Music is art, and art is storytelling.
When I was 19, I went travelling via train around western Europe.
Me and Joanna, my girlfriend at the time, spent a few months visiting loads of fun places.
Disneyland, Paris (her choice), beaches in France (more my choice)…
…And cities like Rome, Paris, Lille, Florence, Nantes, Amsterdam, Antwerp, and more (both our choices).
They were beautiful places full of art.
…And lots of churches, cathedrals, and iconic monuments such as Rome’s Colosseum.
The highlight may have been camping in Rome, drinking wine under the stars, and getting up at 6 am to shower due to a heatwave.
…Then heading to the city centre to sip espressos and enjoy the street side pizzerias selling melt-in-your-mouth pizza by the slice.
All the art, the buildings, and the places had a story to tell.
We would see Renaissance paintings full of blood and violence and another which showed love and kindness.
Everything was vividly told, and everything had a story.
That’s the beauty of art and music.
It’s the story.
…And the ability of the artist to transport us from one place to another.
That’s what a great song does too.
Whether it’s listening to Bob Dylan, The Beatles, or John Denver.
The best songs and songwriters have this uncanny ability to take us places and make us feel alive.
A few years ago, I watched a movie with George Clooney called O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
The story transports us back to the 1930s and a dusty chain gang in Mississippi.
In the movie, there was one song that really stood out.
“You’ve Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley.”
It’s a powerful song.
Later, I listened to versions by Mississippi John Hurt Woody Guthrie, and more recently Joan Baez, and Ernest Tubbs…
I fell in love with this song.
So I decided to arrange it for Travis pickers everywhere.
Lately, I’ve been talking about my new book, The Six String Lifer’s Handbook.
…But let’s talk about the Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy and the monthly lessons.
In case you don’t know, each month, I release new lessons for members.
The big lesson this month is a Travis picking masterpiece of “Lonesome Valley”.
I’ve arranged the song in the key of D, which is perfect for this song when Travis picking it.
…And I loved playing the song so much that I created a brand-new interlude – which is like a mini-Travis picking guitar solo.
That alone is lots of fun.
As I always like to do, I have broken the lesson up into bite-size chunks and it, of course, comes with full TAB/notation.
These new lessons are filmed in my brand-new studio setup too, which looks way cooler.
Anyway, you can check out the “playthrough” video to hear how it sounds.
…And if you like the sound of it, you can join the Academy and get learning it when I release the new lessons on Tuesday 2nd of April.
Plus, when you do join, you get a whole lot of bonuses.
Find out about the Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy
Remember, unlike the song…
You don’t have to walk the lonesome guitar-playing valley.
In the Academy, we are here to help and support you and if you have any questions about it, do let me know.
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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