Here are two more interesting emails and comments I have got lately.
I hope you find the emails and my thoughts useful…
Email #1
“I think this lesson is the one I will come back to over and over and over again. Added to my checklist:
Keep the guitar tucked in! I know you mentioned keeping it tucked before, but I like how in this lesson you tie it to wrist position.
I often have my guitar not tucked in because if it isn’t, then I can look down and see what my fingers are doing easier. I’ll try to be better about this especially since my wrists tend to get sore.”
Ashlie
The lesson Ashlie was referring to is a Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy lesson titled “How to play without pain and discomfort”.
It’s a super important little lesson that highlights where a lot of guitarists go wrong.
The thing is, it’s all connected…
Everything you play and how you play is all affected by the way you hold the guitar.
But it goes back further than that.
The way you sit, the chair you sit on. The posture you use.
Whether you keep the guitar tucked in or not, etc.
All these things are the foundations before you pick up the guitar.
If she didn’t know it before, Ashlie knows the importance of this now, which is ace.
I hope you find this gives you food for thought too.
Email #2
“Hello Dan
I have finished reading but not practicing the patterns in Fingerstyle 101. A lot of good material in this book which I am confident will help me fix many of my problems when playing the guitar.
I am serious about working to improve my playing and I am putting in a lot of time to get better. Thank you for writing the material that may yet make me a guitarist. In the meantime, having a lot of fun.
Regards,”
Henrik
It’s great that Henrik is having fun.
As mentioned before, there are a lot of problems and issues that people struggle with on the guitar, unfortunately.
It reminds me of back when I had a few from a chap many years back.
The chair I had to sit on was an uncomfortable little fold-up type of chair. (He had a nice comfy stool).
He didn’t care one iota for technique or any of the technical questions I asked.
To him, that was irrelevant.
He was far more excited about teaching me scales.
Honestly, his eyes bulged with excitement when I mentioned the Phrygian mode (“My kindred spirit”, I bet he thought).
Anyway, it didn’t last long with him.
It made me realise why struggling beginners often quit.
Just like what I mentioned in regard to Ashlie’s email, most guitar teachers will try to bypass the fundamentals to teach you the fun stuff.
But the truth is you can’t have fun without the fundamentals.
The good thing is that it doesn’t take long to discover the fundamentals and start improving them…
No matter where you are on your journey.
To Ashlie, Henrik, and yourself, keep at it – both the fun and the fundamentals.
For more help with both, you might like to try this.
Fingerstyle 101 – a step-by-step guide to beautiful fingerpicking guitar playing
Dan Thorpe
Guitar Domination
P.S. This post was originally taken from Dan Thorpe’s private email list. To get blog posts like this sent to you which are full of great tips to make fingerpicking, strumming, and learning guitar more enjoyable (especially if you are over 40) join Dan’s list. It’s 100% free, HERE.
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