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TACiversary Story, sad but true
Well friends and neighbors, it’s not gonna be as upbeat and shiny as the story I’d originally typed out. A good number of the things I was going to praise about the site and community are gone, wasted in the aftermath of progress. I’ll try to start with the positives, but there’s some much needed (in my opinion) blunt feedback in this post.
First off, my history with the guitar has been consistent with the typical TAC member. I started playing about 20 years ago. Started off with a bang. Steep learning curve, lots of motivation, played with friends, jam groups, etc … then somewhere along the line I got bored, life got complicated and I picked up the guitar less and less and achieved a pretty phenomenal leveled off plateau for about 17years. On a whim one day last January I searched the local Guitar Center website (something I’d never actually done before) and saw a used Gibson J45 for sale for a reasonable price. This was the guitar that my best friend, who taught me guitar, played when I first picked up learning the instrument. Hence, this is the way the guitar should sound in my head. I went down to the local GC and instantly fell in love, strumming those first few songs I’d learned sitting opposite from this instrument so many years ago.
Finally, I could sound like the guitar in my head. Now to figure out how to actually play the thing and get over this decade and a half stall. Perusing the interwebs for lessons led me here. Best money I’ve ever spent in the pursuit of learning the instrument. I loved the lessons, the site in general, and the community that the site brought together. I did as I was instructed and introduced myself on the forums. Before I could even leave the page … bam … a welcome note of encouragement from @Brian Pateman. That got me curious and prompted a deep dive into the forums. What a positive place of inspiration for a guitar geek! I was hooked.
Over the course of my first year, I became a guitar player. I learned more than I could’ve imagined about the instrument. I loved the daily lessons, especially when juxtaposed to a forum with compelling posts made by caring, empathetic people with nothing but support. The daily lessons taught me how to play the instrument. The forums taught me how to LOVE it.
My TAC membership also changed my relationship with music. I now listen to music entirely differently than I ever had throughout life. That was partly due to the fretboard wizard, which admittedly, I made it only 2/3 of the way through, but also due to the “Share The Music” segment of the forum. You guys exposed me to music I didn’t even know existed. The broad reaching, international makeup of TAC members was a window into music genres and artists I would have never gotten around to finding … and I’m the most eclectic music appreciator I know!
Now comes the negative critique of the new site. Don’t get me wrong, the old site was sometimes clunky. Occasionally frustrating. But it was a huge net positive and very much worth the occasional 404 error message or the hunt to find the little nooks and crannies that seemed to disappear when I was looking for them. However, the new site has taken away the part of the site that kept me coming back. Sometimes completing the daily lessons seems like homework. But, just like homework, if you get it done, then you can go hang out with your friends. Go see what new music @LC Smith posted, what new song @MartinO has perfected, what’s new with @RickyK’s custom guitar build, check out @JulieI’s homemade guitar build, get some technical or theory advice from @Derrick, listen to @Dmart demo a new guitar, and, most importantly, see what new gem of a guitar some lucky TAC’er just picked up and live vicariously through their GAS. This was guitar geekiness at its best. Shoot, I even remember perusing a thread upon which a TAC member was struggling with a personal medical issue and was offered private help interpreting his labs by a fellow member, who happened to be an MD. You don’t get that type of human connection on any other guitar lesson website. It’s what made TAC stand head and shoulders above the rest
I’m also a regular consumer of the Acoustic Tuesday show. This is Tony at his best, sharing new music, talking about new products, showing off new guitars, just all in all being the most enthusiastic and supportive guitar geek leader, inspiring all of us to further our journey. I feel like the new site has taken the opportunity to do this away from us as members. Where do we go to scratch this itch for ourselves? Obviously it’s not welcomed here anymore. That’s a jagged pill to swallow.
I am a veterinarian by profession. It’s a grueling career. I often do not have time to commit even 10 minutes in a day to the lessons. I know Tony doesn’t think that’s possible, but many days, I’m scheduled for 12 hours of procedures and appointments, which leaves me finalizing records and returning phone calls late into the evening. Often times I sit down to my first real meal of the day after 10 pm. That leaves me with the choice of connecting with family or my guitar. I choose my family. If the new format does not allow for people to do these lessons on their own time and make up for the days they miss easily, it will be a great disservice to folks like me. Also, in my line of work, I’ve been encumbered by countless practice management software changes, updates and “improvements” that fundamentally change the way I practice medicine, connect with my patients, and connect with my clients. With the corporatization of veterinary medicine, I’ve witnessed a huge disconnect with the veterinarian-client relationship in the name of streamlining and increasing production. In the past, TAC has been a huge escape for me from the pressures of unsolicited changes in the medical field. It is truly disheartening to see the higher ups at TAC make such drastic changes to alter the experience of the website and community without input from its consumer base. I’ve fought this in my career for the benefit of my patients and am devastated to now see this happen here, at my place of refuge.
To end on a positive note, the daily lessons should absolutely be celebrated. It’s a great way to interact with your guitar. One of the best feelings in the world is when a series of fretted notes and plucked strings becomes music in your own hands. That is achievable on a daily basis here. It breaks learning down into manageable chunks and is a phenomenal way to learn or improve on the instrument. Here’s hoping that TAC is open to some friendly, but blunt feedback and might consider returning to the down home, welcoming feeling of the prior forums. To be honest, if I’d not just renewed my membership for the year prior to this update, I’d spend my guitar lesson money elsewhere, and that really hurts to admit.
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