Just wanted to say thanks for the weekend, it was brilliant! The
hotel is
extremely comfortable, the food great and Chris's expertise a great asset
to
the Guitar Weekends. I've started building up my tools and have a
few
guitars to get started on.
Thanks again and hope to see you at the guitar show.
Firstly...........what
a great weekend! Many, many thanks from the pair of us. Kay had a
wonderfully relaxed time, and I have learnt and incredible amount;
especially how to expand out of the self-taught rut. You certainly
have a fantastic chap in Lin; as you say, an inspiring tutor and a really
nice guy. It was a splendid retreat which I shall be happily recommending
to anyone I think could benefit.
We also
very much appreciate the effort you put into making us welcome, and your
flexibility in accommodating our motorhome etc.....thank you. As for the
kitchen..........wah! Woooooooonderful stuff!!
I
intimated that I should like to attend another Strugglers (Basic), so
please may I register my intention to attend 10 Mar 2006. As much as I
fully intend to come along (it's in the diary already!), it is a bit too
early to go for a positive booking, but if you wouldn't mind just keeping
me on a mental list to bear in mind. I think I should be able to go with a
definite booking towards the end of Autumn, but please keep in touch if
things start to look booked up etc.
Your
Antique Guitar Show leaflets started going out with today's orders. I
think that we may be coming up for a visit ourselves, as well. How can we
resist!
If
it is okay with you, I shall send a small trial case of various wines for
you to have a go at with your visitors. Just so that you can get an idea
if they will go down well etc.
Hi Malcolm
Before the last weekend just fades in to a warm and pleasant memory, I
just wanted to send this e-mail to say what a great weekend it was. I
thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone and learning to play a little better.
The tuition, environment, company and food were all first class and it was
a bit of a wrench to leave on Sunday and return to depressing old London.
I have tried to practice each night but typically have only managed a
quick 10 minutes here and there but I shall persevere.
Anyway, best regards to you and your wife (especially for her fine
cooking), and a big hello to all the other names cc'd on this e-mail.
Please also pass my regards on to Lyn.
Hopefully see you next year and always look on the bright side of life
(Dale if you have time, pls e-mail me the chords).
My
shopping spree in Manchester went well. Me & my sister were 20kilos
over our baggage allowance at the airport! Luckily the nice check-in
girl let us get away without paying excess baggage!
I
just wanted to thank you again for a fantastic weekend. As you know I was
really worried about attending the course and had planned on running away,
but by the end of the course I didn't want to leave because I'd had such a
good time. I learnt a hell of a lot and had a bloody good time in doing
so.
I
also would like you to pass on my thanks to your staff, the service and
food were excellent.
I
have put £10 in the post to you today as I'd had a diet coke out of the
mini bar in my room, which I don't think that I'd paid for. I would like
you to put the change in the staff tips box.
I'm
going to try and come back in March, by which time I should be able to
manage all those "Big Boy Chords" and I think that John and Dale are
planning on doing the same.
I
daresay you get lots of these e-mails after a weekend at Beckfoot so I
hope one more is ok.
I
wanted to say a big thank you for all the guidance and inspiration. As
I’d been playing longer than most of the group, I think I knew more
chords than the others but that was about my only advantage. It was
noticeable that I received exactly the same feedback as everyone else
because I was making exactly the same mistakes as everyone else. I’ve
returned to a load of work which, being self employed, gets priority but
I’ve snatched a couple of twenty minute spells with my guitar.
Pleasingly, I noticed that I picked up my guitar with attitude, determined
to make every note count, and that my left foot was automatically keeping
time. Less pleasingly, I noticed my left thumb repeatedly creeping over
the neck like an inquisitive child. That habit will take some working on
because keeping the thumb behind the neck makes the chords feel so
different. Still, it’s Mission Difficult which is better than Mission
Impossible.
One
of my first jobs will be to tidy the spare bedroom where I do my
practicing – it’ll make the right attitude easier. My second job will
be to put most of the books I’ve acquired over the years into a box and
concentrate on those that build solid technique. The others will be there
when I need them.
Thank
you for staying with us until the small hours (that’s what I call value
for money) and for the beautiful duet you did with Malcolm. It was a
pleasure listening to it.
