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Topic starter
Hello Everyone,
My name is Bill and I'm a 55 year old computer programmer and hobby guitar player. I first started playing when I was 13 but didn't stick with it much. Picked it up again in my twenties at then end of college and the start of entering into the workforce. I love all things Blues and Blues/Rock. Well, work took over and I slowly got out of it again. A few years ago I decided I wanted to start again and become a good player with realistic expectations. I think the reason I stopped in my twenties was because I wanted to by like SRV so bad but new I didn't have the talent and became discouraged. Excelling at work was something I could accomplish. Well, now I don't care about being some mythical guitar player and the pressure is off. I play for the love of the music and the joy of playing.
My problem is focusing. I've bought so many DVD's to learn my favorite songs and joined so many websites that I lost count. I never seem to stick to one thing long enough. Then I bought a few courses from Robert and I really enjoy them. Not only do I like Robert's style of teaching but the music he teaches is great! You really want to learn to play it. My tastes have changed too. Instead of trying to play SRV music that makes your arm want to fall off I finally realized that great sounding Blues doesn't have to be fast.
Robert's new website is really nice. He did a great job. Plus, what a wonderful time we live in. To be able to interact and get to know people from all over the world in different countries. What a great way to expand your horizons and meet some really interesting people.
I look forward to getting to know everyone.
Bill
Posted : May 28, 2017 14:12
Clayton reacted
Welcome Bill.
You will definitely take your blues playing to another level at MGA. Great teacher and awesome community. Enjoy!
Posted : May 28, 2017 14:42
Topic starter
Thanks Ivan.
Posted : May 28, 2017 16:23
Bill, I have family in the Burgh, now you've got same here at MGA. Welcome!
Keep the faith, practice and post often.
Posted : May 28, 2017 19:52
BIll
Welcome aboard. As you have already noted, there is a lot of great music and a lot of great lessons here on MGA... Dig in and enjoy.
Posted : May 28, 2017 20:05
Topic starter
Thanks Clayton.
Posted : May 28, 2017 20:18
Topic starter
Thanks Chris.
Posted : May 28, 2017 20:19
Hey Bill,
This is Esteban. How are you doing so far?. Welcome aboard.
Greetings from Barcelona
Posted : May 29, 2017 06:40
Topic starter
Hey there Esteban. Thanks, I'm doing great. My playing needs a lot of work but I'm getting ready to go on vacation to the Caribbean. So I'm a little preoccupied right now. 🙂
I've been to Spain many times when I was in the Air Force. Went to Madrid and Rota. Loved it!
Bill
Posted : May 29, 2017 07:26
Hi Bill! I'm excited to have you join our family!
I can definitely help with focus.
Step 1 is to start logging your practice. What we should practice can be hard to determine. Everyone is different and each and everyone of us has different needs and wants. The simple answer is you should practice what you enjoy and what makes you get closer to your goals.
So, setting goals is a very good way to help yourself get to where you want to be. That's probably something you should think a bit about. Smaller goals that are reachable (milestones) is what I recommend. An excellent way to accomplish them is record yourself playing what might be your first goal (maybe it's creating a nice 12 bar solo). You then share this on the forum as I've instructed, and BAM! I'm there to critique you and support you.
How about that?
Posted : May 30, 2017 09:25
Clayton reacted
Hi Bill, have to answer your post too. We're exactly the same age and I'm COO at a managed service provider. So Linux and programming is what I'm into mostly.
Maybe we should encourage each other a bit, for I've started today and our lifelines bear a lot of similarities.
Greetings from Hamburg to Pittsburgh!
Frank
Posted : June 7, 2017 06:39
I've got a background as a web developer myself. Some Java, but I've mostly worked with PHP and MySQL over the years. I'm glad I got out of it! With software, the work never ends... maintenance, bugs found, new features, etc - I never liked that part.
Posted : June 7, 2017 08:15
Yeah, you're right. I've started late in the IT business. Kind of wild west still, skills are more important than clothing. I like that. And it gives me the opportunity to travel. Have been to the Boston OpenStack Summit just some weeks ago.
Posted : June 7, 2017 10:11
Topic starter
Thanks Robert! I'm really excited to be here.
Yes, I definitely lack focus and creating a practice log and setting goals sounds like a great idea. I play l lot better when no one is watching or listening so I have to get over the stage fright before I post a recording of myself. I've been ill for the last couple of weeks and just starting to get back to playing today so I'm a little rusty. Practiced or an hour or two and things are starting to loosen back up.
Bill
Posted : June 17, 2017 16:34
robert reacted
Topic starter
Hi Frank!
Yes, we definitely should encourage each other. I think being part of a community is really going to help us.
I'm an Oracle database, Unix, Informatica developer. I've been doing it since 1992 and really getting burned out. I enjoy programming very much but the corporate world can be hard to deal with. Plus, the downside is after staring at the computer intensely all day long at work it's hard to look at it when I get home. So I think being part of this community will make all the difference!
Bill
Posted : June 17, 2017 16:42
robert reacted
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