 74 days is a huge win. 74 days of consistent practice and learning.

2. Knowing that the best solution when frustrated is to step back, take a break from it, and to not quit but to move forward in a different direction. You can always revisit strumming, and I bet you’ll be surprised at how quickly you pick it up next time.

3. Great start to playing your first song with newfound flatpicking skills.

I think there is a 4th win in there too.

4. You’re excited about playing and you’re having fun!

Keep up the great work!

[Loraine]

Hi @trevor_finally_learns_guitar I’ve had problems posting in the past and getting the pink screen of death. Support doesn’t seem to understand the problem. I’ve sent them screenshots in the past and explained what I was trying to accomplish. They basically state it is not a system error, but a user error. I disagree. There is something that happens in the system that does it, not the user. Support says to clear your history, try a different computer, try a different internet browser, sign out and sign back in, but nothing seems to work, unless I restart my computer or just wait until the next day. I’m surprised it lets you post right after you’ve gotten the pink screen.

When you go to tag someone with the @ sign, make sure you stay on the @name until the TAC window drops down with the match for the name you’re putting in. Make sure you click on that in order to tag someone before you write the rest of your message.

If the problem persists, contact Support and send them screenshots and explain the problem and see what they say. Good luck with it.

[Loraine]

Thanks so much @Kitman . I always appreciate your comments and observations. Much appreciated.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by  Loraine.

[Loraine]

Thanks @Carol-3M-Stillhand . I was not aware that tendinitis was recurrent once had — truly a !$@#*.! major bummer. I thought I was being careful, but working on the computer all day, playing a game on my iPad and playing guitar was just too much repetitive motion and use of the hand and arm.

It doesn’t help that I have fibromyalgia, and all my muscles are super tight and painful all the time, and stretching and massaging may be beneficial, but my muscles typically will not relax. This causes many problems.

Thanks for your well wishes.