Finally,
I hope your dogs were as please to see you as mine were to see me.
hows
it going, not practiced much since I got back. Yet!...............I'm a
Believer, Take these Chains,Hotel California, loads to practice.Thanks to
everyone for a smashing weekend, really enjoyed it. Dale, have already
plugged the wine and bubbly, nuff said. Dennis, sleeping giant,I can still
hear Lin's words "hey mate you really listen to the music don't
you". If you know of any good gigs coming up let me know.I'm
off to Leeds August Bank Holiday.
Hey
guess what was the first thing I bought, yep, a metronome,the beep is not
as loud as Lin's but will have the same cringing effect. And guess what I
said to my son when he asked what We did I said " hey bet you can't
do this", put the metronome on about 90, gave him the chords for I'm
a believer, he was spot on, he is only 15 though, bet I could of done that
at 15, maybe not.
As
was previously said, great food, good company excellent weekend. Malcolm I
will come back again as just a tourist and will certainly recommend
Beckfoot House "superb" to my friends.
It
would be fantastic to meet up again and have a progress report, and
go on further.
From the outset please let me say I have just experienced the most
exciting weekend I have had in a long long time. The weekend was
well planned, well executed, and left us all feeling very good about
ourselves.
Thank
you Malcolm, Steve and myself are making plans to see you next year for
the Blues Weekend.
Thank
you, your efforts over this weekend, it made me feel great ...... thanx
Malcolm.
Apologies for having to shoot off at great speed... Sunday's are the one
day I get to spend time with the most important love of my life...... my
daughter,
Just wanted to say a really big 'Thank-you' for all your hospitality and
total 'easy-going' approach to a 'struggler'. Must admit, whilst driving
up I started to think... Christ, what happens if I'm totally out of my
depth.From the very first instance, you both made me feel totally at
ease, I've learnt sooooo much, been inspired, and also had a really fun
time. You guys should get yourselves registered with the NHS as a
'Chill-out' option.
My eternal thanks to you both for a weekend I will never forget. These
things don't just happen by chance, I really appreciate all the thought
and hard work you guys clearly put into these weekends.
Mark. Strugglers March 05
PS. Promise to stop playing 'girlie F-shape' chord and work on my
metronome timing!
Sorry to have taken so long replying, but only just getting onto the
home emails.
Firstly, many thanks for such a great weekend and following week.
It was a perfect combination of work and play for me.
The accommodation was just the job and the whole thing topped off with
such ideal breakfasts...major dieting underway now or Northants won't be
able to see their weather symbols ;-)) Please thank Lesley and all
the staff for friendly face of Beckfoot.
The course with you and Lin was exactly right to convince a struggler to
get some proper practise going. It felt amazing to be able to keep
a blues backing rhythm going for so long and in time! I really do
feel that progress was made and I will certainly pass on the good vibes
to my muso chums in Norwich.
Ding and I will be back for Strugglers 2 next year and in the meantime
the fun continues...metronome, counting 1, 2, 3, strum, 4, bollocks! (C)
Richard and sensible practise sessions.
Thanks for a great weekend. Let's keep in touch. However let's beat
these smart buggers Messrs White & Sinclair and learn what they
taught us and jam all the way from A-Z
!!
Thank you to all at Beckfoot for looking after me during the Strugglers
Weekend just gone. Lin’s style of teaching made things so much easier
than they could have been and the accommodation, food and service were all
perfect. Your personal involvement made a great difference. It was hard
work but I also enjoyed myself no end. I can’t get over how fast the
time went!
All of my goals in attending were achieved, plus a lot more and I will
definitely consider coming again (once I have had a chance to assimilate
things).
i MI
just wanted to thank you, Lesley & your staff for making our stay with
you so comfortable, The food & accommodation were most agreeable.
The
Struggler's weekend was very informative & has given me the ammunition
to take Struggling to a different level. I congratulate you & Lin for organizing
& running the weekend so smoothly. Lin has a very effective style of
teaching & is a very approachable guy, which helps to put people
at ease.
Whilst
it is good to have a laugh & learn at the same time I do hope that my
antics were not to disruptive to my fellow struggler's.
