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3 Year TACiversary – 3 Months Late
So, why have I not submitted my TACiversary until now? And why am I bothering to submit now that it’s this late?
Well, there are ups and downs, right and lefts, and all arounds on the amazingly cool and sometimes perplexing guitar journey. But I have something so wonderful that I didn’t have before joining TAC. I need to focus on what’s new since last TACiversary (though a little review is totally ok).
I started playing guitar 23 1/2 years ago now, well into adulthood, so that I could accompany myself while a sang. I learned from a book and didn’t play with other musicians. So it was natural, really, that I played on and mostly off for the next 20 years, only getting to be smoother at the same basic skills but never actually growing.
Then I joined TAC. Wow, what an eye opener. It didn’t take long for my purpose to shift from singing to playing guitar. Before, I never played without singing, partly because my playing was so unrefined it just didn’t sound very good by itself. The “sound” that gave me so much pleasure that I was able to fall into a groove playing a simple chord progression round and round was finger picking. And that is the technique that I have focused on ever since.
The 1st two years saw a lot of improvement in my finger picking and fretting ability. But I still hadn’t found what I was looking for, and that was the purpose behind my guitar journey. Up until this past year, the only way I could understand my purpose was “because I want to”. That’s not very specific and therefore doesn’t have the motivation and endurance of a crystal clear purpose.
That brings me to the 3rd TACiversary, and I guess that obvious place to start is: “What is my purpose?” Music is ultimately about feeling, and it’s no different for me. I am on the autism spectrum, which means I have feelings, I just have real trouble noticing them and therefore processing them. My mission statement for my guitar journey is “To write songs that help me feel and process my emotions”.
The next obvious thing for me to state is that TAC has given me an “Acoustic Life”, and that really became apparent this past year. That’s part of the reason I hadn’t done this TACiversary until now, I didn’t need to. I don’t participate in the forum as much as I used to before the platform change and I’m ok with that. I love being a lifetime member of TAC so that I can still use it everyday to kickstart that day’s musical activity. But I no longer need that. TAC has taught me what it means to be a guitar player. I play all the time; I don’t need a schedule or a place or even a reason; I just do it. And it doesn’t matter if something interferes for a day or a week or whatever; the second I’m able to, I will come back to my guitar. In fact, no matter what, I can’t be pulled away from my guitar anymore as I can engage in both music and my guitar without touching it. Music and guitar are part of me now. I will not put my guitar down by choice ever again in my life. And I will continue to improve because of regularity and exploring new areas, with or without TAC.
Ok, so why post my TACiversary now? Because I now have an Acoustic Life, and that means I live and breath music. The foundation of music is sharing, and part of that sharing is inspiring others. When we can inspire others with our music, we receive the joy of giving, so it’s a win/win situation.
And what about specific progress? I mentioned writing songs. I have grown a great deal in my understanding of music theory, song writing and lyric writing, and much of that happened this past year.
Additionally, I have grown enough in my finger picking that I have started working with a flat pick more. And, my progress has brought me to a dead end that requires me to climb the wall at the end. And what is that wall? It’s called a metronome and it’s a pretty intimidating wall, but it has it’s own fun and huge rewards along the climb. I know that this wall called a metronome will bring much growth in my guitar skills and musical understanding.
Whatever else I said or you understood, I want to make it clear that I have a musical life now that I wouldn’t trade for the world and TAC gets the credit for giving that to me. You are in the right place and you, too, will experience continued growth and constant fun regardless of where you are at in your guitar journey.
MG 😀
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18 Replies
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Hi N-light. Congrats on finding good life, the acoustic life. 3 years and a miles of road traveled. I love your approach to the “wall”, the metronome. Embrace the discomfort and find your way out of the discomfort. The embrace is the way through. (words of Matt Eich). If you start going nuts gimme a shout and hopefully I will be sane enough squash the crazy. Always have fun and if you can’t have fun go slower.
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Thank you @jumpinjeff for your kind words. And thank you for all the support you have given me to find my way on this wonderful journey. And I live this last one, “if you’re not having fun, slow down”. That’s perfect. It’s right in line with what I’ve learned. Music is relaxing, not all “keyed” up. 😂
MG 😀
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@N-lightMike , congratulations on your Taciversary. Glad that you were able to find music to fill your life. Also I want to thank you for helping so many of us with our questions and give support along our musical journeys.
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You are welcome, @Cadgirl . And that’s what we do, we get the help we need, then we pass it on to others. It’s a wonderful community.
Thank you for your continued support. 😊
MG 😀
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Congrats @
N-lightMike. Very well thought out summary. I always enjoy reading your insightful posts and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. Sounds like you are right where Tony wants you to be.Enjoy the journey!
