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First TACiversary!
Today is my first TACiversary! I feel like I made a lot of progress this year. That makes me really happy because I had stalled out for like 30 years before this!
Rewind to December of 2020. I had a small heart attack, which was a surprise because I had been feeling great and had biked about 4,000 miles in 2020! My angiogram looked like garbage and I ended up needing a coronary artery bypass. Everything went great and I feel totally normal now and I’m able to do all the physical things I enjoy, so it’s all good. But for the first three months after surgery, I was sidelined from work and had very little to do other than go to cardiac rehab. And I couldn’t do much labor as there were significant lifting restrictions for the first three months.
So as soon as it didn’t hurt to do so, I picked up the guitar and resolved to make the most of my time off of work. Call it a “guitar sabbatical”. 🙂 I looked around for a guitar course and settled on TAC because of all the habit-promoting aspects. I’m really glad I joined!
Here are some of my wins this year:
- I played every day of the year except for nine days when I was deployed for disaster medical work and I couldn’t bring a guitar
- I started attending a local jam a couple months ago. This was a big step for me because I hadn’t played with other folks since I had been in college. Big fun, and perhaps the most rewarding thing so far! Turns out that all the worry I had about it was unfounded — everyone was nice and welcoming and accepting of my level of playing
- I hand built a 1963 Fender Deluxe Reverb Amp clone from a kit of parts
- I built a ukulele from a kit and started to learn to play it
- I’m starting to build a guitar
- I learned how to use mics and an audio interface to record myself and edit the recordings on the computer, and how to sync up the audio with video. That was a big hurdle for me, but now I’m pretty good at the basic stuff.
- I had fun every time I played the guitar
About halfway through the year, I got some tendinitis in my right elbow (“guitar elbow”?) that I think was related to how I was strumming and flatpicking. But I went to physical therapy, did some exercises, and worked on changing my right hand technique and that got better.
Thanks to all the folks who post in the forums on TAC. It’s really motivating for me to see what everyone is working on!
Here are the first and last performances I posted on the site. The first is from February (about one month in) and the second is from today. Thanks again for all the support!
- “Billy In The Lowground” from February: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFD81e7F4y0
- “Big Sciota” from today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96N8waI9PhY
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10 Replies
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Happy 1st TACiversary @ted_h Other than the heart surgery, you have had a busy year! Very well played!!! Look forward to more of your posting. 😊😊😊😊🧙♂️😎
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Thanks, @Marty69!
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Oh, I forgot! Goals for the next year:
- Improve flatpicking speed and accuracy and commit a few “standards” to memory
- Learn some modern, percussive fingerstyle moves
- Play some songs at open mics, virtual or otherwise
- Improve singing and playing at the same time and post some songs with vocals
Mainly I want to get over my self-consciousness of playing for others.
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Wow @ted_h ! You’ve had some amazing wins this year! You’ve really used your time well and your playing is testament to that. Congratulations on accomplishing to much and reaching high. Glad you are feeling great now.
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Thanks, @Marisa! I appreciate it!
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Sorry, I missed this post first time round. That was one helluva year you just had on top of that bug that’s been going round. I think the fact that the only time you missed was due to circumstances out of your control speaks volumes about how much you love guitar. Once you just want to pick it up, rather than thinking of it as practice or a chore, you are truly in the zone. Happy TACiversary and here’s to even more progress. 🤟😎🎸
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Thanks, @Moonhare!
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Ted-H, what an amazing story. Good to hear your health is back. Built a uke, amp and working on building a guitar!!! You inspire!
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First, @ted_h , that’s one impressive 1st TACiversary. I’m really glad the bypass went well for you and really glad the bonus of that situation was to get you back into guitar and get you here to TAC.
I am very impressed by how thoroughly you threw yourself into your guitar journey. You have a lot of big wins in that list. Bravo.
I also very impressed by how well you played “Billy in the Low Ground”. You were a lot better than I was when I first got here. So, being that good, I wondered if your improvement would really be that significant.
Yep, and Wow, and Congrats. Your last video was truly amazing. Great job Ted. So, why haven’t we seen you at our VOMs?
Ah, then I saw your next post about your goals for next year. There are 2 things that can be hugely challenging for some guitar players. Sing and playing at the same time is a very common challenge. And then, playing in front of others is another very common challenge. It’s very easy for me to think that someone who can play as well as you can would be able to sing and play in front of others no problem. But it turns out, that playing ability has nothing to do with being able to do those 2 things.
I know you will make progress on singing and playing in front of others. You have already overcome challenges larger than either one of those 2 things. I look forward to seeing more of your progress.
MG 😀
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@ted_h , you are doing fantastic! Nothing like a heart attack to jump start your guitar routine (just teasing). Your TAC anniversary reads great. Thanks for posting the beginning video and current. Dang it, I wish I would have thought of doing that. Your current video! Knocked my socks off. You are amazing. Thanks again for posting your journey.
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