[N-lightMike]

Hello @Barry2021 ;

It was not that long ago that I contacted Support and asked about the Fretboard Wizard Course. Victoria told me that it would be offered in the “first months of 2022” though a date had not been set and that they would announce it in the Acoustic Tuesday Newsletter and post a banner on this site.

You might join justmusicgeeks.com which is free and is an independent forum of TAC members so we can share information with each other freely. Right now one of the members has organized an informal course where they are helping each other to better understand the fretboard.

Hopefully, the FW course will be available soon. It is the best introductory fretboard course I’ve ever run into. When you have fully digested that course, you are able to follow the many course that are available out there if you choose to dig deeper. However, many people find that FW gives them all they will ever need.

I hope this helps.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

This is a common pricing structure in the marketplace. And I agree it is worth every penny. Compared to what you “get back” for what you “put in” with other courses and sites out there, this one is a great deal.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

It seems you have received some good advice, @dth . I would start by analyzing my own parameters: “Acoustic Guitar of Lifetime”.

I’d say, by definition, that means a well known and well trusted guitar. It doesn’t have to be a Martin or Taylor, but it does have to be something with a high resell value, because that would indicate it is respected and desired.

BTW, it doesn’t have to cost over a $1000 to be a high value guitar.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Yes, @JJM there is a method that works day in and day out. HAVE FUN! Just pretend you are a kid. Don’t ever try to master anything. Every time you approach your guitar or the lessons, think of it as going to the playground. The lessons are the “playground” rules. You have to know them… sorta. You have to follow them… sorta.

MG 😀

• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by  N-lightMike.

[N-lightMike]

So here’s my take on your question @5noteblues ;

As you are going through the FW course, you will have a bunch of “ah-ha” moments when doing the daily challenges. The FW course is simply a way to look at music, it’s not the music itself. So it’s good to stay engaged with music at the same time.

That having been said, I agree with @Loraine and @Bill_Brown that you can, and probably should, go through FW more than once. So the bottom line is, put some time and effort into these lessons, whether the FW course, the next 6 chords course, or the daily lessons, but don’t get too serious, and never try to master them. The one overriding rule is: Have Fun!

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Here’s my take on this @ShawnS

I’ve read quite a few different ways to approach music theory, and guitar applied music theory.

I gotta admit, that I think it makes sense to apply music theory to the guitar for those who are going to play guitar. Why teach me music theory on the piano when I play guitar?

So, this approach is how this person, finally, came to understand music theory… specifically on the guitar. It took him a long time. Every person who shares their approach has the same objective, to save me time by showing me how to see the big picture that they see. I believe that each of the different perspectives I looked at might have helped me to some small degree. However, what every one of these teachers overlooked, was that I can’t see through their eyes. The only way for me to see the big picture as clearly as they do is to put the time in exploring the guitar, playing, practicing, dreaming about chord shapes, going into a meditative state and “hearing” intervals on the guitar, or however each of us does it. Eventually, the whole fretboard will gel into one, interconnected pattern.

And when we finally get there, we’ll have our own way of describing the big picture because we are a unique individual.

So many people share “what they wished they knew when they were starting out”. Here’s mine: stop wasting time thinking about music and guitar, and spend more time messing around with the guitar. Hands on, ears focused, heart open, brain turned off.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hello @schmiderific

There is a lot of confusion now a days, especially among guitar players, about what a “key” is. People refer to the “key” of C major and the “key” of Am. Neither of those are a key. Since they are in the same key, they are 2 different names for the same thing. Obviously, this would lead to confusion. A “key” is the specific set of 7 notes. C major is in the key of “no sharps or flats” (no one ever came up with unique names for the keys, they just used the name for the major, or Ionian, mode of the key).

The reason I bring this up is because you have listed different keys. G major has 1 sharp. Therefore the next 2 lines would have to have only 1 sharp. We are simply using a trick to write out the chords within this key. But you must use the same set of notes, otherwise, you are going “out of key”, which is called “non-diatonic”.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hello @Kristin1

One of the people who attends the VOMs regularly says he has something like over 400 songs on his play list. I was amazed and asked him how he stays up on them. He told me that he has a database containing all the songs he has learned, and he keeps it updated when each song is played on a VOM. He doesn’t actually record when he practices them, but he usually plays through them before the VOM. And he attends a lot of VOMs, not just the ones we guitar geeks run.

For myself, I don’t have that many songs, but I still have trouble keeping up with all of them. I am trying to play some songs everyday. It seems that a new song has to be played almost everyday for weeks before it becomes a “back pocket song”. Once it’s a back pocket song, I find I don’t have to play it more often than every other month or so. But, I don’t just play it once. I go through it several times, play it in a VOM, maybe record it. And then it can be set back for a while again.

Honestly, I’m still working on perfecting my song rotation and keeping them sharp. So far, I can only keep a handful sharp, maybe 20, though I know at least double that. I have, at least, made a list and have started trying to keep track of playing them once in a while.

I hope this helps. I hope others come by and share their system of keeping songs sharp. I could use more ideas.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hey @Bill_Brown and @Salty ;

This is exactly the opposite of what I understand. You will always pay extra money for the Martin name. Every brand out there except Gibson, will give you higher quality materials for the same price as a Martin.

And there is no inferiority to “layered” wood, in fact, just the opposite. Plywood, in this case, it is high tech plywood called high pressure laminate, is superior to solid wood as it does not warp under stressful conditions caused by temperature and humidity. And good luck hearing a difference when the top is solid wood and the HPL is the back and sides. The reason pretty much all the under $500 guitar manufacturers have gone to solid tops is because the HPL doesn’t resonate as well. But the back and sides don’t resonate. They simply provide a sound box to amplify the sound.

These are, of course, my opinions. And none of these things ultimately make any difference when buying a guitar, though it will limit your choices if you are prejudiced against HPLs or less well known companies.

Tony has laid out the steps to picking out a guitar. What it looks like matters, as does how it sounds and how it plays. And the biggest factor, which is simply the all important practical reason, is price. That’s it. Not the other things being discussed here.

I’ve seen it over and over again where someone bought a guitar based on the reputation of the company and was sorely disappointed because it wasn’t a good fit for them. There are guitars that cost tens of thousands of dollars that I wouldn’t own if you gave it to me (other than to sell it). Just sayin’.

MG 😀

P.S. I only want to be helpful. If what I’ve said isn’t helpful, just ignore me. 🙄

[N-lightMike]

👍

[N-lightMike]

👍😊

[N-lightMike]

Hey Mark @mkjohnsons

Thanks for the reply.

It’s interesting, I have heard that saying of course, but I hadn’t put this guitar specific thing together with that saying. “Paralysis by analysis”. I should have known that’s what I’d do with guitar since I am prone to that dark hole. I find it fascinating how many ways we can fool ourselves. 🙄

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Thank you @Guitargeezer-Jack for repeating and emphasizing the simple steps Tony lays out for us. They are so simple it’s real easy to think “oh, yeah, I get that”, and then miss them sometimes. But they are so important to really get into our regular thinking so we can reap the benefits they bring.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Thank you so much, @ted_h . As I said to @ShawnS above, some of the credit must go to him for asking the question. I did write down what I said so I can remember it myself and maybe make a song out of it. 😁

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

You are very welcome. It is a joy to help. Lot’s of times I see things more clearly because I’m trying to explain something to someone else. So thank you very much for your post.

MG 😀