January 5, 2024

Happy New Year Everybody!

For the last week or so I have been trying to take the 3-Minute Challenge and apply it to a couple pieces I have struggled with for almost 50 years, every since I got a book with music to some John Renbourn tunes. Needless to say, those sessions stretched out to a bit longer. Today I played a couple of those at the top of the Update with some details about why they particularly grabbed my attention recently.

Student Review News
I finally got caught up on a few uploads of works in progress that students uploaded. These included a solo version of Yesterday, Dave Van Ronk’s Gaslight Rag, and a second look at Blue Sky. There are all available to Silver (and up) Members in the Student Review Portal. My suggestions on Blue Sky triggered today’s technique tip, which looked at right hand technique when playing licks or leads. It is basically the same rules as strumming–keep your hand in constant rhythmic motion. There were also short examples of lessons we have that focus on that idea.

3-Minute Challenge News
We are into the tail end of our 30-Day Challenge, and this week will have 9 days in it. So please add your weekend results to Week 4. This means Saturday and Sunday January 6 and 7 should be included in the Week 4 thread.

IGC Mini Camp News
You may know that we are adding a second International Guitar Camp to our 2024 calendar. The Main Camp will still be in September but our first Mini Camp will be April 25-28 (Thu-Sun). The focus will be more on instruction and playing in small groups, and less on performing. We are limiting this to about 20 students and right now we have 5 spots available, although more spots are likely to be available soon. We will have more info on the September IGC in a couple months and it is likely there will be a few spots available there as well.

Back to my wrestling match with the Renbourn pieces now…

Neil