Have you played guitar in front of someone else and had a bad experience?
I know I’ve been there in the past.
For me, it was horrific.
Back when I started out on the guitar, my mate asked me to play him something.
I played “Enter Sandman” by Metallica.
And when I stopped playing and hoped for a good reaction…
…You could hear a penny drop in that moment of silence.
Instead of being impressed, he sat awkwardly, looking puzzled.
I remember him saying something along the lines of, “It sounded better when Sefton played it”.
Sefton was our mutual pal who was a far better guitarist than me at this stage.
I was mortified.
I’d been working hard to learn this song and thought it sounded pretty good.
In reality, looking back, it was sloppy, and I sounded like a right mess!
My friend was a nice chap, but I was worried he’d laugh and joke and tell everyone at school how bad I was.
The next few minutes with my friend were awkward, so I just thrust the guitar back into the corner of my room where I kept it (I didn’t have a guitar stand back then) and we went out and played football.
If you’ve played guitar for others, you might have had some sort of similar experience.
That could be if you’ve ever played a tune for a loved one, a musician friend, or even your guitar teacher if you have one.
Hopefully, your experience was better than mine!
…But if not, don’t worry, you can turn that negative experience into a positive.
For me, as embarrassed and ashamed as I was, I remember thinking.
“No more messing about, it’s time to sort my playing out”.
I started by getting advice and help.
Firstly, from my mate Sefton, and although I still sucked, it helped.
Over time, things got much better for me, and if you’ve ever felt hopeless, things will get better for you.
What’s gone is gone and the bad experiences are there to make us stronger.
Keep at it!
Never quit and remember my number #1 rule for learning guitar…
Try to improve one tiny thing each day and do something fun on the guitar every day.
One thing I wish I had back then was the knowledge I have now.
I put some of it together in this very short and very inexpensive little guide below:
Find out more about The QuickStart Guitar Plan
Have a great day!
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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