March 22, 2024

Music inspired by Pat Metheny, Alan Parsons, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, and even Stevie Wonder crossed my strings today throughout the Update. And speaking of strings, they were brand new and supplied by my friends at the Santa Cruz Guitar Company just yesterday. They have graciously sent us some that are earmarked to some winners of each week’s 3-Minute Challenge.

Today marks the end of Week 3, meaning it is not too late to join in for the last 9 days and be eligible for the grand prize of a private lesson with yours truly, probably via Zoom unless the winner is in Northern California. Be sure to post your results on the Forum in the appropriate thread for each week. The weekly winners are drawn on the Tuesday after each week, with our week 3 winner being drawn on Tuesday the 26th.

New stuff this week included Student Reviews on a solo version of Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell and Neil Young’s The Old Laughing Lady. I hope more members will get in the swing of uploading works in progress and take advantage of this exclusive feature of Totally Guitars. We also added a lesson on I’ll Be Here In The Morning by Townes Van Zandt. That lesson included a detailed breakdown of Townes’ fingerpicking style, which can easily be applied to many similar songs, particularly Pancho And Lefty.

For those asking about registering for our next Fall IGC, we will be opening registration in about two weeks, but spots are already limited with the amount of returning campers we have so stay tuned if you are looking to join us September 9-13, 2024.

And that’s about it as the head into Spring (and I hear a John Denver song in there somewhere).

Stay Tuned & In Touch,

Neil