Here is the first of my weekly posts for 2021 with 3 random thoughts on guitar, music, and life, including tips on enjoying your playing, learning guitar melodies, and more.
I hope you are having a great start to the year.
#1 – Your map of fun
Hopefully, last year was a decent one for your playing, but if not, try not to worry.
This year is a new start.
The key question though is, did you have fun on the guitar last year?
Funnily enough, many guitarists forget to ask themselves this.
Some get too caught up in the learning or striving to overcome “brick walls” which sometimes get in the way.
Others do what they enjoy but get bored or don’t know where to go next.
I always say, having a clear goal is like the north star or a compass guiding you, but…
Having fun is like your map.
All roads lead to Rome as they say, but make sure you have fun on the way – every day.
This is crucial.
#2 – How to enjoy your playing when you get stuck
Speaking of having fun, how do you have fun if you cannot play anything or…
Every song you play is full of buzzing chords or slow changes?
If you are stuck, the key thing is just to play something simple, pick a few guitar melodies, something you recognise and like.
There is no better feeling than playing a simple piece of music you have heard many times and feeling the joy of playing some guitar melodies and it sounding like real music.
Playing a riff or melody is great for this.
You can have loads of fun doing so, and sometimes it can be a fair bit easier than strumming songs too (especially those taught with the same old boring strum patterns).
Soon I will be officially releasing my Fingerstyle Collection course, which is based upon this idea (there will be more on this soon and I am very excited about this).
For now, though, keep the above in mind if you need or want to play something more interesting on guitar.
#3 Don’t let anyone choose your path for you
As it’s a new year, lately I have been talking about goals, particularly with students in my DTAA membership.
One thing that has cropped up a few times is this…
Some of you choose the wrong goals to follow.
For example, a student said she wants to learn:
- How to strum and sing
- Theory and fretboard knowledge
She was deciding which would be a better goal for her to follow.
After delving a little deeper, it was clear that goal #1 was far more exciting to her than goal #2.
I am not saying she should neglect goal #2, but goal #1 should be her main focus.
She can then supplement it with goal #2.
Like with an 80/20 split.
That way she will develop, have fun, learn what she is passionate about, AND…
Build up those other core skills steadily.
Many people do things on guitar because someone else tells them to do them.
It is important to be careful not to blindly follow what others are telling you, and often it’s better to do what excites you instead.
I would say about 95% of you join this list because you want to fingerpick better.
Therefore, if that is a passion for you, go for it.
If you are one of those, and you haven’t yet checked it out, you can find out more about how to fingerpick from the ground up on the link below…
Fingerstyle 101 – a step-by-step guide
Have a great Wednesday!
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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