Have you stayed the course????

MarkM
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Tue May 04, 2010 10:18 am

Have I stayed the course????? Hmmmmmm..... I'm sure my wife would have an interesting answer. :laugh: :laugh: Great topic Jason. I've got a bit of time here at the moment. Well not really but I'm making some time (that's part of the problem with staying the course).

I had been mucking around with the guitar since college all those years ago. Heck I could play a mean air guitar on a lacross stick so why not do it with 6 strings. I learned a few scales and could play the standards of the party scene ok. Brown Eyed girl, American Pie, Twist and Shout and a few blues progressions. From that time and through the first couple years of being married I mucked around somemore and further developed bad playing habbits but did manage a few more songs but never really managed to get any better. Once my girls were born 5 years ago I just didn't have the time nor the inclination to pick up that old beat up guitar.

Something then happened about 2 year ago now. I wanted to get better so I got a new guitar (that was the DN4) and that helped a lot. Much easier on my hands and I just felt better playing it. So from there I spent a great deal of time in the home office looking for TAB sheets on the computer. I was going to get better if it killed me. I then came across YouTube and my world exploded. All the information out there and being able to SEE how someone else played a song really helped. I then started looking for lessons online. I don't know exactly what song got me to Neil and TG (I'm sure it was some Beatles song) but I got hooked with his easy manner and how he articulated the lesson. It was really enjoyable to watch his lessons.

From there I found the TG site about 3 months or so before the first live show. I remember telling my wife that particular weekend that I found this site and a great teacher and he is going to announce this new way of teaching folks through the web. I then said that I was locking myself in the office for the next few hours while the live broadcast was going to play. That was it. I was hooked and signed up that first day. $20.00 a month? Are you kidding? I jumped at the chance.

So that was in April of last year and then I spent so much time looking at all the great lessons. I couldn't believe it. They were all songs that are on my ipod and I just couldn't get enough of it. However I was still bouncing around from lesson to lesson. I think I did get a bit better but still had those bad habbits (G and A chords). Well it took me until about December or so to find out what the other half of the site was about. THE FORUM!!! What the (&(#&$ was this!!! All these people with the same interests as me talking music and guitars. Oh boy I was in for it now. Like I needed any more reason to procrastinate with work. I then saw folks submitting video's of them playing for some sort of review. I remember those early videos of Chris, Suzi, Tony, etc.... but the most amazing thing was the responses people got. I thought that was great.

I'm a pretty shy person (check that. I'm really not but with my guitar playing I am) by nature. I went out and upgraded my video camera and then decided to post a video. I think it was Cry Baby Cry by the Beatles (not a TG lesson). Playing in front of the camera I got it in my head that I had to play lound so that the camera would pick up the sound. Well I didn't have too and the video came out not that good but I posted it anyway. Within about 20 minutes I had all these great responses and pointers on how to improve it. I was hooked big time from there and I couldn't wait to post another one.

Long story here (can't you tell I'm procrastinating from work again) but I enjoy writing about my experience. I have always been a huge lover of music and it really is part of my life. Whether listening to it, watching it or trying to play it. None of my close friends play and I only get a chance maybe once or twice a year to play with a friend that does play and boy is he good. So this site has really become like an audience and collaborator for me. Apart from Neils outstanding teaching method and that I see him so much he's almost part of the family, the folks on the forums and those I've collaborated with are the true value for me. I can honestly say that I have had so much fun working on my songs as well as the ones I have worked with some of you on. It has been a blast and I got a chance to know some great folks through the process. That in itself drives me to get better.

Have I gotten better??? Well I think on some things I have and others I have not. Mostly due to my scatterbrained nature and that I usually take the road I've most travelled. I know I've gotten over my camera fright :laugh: :laugh:. I play softer now than I used too. I try and tackle tougher songs. I can, in some instances, hear a song and then find the chords and give it a reasonable attempt. I'm still a mucker and a strummer though. I would like to get my sense of time better. I'm still working on fingerpicking as I really want to learn this discipline (I need another guitar for that :blush: :blush: ) I would like to get more confident in my lead playing. I would like to get better at improvising on the fly. Last but not least I wish I could sing. I don't think any amount of practice time is going to help that though.

To end this short novel I would say that TG and everyting that is apart of it has helped me a great deal!! It is the best investment I have ever made. The only problem is that I didn't think of building this site first :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:. If I could quite my job and maintain the same standard of living I would jump at a chance to be apart of something like this. Too bad it has already been thought of by an outstanding team of great people that have made my life a bit more fun!! I look forward to the next year at TG and see where I'm at then. I bet I'm still saying I wish I could sing :) .



MarkM


sws626
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Tue May 04, 2010 10:32 am

What a great thread, Jason.

I've only been with TG for about 4 months, but in that time I'm sure this site has far surpassed any expectations I had at the outset.