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Thank you so much, @ChuckS , for your kind words and encouragement. I do love the way everyone shares in this great community. And yes, I think Tony is very happy with everyone who has taken his direction to heart. He loves to share his love of guitar and we have all benefitted from that. 😊
MG 😀
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Congrats @N-lightMike on your 3rd TACiversary🎂🎉🎸 Wishing you many more🤘🍻🤩
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Thank you, @Bill_Brown for you support and encouragement. I truly appreciate it. 😄
MG 😀
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First off @N-lightMike I want to congratulate you in your life’s journey as well as your guitar journey. Thanks so much for sharing your post as there is a significant amount of great experience and wisdom packed in there!
It has been a pleasure to meet you here in TAC as well as in the JMG group. I’ve learned a lot from our discussions and time together there.
And oh, yeah – happy 3 years on TAC! 👏🎉🎶🎸😎😃
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Thank you so much, @Kitman . It is a great honor to contribute to the guitar journey of another person, so thank you for the feedback. I can honestly say you have contributed to my guitar journey as well. And that’s the real joy of these communities, that it really is a 2 way street. 😎
MG 😀
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Great post @N-lightMike! While it almost inspired me to go back to the TAC dailies (almost!) I still believe the community here is what made/makes TAC great. While I’m rarely on this forum anymore when I do come back I’m always reminded of the support and comradery that the TAC community provides. Way to go Mike and Happy Anniversary!
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This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by SoCal_Ian.
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First, thank you @SoCal_Ian . But second, you can’t spare 10 minutes? Or, you can do all the dailies flawlessly?
I don’t believe I need TAC anymore. But it helps me stay grounded in my guitar routine and it continues to push me to try stuff I have not yet developed. There’s not too much that’s new anymore, but I just haven’t gotten all the techniques down.
So, if you still don’t want to visit TAC more often, I understand. But you are missed. And not just by me. We used to be “mentors”. There is a continual supply of new guitar players here on this forum where we can share what we have learned. I love that. Tony could be a performing musician, but he spends more time giving help to others than playing on stage. I’m on that page. Well, except for the part about having the choice to be a performing musician. I may never be good enough to have that choice. And until then, I can learn more and give more away here on TAC. (You know me. I’m the king of arm twisting on the VOMs and I’m proud of it. 😎😂)
MG 😀
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@N-lightMike congratulations on your Anniversary and all you contribute to the community!
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Thank you, @TMutter . You have brought so much to our community by your stellar example of a singer/songwriter. That is the ultimate goal in my mind. I know that you have had a very positive effect on my guitar journey and I thank you for that.
MG 😀
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Well, as you can see @N-lightMike I really rarely come here as I’m just reading this some 3 months later. I don’t do the dailies as I just don’t have the patience to fuss with them. Personally I never found them to be very useful for me in terms of giving me concepts or skills I was unfamiliar with and they just provided more frustration in trying to do them than anything else. I get that they work for some people. I’ve never been one to follow up/complete things that bear little fruit for me and so….well 3 months go by before I come back to the site. Yes, we WERE “mentors” but then the whole inflection of TAC changed. I’m not here to supplement Tony even if I could. Nope, he’s the pro and I’m leaving it to him as that was clearly the way he wanted it when he shifted the old TAC to what it is now. YMMV
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Yeah, @SoCal_Ian ; the old TAC was pretty special. “All things must pass away” according to George. The only constant is change. So, here we are. I have gotten a ton from the philosophy and the community, not as much from the lessons. Or at least, that’s the way it seems. But the lessons are sneaky, and somehow, I have gotten better. I made hardly any progress in the past simply playing songs. For a long time, probably 2 years at least, I did the lessons faithfully. I don’t do them as faithfully. But I still check them out every day and still find benefit in trying to get the lesson down.
Anyway, we all have different ideas of what we like. No matter how much something helps others, if I don’t like it I just won’t get the same benefit. So I totally get where you’re coming from. But for me, Tony’s method and his lessons are just what I needed.
I’m glad you still stop in once in a while. Thanks for reading and responding. See you on a VOM soon.
MG 😀
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This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by
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Congrats Mike on your 3 yr journey. I must say that I relate to your struggles and the fact that you have so eloquently shared how you have dealt with them has helped and inspired me immensely. “Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight”. (Bruce Cockburn) Keep on keepin’ on brother!
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Thank you so much, Bob @bugmeist . I am grateful for your letting me know my comments have inspired you. I want to give back because I have been inspired by so many others. I am happy to be a part of this wonderful community and Tony’s great teaching method.
MG 😀
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