Open thank you to Neil

unclewalt
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Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:24 pm

All that about honor and integrity is spot on. I may point out errors here from time to time, or whatever. But this place is such a refuge from other areas of the Internet, which are so full of lowlife sleazebags, scammers and spammers and snake-oil salesmen, trying to rip you off with offers of "online meds" and fake nutritional supplements. And get-rich-quick schemers, and slimy, lowbrow search-engine manipulators. Those people are ruining so much of the Internet, but as long as there are places like this to escape to, it's bearable

This site is all about success -- however you might measure that -- and not about miserable, abject, pathetic failure. That's what it comes down to for me.


Chasplaya
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Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:47 pm

unclewalt wrote:
All that about honor and integrity is spot on. I may point out errors here from time to time, or whatever. But this place is such a refuge from other areas of the Internet, which are so full of lowlife sleazebags, scammers and spammers and snake-oil salesmen, trying to rip you off with offers of "online meds" and fake nutritional supplements. And get-rich-quick schemers, and slimy, lowbrow search-engine manipulators. Those people are ruining so much of the Internet, but as long as there are places like this to escape to, it's bearable

This site is all about success -- however you might measure that -- and not about miserable, abject, pathetic failure. That's what it comes down to for me.
This site is a bit of an Oasis amongst the garbage. And its the approach by both Matt and Neil and the team that make it so. Then the community, everyone needs a sense of belonging its a basic human need, and I for one believe the welcomes dished out to new members are genuine, i've never really got into welcoming people on other sites nor have I been so quick to sing the praises of a place as much as I do here.

So i've said it before in other threads and i'll probably say it again, but Thank you Neil and Matt for creating this place, a haven amongst guitar sites and its more than that, its a close community (not closed) but very open, warm and welcoming. And I guess most importantly, if you follow Neils heartfelt tuition, I can't see you failing.

Chas


willem
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Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:59 pm

I ask my self often the question,, why is it here so warm and welcome and close,i think this generation is wise over all the years,,and Johnn thanks for making this thread so we can say thanks to people who make this possible,,goodluck to you all..


unclewalt
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Sat Jan 30, 2010 4:16 pm

The main thing is Neil's enthusiasm, as well as the smart, complete, detailed and highly professional way the lessons are presented. There are lots of decent online guitar teachers out there, but most (offline, too, I imagine), don't seem to get the same satisfaction Neil apparently does just from imparting knowledge and skills on his students, even if he never talks to them personally. He's a born teacher, I think - he would be just as good at teaching Spanish if that's what he had chosen to do.

I totally get it, too, though I've never taught much, or professionally. One Thanksgiving years ago, I taught my teenaged nephews how to play "I'm a Man," "Smoke on the Water," "Break on Through," "Sunshine of Your Love," etc. on the low E of my guitar. I just loved watching them go from never having touched a guitar to overcoming struggles to ultimately getting it down and being able to play all those riffs in one afternoon -- and that it was me who helped them get there. They bought guitars with in a week. They're approaching 30 now (!) and they both still play, and pretty well, too. Better than me in some respects, and one plays bass semi-pro once in a while and has taken up keyboards, too. I helped make that happen. Multiply that by hundreds or thousands, doing it every day, etc., and you have Neil and all other good teachers. I had maybe 5 teachers like that from kindergarten through college.

It's the essence of professionalism -- enjoying and caring about what you're doing more than about the money. Making sure everything is correct and complete (witness when Neil realizes that he forgot to mention something and makes sure to get to it, and that it's right). Being friendly, helpful, and approachable. Having equanimity. Never looking at anyone you deal with as a mark, or a dupe, or a patsy, or just someone whose money you want. And never bullshitting anyone.


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Music Junkie
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Sat Jan 30, 2010 4:30 pm

All of you have made great comments. I would just like to say for the record, that Neil, Matt, all the TG staff AND the entire community of friends here have made learning the guitar a pure time of enjoyment for me. Cannot thank every one of you enough. All of you are truly nice folks.

Neil: Your energy and true caring show through in your lessons, your feedback and in all of your comments. Not very often that someone who can actually play as well as yourself would take the time to share that gift in a way of teaching.....

Never thought I would be this involved in an internet site, but then again, I never thought that this site would exist...... So for that, I have to thank Matt again!

MJ


unclewalt
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Sat Jan 30, 2010 4:40 pm

One other thing, and this is just a personal observation: I've said my piece about what I think of Neil and his lessons, and I'll probably never mention it again. Imagine yourself as a person who constantly has a bunch of people telling you how great you are. In some ways, it's cool, of course. But at some point, it feels either a little creepy and excessive, or, if repeated enough by the same people, disingenuous and shallow.


tovo
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Sat Jan 30, 2010 5:04 pm

unclewalt wrote:
One other thing, and this is just a personal observation: I've said my piece about what I think of Neil and his lessons, and I'll probably never mention it again. Imagine yourself as a person who constantly has a bunch of people telling you how great you are. In some ways, it's cool, of course. But at some point, it feels either a little creepy and excessive, or, if repeated enough by the same people, disingenuous and shallow.
Walt I agree with everything you have contributed to this particular thread, and I've learned a bit about you along the way. You are clearly a guy who says what he thinks, and you're not alone there which can cause some fireworks occasionally I guess.

You don't need my approval obviously, but your observations on Neil are very thoughtful. In addition to what you have said, I think Neil's great strength is a lack of ego, insofar as he doesn't feel the need to constantly tell everyone how good he is and what he has achieved. He just does it. I so like that about the guy, and even though I obviously don't know him personally, I like what I see.


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