If you saw my email on Tuesday, you will know I released a fun little challenge in the Acoustic Asylum podcast.
The challenge was for you to work out a little melody.
In the podcast, I played a bunch of notes all on the high E string.
…And I did this while using the low E string as a “filler” note to add bass – something I do often.
The idea was you listen to me playing the melody…
Work it out on the guitar…
…And email me the notes.
There were quite a few replies over the past few days, and the winner was Dave Davies.
He actually didn’t get it right the first time.
…But I emailed him back, telling him he was close.
…And voila, he tried again and got it right.
He was the first to do so, so I’ve sent him the paperback version of the 13 Ways to Escape the Acoustic Asylum book (which is not actually for sale – maybe at some point it will be).
Anyway, here are two little takeaways from that challenge:
Takeaway #1 – Perseverance
I’m glad Dave didn’t give up.
It’s easy to try something and if you don’t get it right, throw your hands up in the air and say, “Forget it”.
We’ve all done that.
So that’s a lesson in perseverance.
Don’t give up too easily.
Ear training is challenging, especially if you haven’t done much of it before.
Takeaway #2 – Forgetting is easy
The melody was a bit of a tricky one to work out.
I recorded the podcast last week and actually forgot what it was I played.
I had to work it out again myself and this took a moment for me to do.
…And I was the one who played it!
That just goes to show how fast we can forget things.
After all, I came up with the melody on the fly in the podcast and didn’t play it again until the other day.
That’s a little lesson there.
It’s so easy to forget things.
If you only play something once, you’ll struggle to remember it.
Instead, when you learn things, keep playing that part.
Pick up the guitar with more frequency and jam that part if you can, multiple times throughout the day if you can.
If you can’t do that, play it mentally in your head.
It all helps with memory – more frequency is key.
Anyway, a lot of people enjoyed that challenge, so I’ll do more of them.
As you probably know, I’m a big fan of testing and challenging students.
I like to do this in a friendly and fun way, of course, and not like some sort of Demon Headmaster (which was actually a great TV series from when I was a kid).
I like to test all my students – private students, Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy members, and also in various books and courses.
One other place I have a fun test is in the Super eBook bundle…
Not only does this feature 7 eBooks for overcoming the “7 stumbling blocks of guitar playing”…
…But it also features my Who Wants to Be a Musical Millionaire quiz to test you on your musical skills.
You can check out the bundle below.
Guitar Domination Super eBook Bundle
Have a great weekend!
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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