Each month in the Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy, I like to give a prize to the person who leaves the best comment.
Well, for the month of January, we got a nice little comment from John.
This is what he said:
“BTW, love all your suggestions, you’ve gotten me to the point
where I felt comfortable enough to do your finger picking
versions of silent night, the first noel and good king Wenceslas
at my church’s Christmas services. also liked the video recommendation
on using favorite songs for ear training.”
I trimmed the beginning of John’s comment as it wouldn’t make sense here, but I loved this.
I remember my first gig.
I was pretty petrified. Me and the band played an open mic, and we drank all day in preparation… But over the years, I got much more confident playing live and although I’d get some butterflies, after a bit, it became second nature.
So big credit to John.
I’m delighted he took those songs from my Christmas Crackers course (which I only released about 6 weeks before Christmas) and then performed them.
That takes some skill and confidence.
But it’s not just John who’s at it.
Recently I wrote about Stephen, who was looking to play his first open mic.
Well, he did it.
This is what he emailed me the other day:
“Well we did it! Performed 3 songs at an open mic last evening. We covered: Knocking on Heavens Door, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away and Slip, Slidin Away. It went well. (My criteria for “going well” is that I faced my fear and completed all 3 songs with a good feel throughout.) Sound was distorted from my perspective but I listened to a video that my wife recorded and it sounded clear.
I would tell anyone out there thinking about performing to not let your fear hold you back. People will surprise you with the support if they see you are engaged. Thanks for your encouraging advice. Will do other open mics in the future.”
I’m delighted for Steve too.
I thought I’d share these emails to give you some inspiration.
…Because I hope if you’ve ever wanted to play live…
At church, open mics, or when being handed a guitar at a BBQ, a party, or a camping trip (or wherever) – it all counts.
If that’s the case, I hope this email gives you the nudge to get doing it.
Life is short, and we only get one shot.
No regrets is what I say.
…And if you have no interest whatsoever in ever performing for anyone else, that’s perfectly fine too. After all, when you play for yourself, you are your own audience.
Anyway, whichever camp you’re in, if you want more help with fine-tuning your playing or giving it a big overhaul, then you might like to check out the Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy.
Today is the last chance to join and get the new lessons for February.
The Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy
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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