Welcome to a new Monday post with 3 random thoughts on all things guitar, music, and life, including calendars, getting better with age, and more. Here we go…
#1 Some things get better with age
I heard something really cool the other day.
It was two of my musical heroes on stage together.
The brilliant Cat Stevens (Yusuf) and Chris Cornell.
They were on stage a few years ago playing “Wild World” – one of Cat’s songs.
For me, this was amazing.
I love the song, and I love both artists.
Chris is sadly no longer with us, but he had a stunning voice that could soar incredibly.
Here though, he tastefully kept it chilled to fit with the song
(I hate it when people cover a song and show off their voice and end up butchering the song).
What struck me most though with this video was how great Cat’s voice sounded!
He sounded as good, if not better, here than in the original version of the song.
This is surprising as many singers start to lose their voice after years of not looking after it, drugs, or whatever, but Cat is a real inspiration showing that some things get better with age.
Take a listen HERE.
A great song and two great singers.
#2 – Anti-overwhelm!
Over the weekend, Archie and I moved house.
There’s been so much to deal with, it can be overwhelming.
The new house is almost double the size of our old quirky apartment (and it wasn’t small really).
It was getting me feeling a little overwhelmed the other day thinking about the move, getting new furniture, getting everything switched over, working (which I love to do) while still taking care of Archie and us both having fun together.
So what did I do?
I made a plan and started to go through it one thing at a time.
The move is sorted, the most important furniture is on the way, and Arch and I have been taking time out to chill and play. I also got some work done today while he’s at school, which was fun too.
It’s funny really because if ever a student starts to feel overwhelmed, I pretty much tell them the same – that is to…
Take it easy on yourself, make a plan, and then break that plan up into smaller chunks, and get checking things off one thing at a time.
It works on guitar, and when moving house too apparently!
#3 – The power of a calendar
Speaking of having a plan…
Here is something simple that can help.
You know those wall calendars we all probably got for Christmas?
I guess you know the types, the ones with a theme (e.g. Batman, or AC/DC, cats, or Marvel, etc.).
They usually have a photo on the top half with the days of the month on the bottom half.
(These calendars make for a great present and last Christmas I got a very cool David Bowie themed one from my partner, Sally.)
Well, if you have your own practice room, it’s a good idea to get one of these calendars on the wall and use it to structure your month.
I’m a big fan of breaking the year up into monthly goals on the guitar and a simple wall calendar can really help.
You can visually see all the days of the month.
You can write on it what you want to achieve by the end of the month and what you want to practise each day.
…Or you can even just write down one key thing you want to add to your normal routine over the next 5 days or so.
Whatever it is you use it for, having a visual guide with goals like this is really handy.
I do it myself and having the images of the late great David Bowie looking back at me gives me that next level of inspiration.
I hope you enjoyed those 3 random thoughts this week.
Dan Thorpe
Guitar Domination
P.S. For more help with your playing, including powerful and practical advice on improving the 7 stumbling blocks of guitar that most beginners struggle with, you might want to check this out…
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P.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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