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Wow, I was surprised to see that Jola is reaching her 100th Monthly Challenge! Congratulations on that milestone!
And that got me reflecting on the history of the AM Monthly Challenges. When did they start? How many have there been so far?
I posted my first monthly challenge video on Jan 29, 2016, and I noted that it was the 4th ever monthly challenge. The concept was started by our Forum moderator at the time, a talented wannabe guitarist known to us as Bryce from Alaska. He would pick a lesson each month, and we were challenged to play it as perfectly as we could. I’m not sure, but it seems like we only had 10 or less participants. I was suffering from Record-button panic, and that continued for quite a few more challenges, until I learned to relax. So here’s my pathetic first ever attempt at a monthly challenge (no need to watch it):
By my count, I’ve done 104 monthly challenges so far (could be a few more). A couple of years after Bryce started up the monthly challenges, he had to retire from AM due to work pressures. Widespread panic ensued among the members, since by that time the monthly challenges had become very popular. Soon after, Brian decided to step in and run the monthly challenge program himself, and he has been the organizer ever since.
I have often wondered what Bryce is up to now, and whether he is aware of the phenomenon he started and how it has grown. The last time I heard about him, he was playing gigs with a local band in his area.
Sunjamr Steve
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If that was your first challenge, you brought a lot of skills to the table to start with Steve. That was an excellent first challenge my friend. It’s all a fascinating journey that never ends. You definitely deserve kudo’s as well as Jola for all those challenges.
I wasn’t a part of all that drama that occurred on the site back then, so it’s interesting to hear the story.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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Hey Steve,
Bryce is still living in Anchorage with his wife and teenage daughter who has now started high school. He made partner in his architecture firm and has been quite busy with his career. He hasn’t been playing guitar as much and the pandemic kind of put a damper on the open mics. I think he is aware of the ongoing challenges. I’ll be speaking with him this Sun, maybe I can coax him into a cameo challenge submission.
JohnP.S. Nice job on your first challenge. When I look back at some of mine I think, “Why am I not better at this point!”
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Oh cool! It’s good to hear that Bryce is doing well. In a way, his problem is that he was too young when he joined AM. Most of us are old retired people who no longer even have a career, so we are free to focus on our guitar skills. Until our body parts start to fail…… I guess if AM is still around when Bryce retires, he will get back into it again.
Sunjamr Steve
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Oh wow, and that’s right! If anyone deserves a shoutout it’s you, Steve!
Congrats on reaching over 100 challenges! I have not seen you participate lately, hope you can join us soon?
Gotta agree with John, your first challenge set the bar really high, quite impressive.
🎸JoLa
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Thanks, Jola. I have been taking a break from guitar, due to my thumb pain caused by De Quervain’s tenosynovitis. I read that it’s very common in fingerstyle guitarists. I’m doing exercises designed to build up tendon strength, but it is said that it will take several months to achieve thumb nirvana.
Sunjamr Steve
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Steve. You are the foundation member of the elite 100 club. The first challenge was impressive. Congrats on over 100 challenges, it is a huge achievement.
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I forgot to add that around the time Bryce resigned from AM, someone – I think it was 6-stringer Pete – started a collection among AM members to buy a Fender Strat as a gift to Bryce for organizing the challenges, and as he put it, being “Chief Motivator for AM”. He was beyond shocked when it was delivered to his doorstep in Alaska, and played a few things for us on it.
Sunjamr Steve
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By the way, you asked when the challenges started and how many there were. A while ago I have put all that info together and shared it on the “Submit Your Own Challenge Ideas” thread. I keep updating the list as we go along so it’s pretty much always up-to-date:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D6AyIbGYF8tpO6ih8pbUfZBiJkFEi0NzYNOyggsWDWc/edit?usp=sharing
🎸JoLa
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