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WHY SO FEW WEEKLY IMPROV POSTS NOWADAYS
When I first joined TAC 4 years ago Wednesday night fun was listening to the improv posts from the whole range of guitar sojourners. There was always a few really nice experienced members and one or two early sojourners. I haven’t noticed any beginner level improvs in a long while. Has the protocol of the forum formerly changed or has it slowly evolved to just be a place for more experienced players and singers doing covers or original works. I also noticed Tony no longer tells us weekly to post an improv that we like. I posted some really beginner improvs that took me hours to learn how to record and post. They were simple but the process was good for me and the encouraging feedback pushed me to keep trying. I’m intimidated at this point because I just don’t see these kind of posts anymore. Did I miss a memo?
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3 Replies
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Hi @SherryH , there’s been major shifts ever since the new TAC was implemented. Most of the senior players have left TAC, because it isn’t a “social group” anymore, and theres no fluidity in the forums that makes it easy to banter and have fun. It is more bland and generic in many ways, and I think that is part of the problem. Newer members were primed by the old ways of TAC, and its fanily atmosphere. It is now a site simply for learning a foundational base for beginner guitar on which to build upon.
I’m not sure how to change that. Maybe recruit a few to lead the way, outside of the few skilled guitarists that improv now. TAC needs to go back to the mentorship format and i.d. those people with a banner under their name. Having a more welcoming forum that invites actual conversations would be great. I think TAC polices too much and discoirages free and open communication.
Well, I’m sure I haven’t answered your questions well, but these are my rambling thoughts.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by Loraine.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by
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I agree, there are now fewer people posting solo or improvised playing over the backtrack @SherryH
than in the past. I understand many starting players are shy or some
members aren’t even really interested in trying to become an improviser,
and it’s more fun for many to learn a few chords and sing a favorite
song, which is great. It may take a while before starting players decide
to post improvs or go over the scale with the backtrack playing. As @Loraine
wrote, many of the older members who used to improvise seem to have
moved on or are now more interested in other social media interactions
jam nights, etc…, so there are fewer more experienced members that
decide to post solos… 🙁 One other reason is also maybe that finding
the improv posts may not be as easy as it used to be when there was a
“solo zone” bin or forum that members could check out. If everything
gets jumbled into the same Forum from playing cover songs, to someone
posting an original tune to live “zoom” jams in the same forum with
occasional Wednesday solo improvs, the solo lesson videos are maybe 5%
of them now at the most…. The improvs may quickly disappear from the
“newer list” of posts, since a new reply to an old post becomes the
newest post and many of the members are more likely interested in
listening to others singing known songs or hearing some creative new
tunes from some of us. The repeated replies sent to people’s posts who
with reason enjoy hearing members belt out some awesome tunes, will send
newly posted improv posts to the end of the queue and off the first
page of the forum very quickly. If there is no dedicated “home” for the
improvs, which are essentially the main way to learn guitar playing
directly through TAC, the few improvs posted that may also be less often
replied to by most members will probably often get lost in the mix
within the diverse playing/performing posts that all make up the “Play
for us!” forum. As an “older ” member of TAC, I do miss the “solo zone”
and quite a few of the members t🎶 -
(continued from above since too long! ) members that are no longer posting here, I wish I had more time to listen to
many of you posting covers or coming up with a new original tune, but my
available time is pretty limited these days. I’m glad to see many
posting in the “Play for us!” forum, whatever their current projects or
challenges may be! Whatever your interests, I hope everyone has fun
expanding their abilities and improving their playing and singing too! 🌞🎶@SherryH , here’s an improv I posted yesterday for a solo from a few weeks ago…
https://tonypolecastro.com/family-forums/topic/twenty-bills-improv/
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This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by charlie_d.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by
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