One year later: how do you feel about the busking threads?

willem
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Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:16 am

What can I say,,well I love all the uploads in the busking threads,,every time when there is discussing about feeling down and don't know what to play or getting frustrated they say ''don't forget to play for fun'' and thats how i see the busking and the word aint negative in my opinion,maybe all the things happend on the street first..
What is it that some people dislike?? Or are not attract to it,,,I like to be impressed...I know there are many people that can play and sing very well and I really like to hear them but they holding back,,common give us the show and play it like level 7 or something like that...hey a new thread
''busking level seven'' ...I'm looking forward toooooooooo ............... !!!

W.


coomba
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Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:33 am

I'm with Bigbear on this one , I just don't watch any of them anymore , I much prefer to watch people who post songs from lessons here at TG, I learn much more from them.
I don't mind if people do post on the busking thread either way, but there are only so many hours in a day and I come here to learn not watch.

Cheers Scott


schm040
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Sun Feb 19, 2012 5:01 am



TG is a guitar website for learning and listening.

If we are not posting videos of us playing then what.........videos of our cats????

The more the merrier IMHO!!!



dtaylor
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Sun Feb 19, 2012 6:57 am

schm040 wrote:


TG is a guitar website for learning and listening.

If we are not posting videos of us playing then what.........videos of our cats????

The more the merrier IMHO!!!

Well said,
if you don't want to watch don't watch,
if you do, do.

No one should be discouraged from posting their playing.


thereshopeyet
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Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:43 am

Thanks


Lavallee
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Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:39 am

I am a little surprised by this thread.

I really do not see the issue here, if I am not interested in a busking post or thread, I just do not look at it . Or I might watch a busking video and not comment as I do not feel connected. I cannot see how it is cluttering the forum if someone post more than others. Since I do not read all the posts because the title does not appeal me, I do not see how a busking thread would be any different.

If I do not post a song because someone already has , then it becomes a performance issue, not a over posting issue.

No site cannot be exactly how I want it . With a large community, it is bound to evolve, maybe not exactly as I want it but the core remains (core are the all the reasons why I joined).

Marc


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neverfoundthetime
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Sun Feb 19, 2012 10:26 am

I just did a quick fact check over the last 3 pages of forum post (120 threads). 11 are buskings, 5 are uploads for review and 1 is a collaboration. I could do 10 pages and have a more accurate stat, but the trends are clear (and I don't have the time!).

That translates roughly to:
10% of the most recent posts are buskings
5% are uploads for review
1% collaborations
and 84% is non video based threads such as questions, discussions, learning related, announcements or off topic

The majority of buskings were on page 1 (7) with 4 of those near the top of the page, indicating that these posts are very active and stimulating member responses.

Just using the first 2 pages of threads I found that:
58.5% of all replies were to the busking, Collab or uploaded videos for review threads
46.5% of all views were to the busking of uploaded videos for review
Admittedly, if I had taken the time to check through page 3 as I did above, the percentages would be a little lower, but not much (if my skim over the numbers serves me well).

So 16% of the threads are posted videos and they are getting 46% of all views and 58% of all replies.

These figures speak for themselves (even if you take them as just a rough estimate) and have no emotional bias one way or the other. I certainly have an emotional bias towards "the more the merrier" if only because the motivation and feedback generated is so powerful for those who do post. Posting is a powerful motor on TG.


reiver
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Sun Feb 19, 2012 10:32 am

For me, the busking thread has been a very useful addition to the site. That doesn’t mean that it’s perfect or open to abuse, but no-one can make me watch things that I don’t want to see – and every now and then something comes along that surprises me and makes me want to find out more about an artist. Also, I don’t think it should be underestimated as a learning tool – how many of us have thought we were ready to post a busking version of a song only to find that we’re not quite as good as we thought! It’s certainly happened to me and forced me to go away and work a little harder on something.

Any link between an increase in busking videos and a decrease in other forum activities seems tenuous. It could be that people turned away from all this friendly banter that was supposedly going on quite independently of the busking thread appearing. Correlation doesn’t imply causation. And frankly, the idea that someone wouldn’t participate in other areas of the forum simply because they don’t like the idea of people posting busking videos seems a little weak.

There are countless other forums out there where I can go and read pages of turgid prose written by unknown people setting themselves up as experts while they hide behind an avatar – but this is the only one where I can see and hear people I like actually performing songs. And it’s the only place I’d feel comfortable in posting a video myself.

On the down side – I wouldn’t like to it turned into a version of You Tube Lite, where people I’ve never heard of turn up, upload a bunch of songs they know and make no other contribution to the site. That doesn’t fit with the ‘community’ ethos which we seem to have developed here. I have no investment in these people and I can go to You Tube if I want to experience that.

Nice question, Dennis.

Stuart


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neverfoundthetime
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Sun Feb 19, 2012 10:39 am

Excellent points made Stuart!


dennisg
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Sun Feb 19, 2012 10:39 am

What I've noticed regarding my own feelings about busking threads is that they've changed over time. I used to be mostly opposed to them because I saw a decrease in the number of videos of lesson songs as the number of busking videos increased. Nowadays, it seems that there are far fewer videos of lesson songs being put up.

Where my feelings have changed is in my current belief that there's always something to learn and enjoy from someone's video -- no matter what kind of song it is. I watch the ones I want to watch and ignore the ones I'd rather skip for one reason or another.

Having the busking threads has changed, to a degree, the type of song I learn. I've been choosing easier songs lately, mostly because learning them feels a lot less like drudgery than constantly trying to slay a dragon. There's room for both in my life, but I'm appreciating how much fun easier songs can be, and the reward is that people love to sing them when I have "music nights" with my friends. As I've been handing out the advice to JUST HAVE FUN, I've decided to practice what I preach. If it weren't for the existence of busking threads, I would never have learned She's Not There, Lady Jane, Heartbreak Hotel, Shakin' All Over, and I've Been Loving You Too Long -- a group of very fun songs. And even though these are not (or weren't at the time) lesson songs, I still learned important things while studying the songs. If people learn absolutely nothing from my videos aside from the fact that it looks like fun to play an easy song and sing your ass off, then it's a lesson well learned. It's a lesson I learned while watching people like Chris and Cori and Vanessa -- not every song has to be Classical Gas.

If a person is simply needing the love and attention that comes from performing, and really isn't seeking constructive criticism, to that I say ... so what! -- I'm willing to help you enjoy your brief magic carpet ride to stardom. If a person wants to use the busking threads for no other reason than to perform to an appreciative TG audience, I'm all for it. Almost none of us is ever going to perform in front of a live audience, so if I can help someone to live out her dream, it's a tiny price to pay for me.

But the most important piece of evidence about the busking threads is their sheer popularity. A lot of people, even those who don't post videos, enjoy them immensely and learn from them.

Is there a downside to all this busking business? I worry that busking has elbowed aside review videos. On the other hand, if it has, then it's because that's the way people want it. I'm fine with that. Maybe posting a busking video will give someone the confidence to post a review video sometime in the future. We all have to start somewhere.

And I have to say that I'm not a fan of people posting busking videos and then not supporting other people's busking efforts. I'm a quid pro quo kind of guy.


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