Tom Marques

  • Hi David,  Welcome.  I can’t help but believe you were very instrumental in the success of your kids.  Sometimes we can be much more encouraging to others than to ourselves.  Maybe as we get older accomplishing something for ourselves can move a little upward in our priorities.  Playing guitar is probably the only thing on my bucket list that I have much control over.  Learning guita…Read More

  • Sorry I missed the live class but I just watched the replay.  Right away I noticed when you alternated the C and G chords you played a three finger G without using the index finger.  Almost immediately I can transition good copying your movements.  Dropping the ring and middle fingers one string and applying the index finger makes going from G to C a breeze.  I was using the 4 finger G a…Read More

  • I’m practicing the chord changes as you suggest and I know it’s a matter of time and repetition till I pick up the speed I’m looking for.  I introduced a metronome app so I can keep the changes smooth and track my progress.  I definitely feel it will all come together.  Usually improvement for me is gradual and hard to notice it’s even taking place.  As I speed up the metronome I’ll see…Read More

  • I’m getting haunted by a long time problem.  I’m forming my chord shapes one or 2 fingers at a time on the fretboard.  The more I practice the more I reinforce the problem.  I’d like to place all, or most, fingers on the fretboard together at the same time.  Some chords I’ll never get formed in time until I improve on this.  For example when I form a C maj chord I place ring finger, midd…Read More

  • Hi,  I’m Tom Marques.  I live in PA and have been” fooling around” with the guitar since my retirement 2 years ago.  My progress has been really slow because I had no structure in my learning.  I just randomly tried new endeavors without any rhyme or reason.  My biggest difficulty is chord transition speed.  I feel Jonathan’s variations will help me a ton.  I’m confident I’ll be playin…Read More