Two years as a Gold Pick member and two years as a Beginner. What a long, strange trip it’s been!
I only have a handful of lesson left in the Beginner’s Learning track. There’s no rush. I’ll plod along, but most importantly, I will continue to have fun and enjoy the sounds that come from my banjo. Some can be soo relaxing!
I used to know only one song. Now I can play many more, but I still cannot play any of them as well as I would like.
One year ago I could not get my fingers to form the F chord, or Y shape. Now it is almost effortless. Not quite as easy as a C chord, by getting there!
I can pick out a melody, and after a bit, can fancy it up with a couple licks. Nothing great, but it’s a demonstration of learning my way around the fret board.
I have found another banjo play who is about at my level and we get together once a month and pick. He summed up our style as “show-stopping.” We start playing, then the music stops while we make a new chord, then the music can start again. 
Is a Gold Pick membership worth it? Nope.
The cost is not even close to what it’s worth to play music.
Finally, a very sincere “thank you” to Ben & everybody here on the Forum. You know how much the Forum has to offer. Thank you for chipping in with your share. It means a lot to us Beginners.
And that’s my expert opinion.
Happy Second Anniversary to Me
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@BanJoe on your 2 year anniversary. I well remember you starting out. It’s great to see you stuck with it and have made steady progress along the way. If it brings you comfort to know I plodded the same path. I am not a great banjo player but I am a better banjo player than I was yesterday. I will never grace the footlights of Carnegie Hall or the Grand Ole Opry. But I do have a lot of fun learning.
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We can’t ask for anything more! 
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