Hello everybody.
Sometimes, (not all the time, but sometimes) I get some anonymous troll comments on the few YouTube videos I’ve shared here on this forum. I know they come from here as this is the only online guitar space where I post or comment anymore. The usual content is something to the effect that I write a lot here and try to “talk a big game,” but that I can’t really do the things I claim I can do, usually with a few insults thrown in, too.
I have given lessons to many members of this forum, who have all seen me do the things I’ve claimed that I can do, and many have attested to that here. My teaching methods have been very successful with students and have been very positively reviewed here. There has not been a single occasion where somebody who has taken a lesson with me has commented that I haven’t lived up to my words. Not once.
Seemingly, none of this matters. The anonymous trolls feel that if they don’t see it, it must be bullshit. They feel entitled to see proof.
I should just ignore this completely and accept that this is part of being online. However, I’ve had a few conversations with students recently that have made me think on this a little.
One student said that some of the things I’ve written seemed unbelievable to them, and that while they were satisfied and happy they took the lesson, they had their doubts when they first made contact. Another student told me some time ago that if they had seen a video of some of the things I demonstrated to them, they would have just assumed that the video had been faked. Frankly, given the now very well documented fakery that is ubiquitous in online guitar videos, I wouldn’t blame them.
I only started teaching hesitantly after a few very persistent members began contacting me through private messages. However, before that, I had some Skype/Zoom conversations with members here where I demonstrated some things I had been working on. We chatted, got to know eachother a little bit and it was generally a good time.
So here’s a standing offer to everyone, whether they’re regulars, lurkers or doubters. If you’d like to hop on a Zoom call with me sometime, I’ll be more than happy to demonstrate some things for you. We can chat for a while and nerd out on guitar nerd stuff. I don’t mind answering some questions, but I’m not getting into lesson territory or promising any set call duration.
All you have to do is contact me and introduce yourself, and we can set something up. Frankly, if that offer isn’t good enough for you, then feel free to ignore my posts and comments here.