[N-lightMike]

Nice job, @Marty72 . Love the sound of that Martin. And great finger picking and thumb picking. Sounded and looked very “organic”. It was really nice to listen to.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

I’m not sure why my post was all garbaged up with all the <font> stuff because I hadn’t even edited anything. And of course, I’m afraid to edit the post because it’ll end up being worse. So, I just copied that last part and edited it here in another comment before I hit the “Post” button.

That’s a lot of small wins. But, it was all made possible by the win on the 4th level. Normally, I get frustrated which leads to my becoming overwhelmed. I am finally starting to “take to heart” this idea of mistakes being good, not bad. Making mistakes means I’m pushing myself and learning how NOT to do something. Mistakes are actually a “normal” part of the learning process. Go figure. So, I’m “supposed” to think: “Cool, I’m making mistakes. I must be improving.” To get to that point has also take me the entire 4+ years I’ve been with TAC (I’m a slow learner).

To recap:

1) I was consistent with the “Ain’t No Sunshine” lessons in spite of the fact that I didn’t do a single lesson on the “correct day”.

>2) I stayed calm and determined because I saw mistakes as a good thing.

3) I was able to break things down to the “molecular” level so I could figure out how to improve “problem spots”.

4) Even though I was struggling, I was able to see how much I had improved and appreciate this whole process is working and that gives me even more determination to keep going and be happy with what I’m doing.

So part of the reason I put this text in here and cleaned it up is because I was re-reading it myself. I wanted to remember what I had learned and revisit it. So many times I get something and then don’t continue practicing it. I end up forgetting all about it and it never gets into my muscle memory and I never use it in a song. So, I want to do this one differently.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Awesome @albert_d . I hadn’t heard about “Fretboard Summit”. Is this the newest incarnation of the “Acoustic Life Festival”.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hey Jack @Guitargeezer-Jack ,

I am impressed but not surprised. This is a wonderful place your guitar journey has gotten to. But, you were already in service to others in a number of ways, so it makes sense that you would combine your guitar with your service. What a beautiful thing.

I saw early on how hard you were working on your guitar skill and how fast you were making progress. You used your guitar skill to learn songs that would reach those a generation ahead of you. That, too, is a beautiful thing.

And now, we get to be inspired by your example of service… and you get such great joy out of all of it. That just heightens the inspiration.

Thanks for posting Jack. You have set a high bar for us to reach for. What a wonderful thing.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hey Mark @the-old-coach ;

Listen, I’d love to say something about this, but it’s tough to say anything without sounding like I’m complaining about TAC. I love TAC. TAC has given me an acoustic life I never thought possible. And I loved the old TAC forum, because it was like a guitar social media site.

But it’s NOT a social media site; it’s a guitar learning site THAT COSTS MONEY. It costs Tony and Levi money to have it on the web and it costs us money to access it. The changes have made it a better guitar learning site, which is what it is.

What’s left of the TAC forum is also better… for what it was intended for. To allow discussion about the lessons and about playing guitar. They choked it down on purpose.

However, some of the perceived problems are because of the platform, Word Press. Word Press offers services that are hard to match. And quite honestly, no platform is perfect. But yeah, there are some down sides.

I think the biggest reason for the lack of participation was already mentioned. This platform is painfully slow. Too slow for me to deal with very often. 😥

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

You are pushing yourself to reach new places with your guitar journey, @outdoorgator , and that’s great. You are preparing yourself for the new situation, and that’s even better. That’s why you will succeed.

I have been more stubborn than this. I want to reach for new areas, but I don’t want to prepare. I need to learn from your willingness to grow and improve. I’ve been to a number of live open mics, but still haven’t set up a practice area where I can stand up. I’m gonna make that a goal. Thanks for showing us your routine.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Hey @Loraine ;

Thanks for reading and responding. Yes, I do need to remember about the slow journey and long plateaus between the occasional periods of growth. I don’t seem to think of them at the same time. So that’s helpful. Thanks. 😊

The name was given to me for my last B-day by @jumpinjeff . Someone had given him a nickname so he has “given it back” and given me a nickname. It’s short for “enlighten” and refers to the system Tony has put into place here on TAC. 😎

There are a number of things that take a while to figure out about TAC. Going slow makes your learning curve go faster. That’s counter-intuitive. You learn more skills by NOT mastering the lessons, but just attempting them. Ok, that’s pretty weird. Then there’s the one about being exposed to so many things it helps me NARROW my focus. 🤔 It tried so hard to understand these things and explain them to newcomers that Jeff picked “N-light” Mike as my nickname. I am honored. 😄 The only nicknames I ever got weren’t compliments. 😏

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Yes, @Moose408 , it’s amazing how simple it is to actually improve. But we have to be consistent, and sometimes it doesn’t seem worth it. That’s why we have to try to see the “small wins” so that we know we are progressing. That gives us the feedback we need to be motivated to pick up our guitar even on days we “don’t feel like it”.

Thanks for reading and responding, Moose.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Yes, they do indeed add up, @Bill_Brown .

I have no idea what’s up with all the <font> stuff going on. I didn’t even do an edit. I love the new TAC site, but I really don’t care for this platform. Oh well. You gotta take the good with the bad as they say. 🙄😍

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

You bet, @Loraine . I am definitely not alone when I say we love having you as part of this amazing guitar geek community. 😊

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Thank you, Jack @Guitargeezer-Jack .

I agree it’s good to hear about you and what’s going on in your guitar journey.

I know our not staying in touch as much as we could have is on me. I haven’t spent much time in the TAC forum for a while. I have so many ways to spend my “musical” time anymore. I have continued to grow as a songwriter. That is like a career in itself. And of course, I have to practice and play those songs. And just in case that’s not enough, I do the TAC lesson trying to increase my guitar skills. And then, of course, I’m trying to learn harmonica, Navaho flute, and clarinet. Yeah, that’s a lot of hot air, but then I a big blow hard, so I can handle it. But it takes time. And then there’s the time spent trying to use and learn about all the tech side of today’s musical world.

But then, truthfully, I still spend way more time than I need to watching movies or useless YouTube videos.

Anyway, those are all the excuses I can think of at the moment. 😂

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

This is a journey, @Loraine . We all are traveling the same road, but at different spots and different speeds. You are moving along that road also. You have gotten much better at playing in front of others. And you will continue to learn and do better at playing in front of others. In fact, your progress has inspired me and many others many times. Your “grit” is inspiring Loraine. (Grit, The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth)

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

Three chords and the truth – Harlan Howard when describing country music.

[N-lightMike]

That’s excellent @Moose408 , to recognize that your skill is growing. Without that feedback we start to question whether this is working since it’s so different from other methods.

MG 😀

[N-lightMike]

I love this, @Moose408 ;

You simply look at it from the point of view of frustration vs fun. The only thing that changes in going from frustration to fun is your expectations of the outcome.

But here’s where that puts you. In spite of the fact that you are not mastering these lessons, you are exposing yourself to challenges and new ways of playing the guitar. This causes your skill level to go up in different ways. It doesn’t seem like it and it doesn’t feel like it, but the truth is we progress steadily using this method.

And all we have to do is have fun. I love it.

MG 😀