It
was our first visit to the Lakes & both Lyn & myself had a very
enjoyable time,
Just a note to say that the weekend was great. It was much better than I
had expected as I had thought that it might be rather solemn and stuffy
but it certainly was not that. Accomodation, atmosphere and tuition were
all excellent.
I
had provisionally talked about coming on the Blues weekend in November but
I now think that I would like to take time absorbing and
applying everything from this last weekend so I wondered if you could
pencil me in for the Blues weekend starting on the 25th February 2005? I
would also like to do a Strugglers' 2 weekend if one was scheduled later
in 2005.
So,
thanks again for all your hard work and encouragement over the
weekend and, although my inability to move rapidly betwen barre chords
reduced me to tears, I feel confident that, with appropriate practice,
I'll get there in the end.
Hi Macolm,
Thank you both for a fantastic weekend - much better than I expected in
all ways. Please pass on my appreciation to Lesley for the lovely
food which I truly wasn't expecting and to Shirley & the girls for
good, unobtrusive service. My room was a joy to wake up in (though I
don't remember much about going to sleep - too tired Friday, too pissed
Saturday) and the views were perfect. Finally, the tuition was
superb and I feel that with Jim's patience and guidance I've made a
quantum leap in terms of confidence and enthusiasm - I now know what I
want to achieve & how to get there. More importantly I
understand exactly what "practice" is, have formed a practice
schedule and am actually looking forward to doing it and seeing (hearing?)
my playing improve.
I have had an inspirational weekend and am looking forward to a return
visit to recharge my batteries once the summer season is over.
Sincerely,
Sue :o)
Many thanks for a great weekend. Really enjoyed it even
though my
limitations were cruelly exposed. Hope to one day enjoy another of your
courses.
Best wishes
Jonny Steingold
Just to say thanks again for a fantastic weekend. Keith, I much
appreciated your experience, musicianship and teaching skills. I
will be putting what we learned into practice starting this week - got a gig next
weekend, so I'll see if I can make the rest of the band (and the
audience!) hear the difference. Malcolm, the whole experience is great,
including the food. My wife says I have to de-tox for a week to make up for the
over-indulgence (and I didn't even tell her about drinking you out of Stella).
Not even a hellish 5 hours on the M6 and M1 was able to dampen my
enthusiasm, so I guess that says something. I would definitely be interested in repeating the experience next year,
including the suggestions we discussed for the Saturday night session. Looking forward to it already. (Although it would be good if you
could
move the whole of the Lake District about 3 hours south.)
Thanks again for the
excellent weekend. I've never enjoyed playing and learning so much
before. Jimi is a superb instructor and an awesome musician and
guitarist (you're no slouch yourself come to think of it). The
accommodation and food are terrific also so many thanks also to the people
who sorted all that out.
Ok I have to go before I start
sounding like an award ceremony but I'll be back.
I thought I would write to let you know how much I enjoyed the Blues
Weekend I came on from 31st October to 2nd November 2003. Sorry it's such
a belated letter, but events have overtaken me since I came up to see you.
To say that the weekend gave me the impetus to go on to greater thing
would be an understatement. It really improved my confidence, as well as
my playing.
This happened to such an extent that last Saturday, I actually stood up in
front of around 50 - 60 people at our regular pub and did a ½ hour set of
Shadows songs. I don't think that I would have had the nerve to do this if
it hadn't been for the weekend, and the advice of Rod Sinclair. I now have
to refine my playing as I have volunteered to do a set at a local charity
function at the end of February in front of around 500 people.
I am also now hoping to go and stand up and play at our local blues
jamming nights in the near future.
I don't think hat I could have progressed this much without the week-end.
I am keeping an eye on your website, and hopefully we will be able to come
up again this year, especially if you have any more of the Sunday
afternoon workshops, which we both really enjoyed.
Thank you for
your message. I'm back in the office but even with the hectic pace
of work I have thought about how good the weekend was. It was intensive
but really enjoyable and very well paced. It was also refreshing
because we were so focused on guitar playing that I didn't think
about anything else and I feel I've been away for longer than a
weekend! I've given your web address to two others already. Lin was
a very good teacher - especially considering our spread of abilities and
musical background. Many thanks for your teaching input too and once
again for the excellent organization. All the best
