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The passing of an icon and the impact they had as a group
September 21st, 2009
Somehow I keep thinking that things will slow down here at TotallyGuitars but that never seems to be the case. The comments and contributions from our members seem to grow every week. That really keeps us on our toes and makes the site a great place to keep checking in on. Here are some of the latest happenings.
In case you have missed some of the coolest news around her, I have to bring up our competition for visitors to create their own videos and enter them into a competition that will be voted on by all our viewers. The details can be found on the Forum but there are a couple of pretty cool prizes being offered to the winning entries.
Don't forget, the competition is open to everybody and we have one prize for the best entry from a TARGET member and another prize for the winning entry from everybody else. The winning TARGET member will be receiving a new Flip HD Recorder, and the winning non-TARGET member will get a full year's access to the TARGET Program. Of course, we are hoping that everybody is considering joining the TARGET Program soon as we are getting close to the point where we will be closing it to new members for a while.
Click here to visit the competition forum thread
This was a week off for our TG Live show but we will be back next Saturday, September 26 at 3:00 PM in California again. Last week we did manage to stay a little bit after class and add answers to the few questions we couldn't get to during the broadcast. I hope everybody has had a chance to check out Episode 9 of TG Live!
Our TARGET members are definitely getting the hang of recording themselves and uploading their practice videos to our YouTube channel. Once the videos are there, all the other members can view them and offer advice and suggestions.
I managed to get some time this week and give quick video responses to many of the folks who have added their videos. Be sure to check the thread on the Forum for TARGET members called Uploaded Videos For Review.
TARGET Members click here for video reviews
One of the biggest news items for this week is we added lessons by a friend of mine who teaches the ukulele. She is Michelle Kiba and is known in Northern California as the Ukulele Lady. She teaches in Santa Cruz and San Jose and performs with her own band.
She has graciously agreed to join the TG staff and present lessons on her favorite instrument as often as she can. This week we bring you her lesson on a classic Hawaiian tune, Pearly Shells. Check it out when you can.
I also shot a short interview with her called an Interview With Ukulele Teacher Michelle Kiba. I hope you can take a look at it as well.
TARGET Members click here for Michelle Kiba's lesson.
The Campfire Versions turned out to be enough of a hit with our members that we will now try to add at least one new one every week. As I mentioned last week, this approach has allowed me to take quick looks at songs that may not have a lot of new techniques involved but still are pretty fun to play. I do appreciate everybody's suggestions along these lines as we all grew up listening to and playing a different set of popular tunes. Keep those requests coming!
Check out campfire songs on the Master Menu click here
So last week we tried to give everybody a little break as far as new material was concerned. This week we added a few new videos in the Campfire department, a TARGET short on The Story In Your Eyes by the Moody Blues, as well as our introductory lesson from the Ukulele Lady, Michelle Kiba.
TARGET Members click here for The Storty In Your Eyes
TARGET Members click here for Michelle Kiba's lesson.
I suspect we might be overwhelming our members with too much material but after so many years of teaching guitar, I am still really excited about getting stuff down on video for as many students as possible. I might consider slowing down in a year or two!
Following is the usual info about the TARGET Program.
The TARGET Program is pretty revolutionary as far as an online teaching system goes in that it is very interactive. There are many ways that I stay in touch and interact with my online students. We have an exclusive section in our Forum where I answer questions from members, as well as take requests for upcoming lessons.
This interactivity even reaches out to live broadcasts for our members where we play some songs, help resolve music problems, and generally have an online group get together in real time. These episodes are part of out TG Live! Series.
If you are serious about improving your guitar abilities I really encourage you to join our TARGET Program while it is still open. I can't say how many students we will be able to handle but I know there will be a limit as to how many I feel I can work with. I want to be able to devote the same time and attention to my online students as I do for students I see in my studio every week.
Another recent addition to the TG Video section is now that we have so many TARGET students uploading their videos to various posts on the Forum, we have added a new section called Student Videos, where everybody can see some of the great songs that folks are playing. Be sure to take a look at the new section soon.
Click here for Student Videos
The Forum is cooking. Here are some links to cool threads-
Click here to view this forum thread.
Click here for this forum thread.
Click here for this forum thread.
Some recent Q&A:
Tangerine and Pigs On The Wing
Hey Neil, I was wondering if you will ever cover these two songs. Both are great but nobody breaks it down like you do. Also how would you rate them on a scale of one to ten. I enjoy your site please find time to video these songs.
Boatman
From Big Bear
Hey Boatman, welcome to the program!! We're glad to have you with us!! If you wouldn't mind please go over to the Please Introduce Yourself thread and tell us a little about yourself! Where you live, what your musical interests are and where you are on you journey to learn this incredible instrument- the guitar!
Almost without fail, the first thing every new TARGET member does is request their favorite song from Neil. And most of the songs requested are good ones but there are two critieria for having Neil do a song study for your song.
First, Neil must like the song. Don't request Tom Petty for example. I'll leave it at that! lol!
Second, the songs Neil selects must have real teaching value. If we can't learn something new from the song, usually a technique or progression, there is no chance the song will be chosen.
I don't want to discourage you further but this is month 5 of the TARGET program and there have been literally hundreds of requests for songs. Neil does about 3-5 full song studies every month so the odds aren't very good.
There is a thread under TARGET called Request a Lesson. This is the place to post your song request. On top of full song studies Neil does TARGET Shorts and Campfire Tunes. If he likes your song you may have a better chance there!
Good luck and Happy Playin'!
More From Boatman
Well I guess what your saying. But, from watching the TG liv, Neil likes songs for guitar soloists and those songs are nothing but acoustic guitar. Even guitar Bob on You Tube plays Pigs on the Wing by Pink Floyd and calls it a campfire song. So hes got some competition. lol. Both are great songs I hope he gets a chance to show every member of TG how to brek it down and play it correctly.
Then From BigBear
Those are both great songs and I'd love to learn them! I just wanted you to understand, as a new member, how Neil seems to pick songs. I don't want to speak for Neil and I wouldn't be that presumpuous, but he has told us a little of the criteria for how he selects songs for a study.
Being a huge Pink Floyd fan myself, I'd be happy if he put the entire PF catalog on TARGET but that ain't going to happen. And I believe Neil is a big PF fan too.
One other thought, be sure to join us for the next TG Live! which I think is this Saturday. You'll have to check the time. If Neil gets a break in the questions, Matt will often mention song requests from those members who ask about them during the live session. This is also a great time to get a little hint of what's upcoming.
Cheers!
TARGET Members Click here for Ask Neil
The Blog has been a little quiet lately so that is it for this week. I hope everybody can check the links we've included,
To get to the blog click here.