I finished Fretboard Wizard in early December and had trouble submitting this review so I’m attempting to resubmit it today. I've been a campfire strummer for a number of years and have had a few lessons along the way but found the theory element to be totally overwhelming. Although I've been wanting to move my playing from first position up the neck of the guitar for a long while now, I was totally nervous about signing up for Fretboard Wizard thinking it would be totally over my head. Wrong! The FW course allowed me to connect many of the dots that eluded me for years, such as using the musical alphabet and the steps between notes to determine the specific notes in a particular key (accidentals included) and then using the 3rd and 5th to develop the chord matrix. Huge light bulbs in using the 6th of the scale to identify the relative minor as well as using the 7 chord of the 5th degree to replace the diminished chord plus using the steps of the alphabet to determine the tonality of the various chords within a scale. And now that I know the patterns for major and minor scales I can (hopefully) use that knowledge to apply it to finding scale patterns up the neck (incorporating musical theory into my playing is my greatest challenge). The Foundational Five and Universal Rules provided the perfect amount of theory presented in a clear and concise way. After watching the various lessons, I'd review the member comments and would then watch the Live Q&A sessions - both provided a greater understanding of the topic and helped me to further connect the dots. The course materials were extremely helpful and will be a great resource for future reference. While the explanation of the CAGED system makes total sense, it is going to take some time for me to understand how the chord shapes fit together by using the root note of the five chord shapes. (I'm relieved to know that the E and A shapes are most common.) The patterns for finding notes in the Foundations of Fretboard Navigation course will help me do that - another light bulb. I have lots of homework to do - but the seeds have been planted and I'm psyched! I was extremely nervous starting the various real world challenges, thinking that I was going to totally bomb but I really surprised myself. I was actually shocked that I was able to identify the song keys and the chords within the keys by ear - HUGE small win. I've never done this before and I didn't think I had it in me. I loved being able to play the various notes on the Low E string to identify a song key - wow! It was also another light bulb moment (so many) learning that the chords within one key can be transposed to another key using the Nashville Number System. While I now understand the theory of finding notes within a chord or a melody, improvising has always been outside my skillset so I'm going to really work on it - more homework but at least now I understand it! All in all, the Fretboard Wizard course has sparked a huge awakening in me and I can't wait to sink my teeth into what I've learned. Rome wasn't built in a day and I know I have to be patient with myself and keep at it. I've been on the TAC musical journey since last April and have seen many improvements in my abilities - so has my husband! My daily commitment of 10 minutes usually turns into a half-hour or an hour, and I actually like my guitar again. While I greatly appreciate the TAC community and garner much from their comments, I'm not one to post online but please know that I'm watching, listening and learning a ton here from my little corner of the planet. As an aside, a dart landed on me during Tuesday's guitar party so I am dearly hoping that I'm the Paula L that won the Taylor guitar. I can only dream!! If not, there's always next time! ------Okay, so that was the review that I wrote in early December and I’m now over the moon to say that I went to the post office on December 30th to pick up a new guitar from TAC. My new Taylor GS Mini looks beautiful and sounds beautiful. I can’t thank you enough! I learned on a classical guitar many moons ago so now I’m going back to my roots. I have a 20 year-old Seagull guitar which is quite heavy when I’m standing and playing for four hours with my jam group, so this smaller guitar will be absolutely amazing. What an incredible gift! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Thanks Tony for all you do and for helping me and countless others! I'm so glad I found TAC! With sincere gratitude, Paula L