- This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 1 day, 7 hours ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
Hi Active Melody family!
It’s time for the August 2026 Site Member Challenge!
This month, pick a technique or part of playing that you personally struggle with, something that trips you up, that you avoid, or that you know needs work and perform it (or try to perform it) on video. It could be a specific technique (like bends, sweep picking, fingerstyle patterns, barre chords, alternate picking, etc.), a musical concept (timing, dynamics, improvising over changes), or even just a section of a song you’ve been struggling with. Show us your attempt, even if it’s not polished. This challenge is about the process of working through something hard, not about getting it perfect.
The submission date for this challenge will be Sunday, September 20th. You can start submitting Friday, September 18th.
If you need assistance with how to record yourself and post to the forum see this post
GROUND RULES FOR PARTICIPATION:
Post your Youtube, Vimeo, or Soundcloud links of you playing your chosen lesson anytime between Friday, September 18th, through Sunday, September 20th, 10:00 pm CST. Please do not submit earlier. I think it is fun to see everyone’s posts at once.
Submit individually in the “Active Melody Member Challenge Response Submissions” forum. Title your posts “August 2026 Challenge Response – [Your AM Screen Name]”
Please submit only a single video or audio file for this challenge.
Have fun and don’t be intimidated by these challenges!!! Use these challenges to help you set goals and complete them by a deadline. You can also use this as an opportunity to chat with other Active Melody members and share tips or tricks on this challenge that you think are useful.
It is better to show progress versus perfection with these challenges. So if you are a beginner and can only manage simple ideas with clear pauses, that is completely ok. The point is that you are trying something new and growing as a player. Remember we are all here to support you no matter what your current playing level is.
I look forward to seeing everyone’s posts! 🙂
-
-
-
-
Some things that we could be working on or struggling with are impossible to see in video, like too much fretting hand pressure. This is something that I have routinely ignored and got wrong because I’m usually to focused on other parts of my playing and simply forget about it. This is so very important to practice though, and I have now put this known weakness in my practice routines and sessions to remind myself on a more regular basis.
There are a lot of little details that could be improved that would really add up to playing better technique wise. If I have a weakness, it’s definitely in the technique department. Like sloppy picking for instance. The one really good thing about this particular challenge is that it should make us all more aware of what our weaknesses really are so we can formulate a plan of attack to address them in practice.
I now have a formal weaknesses list. This is exactly what I need to work on to advance my playing abilities as it gives me doctor’s prescription for what I need to be doing in most of my practice sessions.
Root note patterns >>> CAGED shapes >>> TRIAD'S. Just put in the work and watch your guitar skills soar.
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
