Greetings from Bill Spencer

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Greetings Everyone,

I’m Bill Spencer, a Canadian living in Switzerland, and I’ve been following this website and Justin’s teachings for many years. I’ve decided it’s time to finally stop lurking and jump into this community :smiley:

Finally finished with grueling engineering studies, I have time for hobbies again, and I’ve decided to get serious about my musical dreams. I dream of playing gigs in local pubs and cafes and maybe even a small local festival one day (nothing professional, just enthusiast level).

Over the last year, I’ve stuck to Justin’s structured learning method and have just finished grade 3, as well as the Practical Music Theory and Strumming Technique courses, which were excellent. I have also enjoyed Justin’s Songbooks (Beginner & Acoustic) and am now experimenting with the Songs App. My next step is to look for a teacher to help correct the loose ends, but I haven’t decided if online or local would be best.

Musically, I’m almost always singing while playing, and I often play acoustic, so I learn songs slowly because I always have to learn it three times (guitar, vocal melody, & lyrics). The last two months I’ve been trying to pump up the repertoire numbers, but it always seems like the list of “developers” and “dreamers” is growing faster…

Recently, I’ve been expanding into electric blues. The main reason, apart from the wicked sound and expressiveness, is that I dream of joining a live blues jam taking place at the local dive bar. Just the thought of going up on stage makes my palms sweat, but fortunately, Justin has a lesson on that too!

The only thing I really feel I’m missing is other musicians in my life (no family or friends currently in this category sadly) so I’ve never known a musical community before. With your help, I hope to change that :slight_smile: I’ve also never posted on a online forum before, so this will take some learning too.

I look forward to interesting discussions with all of you, and perhaps even some musical exchange in the not-to-distant future :wink:

Best wishes and kind regards,
Bill

9 Likes
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Hi Bill, and a warm welcome to your new guitar-buddies-
or should I say Grüezi? :smiley:
Plenty of learning tips to be had apart from Justin’s lessons. Some of us find it very helpful, well as motivational (not to mention fun!) to share where we’re up to with a simple video. I’m sure you’ve seen the acronym AVOYP.
If your longer term goal is to jam in a public ‘dive bar’, maybe think about joining in one of our open mics as some stage? A good way to experience butterflies in a safe environment.
From what I hear, this is not really a typical online forum. (Almost :laughing:) everybody here is very polite and encouraging.
Btw, where in CH do you live? Are you integrating? I lived in the German-speaking part for a decade.
Look forward to following your journey :smiley:

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Hey Brian, Thanks for the welcome! Indeed the vibe in this forum is very positive, which is what motivated me to join.
The open mic event is a rad idea! I definitely plan on spectating some when I can. In the meantime, some AVOYP feels like the right way to go. I’m watching some now and it’s really motivating.
I’m located in Aarau and really like the vibe here. I sense there’s a decent music scene that I’d like break into. This would also help with integration, for sure :slight_smile: It’s a life-long mission really haha!

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Welcome Bill. It certainly sounds like you have a plan in place.

Keep the ‘dreamers’ in your repertoire, they’ll come together eventually.

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Welcome Bill. As Brian said post something on AVoYP, you will get plenty of good feedback and then maybe try one of the online OM’s here.

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Hi William and welcome to the Community! You’ ll find a lot of interisting guitar discussion here and a lot of sharing too!

So relatable! :see_no_evil::see_no_evil::see_no_evil:

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Welcome to the community. Great to hear your story. Once you start performing more you will get other musicians into your life. one way or another.

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Move over Clapton! William is coming on stage! Welcome to the community.

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Hello Bill, and a warm welcome to the community :hugs:.
It really seems, that you have quite clear plans for your guitar future. And I’m absolutely certain, that you won‘t regret becoming a part of this supportive community :smiley:.

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Thank you everyone for the super warm welcome and positive vibes :blush: I really enjoyed cruising the forum today and am stoked for what lies ahead. Have a great week everyone!

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Hello Bill. A very warm welcome to the community. Thanks for sharing your story and being so bold as to state your dreams out loud and in public. I think it great when a long time Justin student steps in to join with the community aspect of the website too. I look forward to seeing you around. Cheers, Richard

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Hello Bill and welcome to the community. :slight_smile:

IT’s great to read that you now have more free time for doing what you love. Enjoy your journey.