I picked up the guitar again in early January after oh-so-many years of neglect with only a few real ambitions. I wanted to play every day, to get better, to build a repetoire of songs, and to stick with it.

I'd taken lessons as a teenager and picked up song books from time to time as an adult, but had reached a very modest plateau from which I'd never managed to progress. How to make it work this time?

My previous attempts had been pre-internet and I was overwhelmed by what's out there now. So many resources, but so much noise as well. But somehow I stumbled upon a few of Neil's videos, visited the TG website, liked what I saw and jumped in with an annual subscription. Neil's lessons on CCR and Neil Young drew me in initially and, if that's all I'd ever found here, it would still have been more than worth it.

What I wasn't looking for or expecting was the forum community. Nor did I expect the student videos to be such a valuable source of inspiration. Or that the lessons would give me the tools and confidence to go out and learn songs that aren't in the Target program.

Maybe because of that last part, I'm spending more of my time now with songs and artists that aren't in Target lessons. And, for some of that, I do subscribe to another on-line lesson site as well. But this is where I post my thoughts and look for advice, ideas and inspiration. This is the only place I would upload a video -- something I thought I would never do when I started.

What am I looking for now? I want to master the blues and start playing together with others. The former is the task of a lifetime and I'm taking it one small step at a time. The latter will still require that I overcome a lot of inhibition, but I'm getting there -- thanks in large part to TG.

-Stuart


haoli25
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Tue May 04, 2010 11:37 am

I have NOT stayed the course. In fact, I have had to take many strokes for completely missing the course. :) Like any good golfer would, I blame the designers of the course, Neil, Matt, Steve, Hector, etc. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:





Bill


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Tue May 04, 2010 12:38 pm

Mark: Great info! I am scatterbrained as well, although I would rather state it as information overload.... :lol: Even though Matt, Neil and the gang came up with this great idea first, they have been outstanding in letting us have our say to some extent. I work on fingerpicking off and on, and certainly need major improvement there, but the great thing is, that my frustration level has gone way down. I am now confident enough to know that if I am willing to put the time in, I will get it. I thank TG big time for that confidence. Now get ready for the drunken wiffle ball extravaganza. 5 wks and counting for my trip..... B)

Stuart: I would have to say that I never would have imagined that I would become so integrated into a virtual community such as this. I had never really taken part in forums other than tech forums to solve various issues. This, however, has become a truly fun place to be for me... :)

Bill: LMAO.... :laugh: Again, I blame that on information overload....


snoopy64
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Tue May 04, 2010 3:16 pm

It's been almost a year since I joined TG and I still love the website ;-).
I stumbled across one of Neils videos on youtube. I was trying to learn "Give a little bit" by Supertramp and every single videolesson on the web sounded wrong ... I didn't know why but that's why I didn't stop looking for the right version. And there he was: Neil. And there it was: the right version. The upstroke!!!
Unfortunately I'm still waiting for the whole lesson (Neil promised that the whole lesson would be on the website :-(). But as there are tons of things to do, I'm not very disappointed. I don't have time to be disappointed ;-).
One year ago I had the plan to be able to play classical gas in four years ... so I still have three years ... but what I'm going to do with all my spare time ;-). It's funny that I don't have toooooo many problems with cg, but with others songs which are "rated" much easier. At least I wasn't discouraged by all the high numbers and simply started to learn what I truly wanted to play. Motivation is half of the rent (as we Germans say ;-)).
As for staying on the track ... no not really ... every day I get new ideas and I do this and that and that and this ... it doesn't bother me. Playing the guitar is the best thing I took up last year ... and it doesn't look as if I'll give it up any time soon. Thanks to Neil and his team and all the wonderful stuff that I find here every day.
Cheers
Birgit


johnrfeeney
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Fri May 07, 2010 8:56 pm

i have stayed the course

but for me it was the acoustic genius series - i haven't missed a day

since last year i practice learning the fretboard and the scales and the modes etc

trying to get it down, it's going to take at least another year

just this week my wife asked me what i was doing and why would i do it

then a friend who visited early this am asked the same question

my daughter yesterday morning came in and hugged me and said each morning it's like you are serenading us - (i replied that it's always the same boring scales but she is comforted by them and loves them)

of course all of this is life and life affected by music

i have stayed and will stay the course but it's very tedious and it's trying to understand some of the whys of music

then one day i'll play the songs the way i practice the stuff i'm doing right now


Chasplaya
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Sat May 08, 2010 4:34 pm

Great thread Jason:

Using your formated questions here's my tuppence worth;

1. What brought me to TG??? - I had to learn a Neil Young song for my guitar club at work 'Don't Let It Bring You Down', so I was doing a You Tube search for NY songs and found TG Neil playing a NY song which escapes me right now. Anyway I liked what I saw and heard and immediately related to the way Neil was teaching, it was such a similar style to a previous Guitar teacher here in NZ that I could not afford anymore on a weekly basis. So long story short I stuck with Neil initially just via You Tube then he started talking up his site so off I went to check it out, this was pre TARGET days so was very much in its infancy and to be honest I didn't think it actually lived up to the talking up it was given via You Tube but stubborn me stuck it out ... and as we all know the site grew and grew rapidly with the brilliant innovations we almost take for granted now.

