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My Thanks to Toby Walker


zombywoof

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I have been playing since I was 8 and am now in my mid-60s. I have never really hunkered down with a teacher or mentor and have never used any instructional DVDs or anything. On a whim though a while back I went ahead and purchased Toby Walker's lesson packs. I have been having a blast. While I have been playing some of the songs in the lessons for years and have certain habits and quirks I probably I will never be able to break, just seeing the way Toby approaches a song has been a great learning experience. I feel my playing has improved while those old songs now feel a whole lot fresher.

 

So my thanks to Toby. Yeah, you can teach an old dog some new tricks. I can say without hesitation it is well worth the time to wander over to Toby's site and check out his lessons. If you are just getting into the blues these will really get you started off on a journey from which you will probably never return from. And if you have been playing dirt-under-your-fingernails blues for decades these lessons can open your eyes to some new possibilities. Plus you will have a whole lotta fun. And a bonus for us Gibson freaks - Toby uses his LG-2 in the lessons.

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Is it suitable also for people that have been playing for less than, 60 odd years ... ?

 

 

Oh yeah. Probably the only thing that comes with age is the either the belief you are so set in your ways you can't learn anything. I can't really compare Toby's lessons to those of anybody else because I have never looked at anybody else's. I want to say he has a sample lesson posted on his web site which you can check out.

 

All I know is if Toby shows up in this neck of the woods I will buy him a steak and one of our locally brewed wheat beers.

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When I was in my late 20's I started getting into programming.

The company I worked for send me for training.

When I got there the majority of people were around my age and hungry to learn.

There were a few old geezers (which I'm older than now).

I never heard so much whining and complaing in my life from them older guys.

I made up my mind at that point to always keep up with technology and always keep learning. It has served me well.

At my job, they know I'm planning on retiring in a couple years so they've hired quite a few younger guys for me to train before I'm gone.

I'm still at the top of my game and it's a pleasure to get the next generation trained.

 

I take the same approach to my guitar playing. Unfortunately I'm not very gifted on the guitar but I enjoy it.

I've played in a few bands down through the years but haven't played in one for about 10 years.

Now I take lessons every week. I'm on my third instructor. Two were 30 years my junior and one was about the same age.

I enjoy the younger ones better. You're never too old to learn or to pass on your experiences or knowledge.

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I read somewhere that the adult learning process is not so much learning something completely new, but integrating the new information into what you already know. So goes it with playing the guitar for me. I have had the pleasure of jamming with Toby a few times. In addition to being the most fun you can have with your clothes on, I always learn something. I mean something other than " I'll NEVER BE ABLE TO PLAY LIKE THAT!"

 

He is a great teacher, whether in person or on video.

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Wow. I just want to say that I'm thankful for all your kind words and incredibly honored that you're finding my lessons helpful. I started teaching the guitar very early on when I was around 20 (37 years ago) and have always LOVED everything about it. It especially tickles me when folks like yourselves tell me how much the lessons have helped advance your playing. To me that's what it's all about as I'm always trying to advance my own playing and in the process luckily creating and finding new ways to teach what I know to others.

 

Thanks again folks.

 

Toby

 

By the way... the 'Packs' that Zomby speaks of can be found here:

Lesson Downloads

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Looks cool!

 

 

And a recommendation from ZW! They are now a must.

 

 

Are the E, A, C 'pack' lessons going to be out on DVD, or only by download.

 

I would prefer dvds and never downloaded a lesson before and am a bit 'skay-ed'.

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

Hi BluesKing,

 

The 'Packs' can either be downloaded or simply viewed on the web page that I provide. They all consist of Quick Time videos and tab which are very easy to view on your computer screen.

 

There is an excellent example of what you'd get here:

 

Packs

 

However, if DVD's are your thing you may want to check out some of the ones I have on Homespun:

Homespun

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have been playing since I was 8 and am now in my mid-60s. I have never really hunkered down with a teacher or mentor and have never used any instructional DVDs or anything. On a whim though a while back I went ahead and purchased Toby Walker's lesson packs. I have been having a blast. While I have been playing some of the songs in the lessons for years and have certain habits and quirks I probably I will never be able to break, just seeing the way Toby approaches a song has been a great learning experience. I feel my playing has improved while those old songs now feel a whole lot fresher.

 

So my thanks to Toby. Yeah, you can teach an old dog some new tricks. I can say without hesitation it is well worth the time to wander over to Toby's site and check out his lessons. If you are just getting into the blues these will really get you started off on a journey from which you will probably never return from. And if you have been playing dirt-under-your-fingernails blues for decades these lessons can open your eyes to some new possibilities. Plus you will have a whole lotta fun. And a bonus for us Gibson freaks - Toby uses his LG-2 in the lessons.

 

 

 

 

I have been making my way through the 'Packs" - fantastic!

 

Another dog learning some new tricks then - thanks Toby and Zombi for bringing them up here.

 

It is probably not rocket science, but I didn't really want to be a rocket scientist, just play blues guitar.... the new licks sound great on my Gibson L-0

 

 

BluesKing777.

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I am also thankful for Toby's finger style lessons which have inspired me enough to actually make an honest attempt at learning fingerstyle. I hope that I have the attention span to stick with it because I really would liket to be proficient at fingerstyle.

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  • 2 years later...

Does the 'Packs' information get repeated on your Homespun dvds, Toby?

 

I was looking at getting more of the approach in your packs. Fantastic.

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

Hi BluesKing... no, nothing from my own lessons are repeated in the ones I've done for Homespun.

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Hi BluesKing... no, nothing from my own lessons are repeated in the ones I've done for Homespun.

 

 

This reply is to a question posed in October 2013!

 

3 years to get a reply!

 

 

You don't work for the music shop (leaving their name out) I was trying to buy a case from, or that famous seat company that also leave email replies for...err..quite a while?

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

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