Been a Justin Guitar student since early 2019 but new to this forum. Great to see everyone making progress and having fun. The open mics are a brilliant vehicle to increase confidence and performing skills. Enjoyed listening to Open Mic 008 yesterday.
I have learned a lot of new things from watching the Justin videos. His teaching style and the level of detail he uses are exactly what people need to get comfortable playing, and to keep playing
I’ve been playing acoustic guitar since 1984 when I took lessons from a local singer/songwriter in Dundee, Scotland. I really wanted to learn to play after watching the Simon & Garfunkel, Central Park concert as a teenager. Paul Simon is still one of my favourites and got to see him live twice in the last few years. Joni Mitchell is also one of my heroes, as are Mark Knopfler, Chris De Burgh, and a whole bunch of 80’s electronic bands like OMD, Ultravox, Heaven 17 etc.
Living in Northern California now, and have played a few open mics at coffee shops. As some people have said, the stage-fright is very real and can be quite debilitating depending on how you feel on the day and how well prepared you are. I have had some brilliant ,and a one or two disastrous open mics but enjoy it enough to keep trying.
Glad to be part of this community and look forward to learning from you all.
Great stuff Rod, welcome to the community. Yeah, that stage fright can be awful, and also quite the sense of accomplishment when you learn ways to get on top of it.
Welcome aboard Rod
Wow '84, eh? That’s a good run! Glad to see you’re still learning.
I remember watching the concert in central park in my late teens as well. That was something else!
Took me a while to decide to pick up a 6-string though
All that New Wave stuff felt so fresh in those days, didn’t it?
Look forward to hearing you play next month (or earlier if you feel like posting a video clip here in AVOYP)
Cheers Brian
Hi Rod,
Welcome,
and what several say, I look forward to learning something from you, because you have a nice mountain of experiences,Looking forward to your first video…
Greetings,Rogier
Good to meet you Rod and thanks for posting the interesting intro. Hey some good name dropping there my friend. Look forward to hearing more and seeing you at OM IX.
That’s true. They are amazing. I saw them a couple of weeks ago on their most recent tour. The songs sound superb and the energy incredible. Been a fan since hearing Souvenir on the radio in 1981. Love that they are still going strong.
I should probably mention why I joined Justin Guitar. I am decent at finger-picking but relatively weak on strumming patterns/rhythms, muting, playing to a constant beat, and dynamics, so that’s why I want to be a part of the community. Will post some videos ahead of the open mic and hopefully get some feedback.
Hello Rod and welcome to the community.
It sounds like you already have some great skills and some great experiences, joining the Open Mics in the community will be another such I’m sure.
Kudos for knowing your strengths and areas to develop too.
Cheers
Richard