2. What was I looking for???? - Well as said originally one song, but finding a cool teacher I thought this guy can easily replace my old weekly teacher and hey its free (the You Tube channel that is) typical Scottish reaction (there I said it before others jump in and talk about Scotsmen with deep pockets and short arms lol)

3. What did I find????? - I found myself improving with every lesson Neil provided, I also found a guy with awesome taste in music, who not only played the stuff I have followed but introducing stuff that I could easily have missed. Neil has opened my eyes or should that be ears to different artists. I also found many new like minded friends, thats priceless!!

4. What am I working on now???? - I find I am spoilt for choice and its difficult to stay focused sooo many choices...thats not a complaint. WHat this site and the Forum has inspired me to try is play more with video recording PiP stuff and collaborations, first before I jump in with others I am going to try a self collab i.e. the song I have in mind is my version of Fleetwood Macs Albatross, I re wrote it for acoustic but I add in the original Bass and Jeremy Spencers slide licks, still learning the parts so not close to recording yet, but its a longer term project. What else, just loving the IRL just love the 'Black Dog' lesson.

I am here now for the long haul, even now there is enough material to keep me playing for a long long time. The community spirit is great better than any forum I've been involved with, yes we have our moments here, but thats human nature i guess and as long as we can move on this site will only grow. The friendships made here are a real strong point , a few years ago I would have thought it impossible to make real friends on any forum, but I think now i'd have to eat my words, some of the 'Originals' even before the Founder members was created that have 'Stayed The Course' make this site worthwhile and are true friends, not saying the newer ones aren't but I think that the originals laid the real foundation for newer members. Its just a shame the 'Please Intro Yourself' thread doesn't quite work the same anymore. NOt sure how that could be fixed the separate Tab for Forum Intro's is a cool idea but given we get inundated/swamped with what appears every visitor its difficult to tell who is serious about hanging in and hanging out with us. I don't know the answer but the welcomes have diminished which was a special part of the site.

Anyway Many thanks to Matt, Neil and the TG backroom boys/girls for providing the biggest time consumer i've ever experienced. Long may it continue.

Cheers

Chas


AcousticAl
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Wed May 12, 2010 6:49 pm

Hey guys & gals,

Sorry I've been MIA for a bit. Life/work has caught up with me. A good thing for the wallet... a bad thing for my guitar playing. I'm actually worried about losing the songs & skills I've acquired so far thanks to Neil & TG. Callouses are softening. Not a good scene, and something I will address.

Anyways, what brought me here originally were Neil's youtube vids. Perfect for me, being a visual learner.

What was I looking for? The ability to play a song all the way through! I was very much a 'bits & pieces' player-- I could play a bunch of pieces of songs, but never bothered to learn them all the way through. Neil's detailed lessons helped with that.

What I found were not only the detailed lessons that can disect a song enough that I can learn it-- but a great group of like-minded individuals that all love music and the guitar. We don't always agree with each other, but that's what keeps it interesting, right?

Anyways, thanks for reading. I'll be back in the saddle again soon. I don't want the pain of having to re-grow my callouses!!

Cheers!


jayswett
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Thu May 13, 2010 10:19 am

I avoided responding to this thead mostly because I couldn't think of anything else to add. I then read Al's comment and looked again at the title of the thread and did think of one thing that has been bothering me about my progress. I have generally "stayed the course" regarding practicing, learning new techniques, getting over my fear of singing, etc. but one thing for which I have not stayed the course is learning theory. The Genius series seems like such a great feature of this guitar site, but I have spent maybe an hour or two watching those videos since they first appeared last fall. So in that sense (learning theory and dedicating some time to the Genius series), I would have to confess that I have not stayed the course.


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Thu May 13, 2010 10:53 am

jayswett wrote:
I avoided responding to this thead mostly because I couldn't think of anything else to add. I then read Al's comment and looked again at the title of the thread and did think of one thing that has been bothering me about my progress. I have generally "stayed the course" regarding practicing, learning new techniques, getting over my fear of singing, etc. but one thing for which I have not stayed the course is learning theory. The Genius series seems like such a great feature of this guitar site, but I have spent maybe an hour or two watching those videos since they first appeared last fall. So in that sense (learning theory and dedicating some time to the Genius series), I would have to confess that I have not stayed the course.
Jay:

I watched some of them as well, and they are great. Once again, it just boils down to the fact that we have more information than time..... ;)

I love theory, but I love playing more..... B)

JAson


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