The Missing Years....

LONGER VERSION:

Last thing I remember posting back then was a thread about making some videos, which I was then attempting to learn how to shoot. I got some help from a friend and had a lot of fun trying out different things. But the project went off in various other directions after I found that there were a number of existing guitar sites that had already covered what I was attempting. And of course they had done it much better than I did. Rather let the air out of that balloon. Life also threw up a variety of other challenges and demands, particularly with caring for my son, and music discussion took a back seat for quite some time.

But I did eventually join a subscription site that teaches via video and have recently been enjoying learning that way. It might not suit everybody but it's working really well for me. I'm even doing some practice and making some modest progress!

What I've found particularly useful is the ability to watch and re-watch the instructors' hands - shot from different camera angles - and also to loop small sections over and over in order to figure stuff out or play along with the teacher. They also provide some written descriptions, plus printable scores, tabs and chord charts, which is great. Plus you can email instructors or ask questions in their sub-forums. They even have live open webcam sessions where members can ask them questions directly or maybe play a little over their own webcams. There are multiple instructors so if you don't quite 'get' a concept in one person's lesson you can watch the same issue presented a little differently by another. Just amazing how much you can do online now.

However…… when it comes to having good forum…. it seems that Guitarnoise still wins hands down.Their forum is pretty lame. The quality of information, friendly help, and general standard of discussion at GN is still unmatched. Most places just don't have the balance that GN does. Other sites that have the traffic and member experience also seem to have high jerk counts.

I see that GN has been hit by the dreaded copyright lawyers since I was here last. Bummer. The video lesson site apparently had their actual song section gutted too, although the general lessons (numbering in the hundreds) seem to have been OK. They've since negotiated things with a number of copyright holders and have a reasonable chunk back up, but still can't get an agreement with Warner Chappell.

On the home front, I've finally got my disabled son through 5 years of school and into an adult support program. So that's a major stress factor that's moved on. He now gets 3 part days a week away from home and I get to do other projects, and goof off a bit too. He's enjoying the new place and I'm certainly glad to see the back of doing 10 trips a week to school. I finally bought a 'name' guitar too - a Fender American Standard Strat. Lovely guitar. I'm looking forward to being able to do it justice.

BTW, my current bedside reading - a certain Idiots Guide to Playing Rock Guitar - promised, on the cover, to "unleash the rock guitar god within you". I'm nearly half way through and he hasn't emerged yet. How much further do I have to read before I become a Rock God?? I might have to put in a complaint to the author…. Good read though. :)

Talking of whom… I read here that David H was experiencing very nasty weather, and losing internet contact with GN. We must be getting parallel weather on opposite sides of the globe. We recently had the strongest storm I've seen in 25 years at this house. Over 2" of rain in half an hour, lashing at us in gusts virtually parallel to the ground. Water coming in over the tops of tall windows that were protected by verandahs that are over 12 feet wide! In a normal storm they don't even get damp at the bottom. Direct lightning strike on a tree next to the house which exploded branches in a 180 degree arc. No damage to the house or us fortunately, although there were trees down across local roads and the power and phone were out for a day or two. Still sawing up bits of other fallen trees, etc . I hope David fared better.

Cheers,

Chris

Welcome back. I am happy that you are taking care of your son's needs and making progress, that's what real life is about. Congrats on the Strat and the desire to delve into the music, and some more forum interaction. I wish you best in the land Down Under. :D

Thanks Blue Jay. :D

Thanks for the update . . . it's good to see you back.
I look forward to a submission to SSG from you.

Thanks Ken,

But no promises about the SSG. I'm on a "Post Addict's Diet" now. Something like:

Chris

well I thought you had died or something! thanksfor checking in!! :lol:

Chris.

So good to hear from you and that things are going so well.

Glad you are back, even if in short spurts!!

:D

No sitting on the couch guzzling down music books and pretending it will improve the way your hands move.

You mean it doesn't work by osmosis???!

*walks away muttering to herself*

Thanks for the cheerful replies everybody.
well I thought you had died or something! thanksfor checking in!! :lol:

TR, at my age it feels that way some days.... :wink:

Hi Chris!

Welcome back! :D

Good to see you still here Nuno. :)

For some reason, whenever I open a certain drawer in my desk and see the old stamp album from my childhood I think "I wonder if Nuno still collects stamps?" Of course, I might be deluded in thinking that you ever did collect them.... My ageing brain is not so reliable these days... :roll:

Chris

Yeah, I do it! Currently I only keep open one of my collections, the Spanish stamps. I am subscribed to the national stamp service and they send to me the new stamps and other gear every three months. I was in Ireland this summer and I started a new collection there, I bought the latest five or six years of theirs stamps. I am looking for a local provider with good prices.

All my other collections (WWF, old Spanish colonies, etc.) are momentarily closed. I love to go the the stamps market but it is held on Sunday morning and I use that time for training.

So, your brain works perfectly, I still collect stamps! :D

So, your brain works perfectly....

Did you ever doubt it for one second? :lol:

Good to see you back, Chris - you've always managed to strike the perfect balance between wit and wisdom. I haven't been posting an awful lot lately, either - too much going on in the so-called real world. Things seem to have settled down to some semblance of normality now, though (if I could just work out which way is "up!") and hopefully I'll be able to spend a bit more time around the forum.

Don't be a stranger, mate!

:D :D :D

Vic

HI again Vic,

Thanks for the welcome back. I hope you got the apology I sent via Hotmail, for failing to find and reply to your message from before Christmas :oops:

Sounds like your life has been having its usual share of dramas too, so I hope there's some smooth sailing ahead for you. Not sure what this "normality" is that you refer to though... Did we ever have have some of that? I've heard if it, but I just can't seem to place it in my remembered version of your life - or mine for that matter. Must ask Vicki if we ever had any patches of "normality"... :wink:

Cheers,

Chris