Welcome to a new Monday post with 3 random thoughts on all things guitar, music, and life, including crazy golf, the guitar path, and two-chord fun. Here we go…
#1 – Crazy golf
The other day some friends and I went to a new crazy golf place.
It was not your typical crazy golf.
The golf place was inside, and we had a “lane” with holes to putt the ball into (kind of like a ten-pin bowling lane).
What made it interesting was that the lane and the screen were interactive and changed for each mini game we played.
There was a world domination game where we had to putt the ball into each other’s holes to take over each other’s country, a western-style shootout, a quick-fire pressure shot game, and a hot potato round where we had to frantically putt the ball quickly.
It was a tad cheesy, but it was really good fun (and it helped that there was waiting staff bringing drinks to us throughout!).
For me, putting the ball in golf isn’t that exciting really (I always liked the golf range where I could smack the ball hard).
…but this way of playing certainly livened it up and made it 1000% times more interesting.
And this reminds me of the guitar.
In golf, putting is still putting.
Just like with the guitar, the core principles never change.
You have to play guitar with good technique and precision, and keep striving to make 1% improvements each day/week.
…But just like with golf, any way you can make guitar practice more fun, and a little varied here and there is a good idea.
#2 – The typical path of learning guitar
I was talking to someone about this recently.
A lot of guitarists go through the same sort of cycle when learning.
That is, most people start out full of excitement to learn the instrument.
Many only want to play for themselves or loved ones, and some have hopes to play an open mic or two.
Some get off to a good start.
…But after a while, frustration often creeps in and a “lost” feeling sometimes takes over.
This can build up and up and the guitarist can feel like they are getting nowhere or worse, like they are going backwards.
So they either give up, try something different or keep ploughing on.
Now I want you to know that although this is not nice, it is what a lot of us have to go through.
In fact, I’ve never met or talked to a guitarist or student who hasn’t felt this sort of frustration at some point.
The thing is, if you keep going, you will get breakthrough moments.
But you must be conscious of what you are doing.
Don’t keep hammering the same things over and over and expect better results.
It is slightly cliché advice, but if you find things tough on the guitar right now, going one step at a time is key.
And never forget my #1 rule for learning guitar, which is…
Every day you should try to improve one tiny thing in your playing AND do something fun (no matter how simple it is).
I talk about this advice a fair bit, but hopefully, this will be a helpful reminder for those of you who need it.
Just remember, there is a whole world of joy to be had from learning the guitar.
#3 – Two-chord fun
I’ve long said it, we don’t need a tonne of chords to be able to have fun on the guitar.
In fact, I really love to jam the heck out of just one or two chords.
There are so many things you can do with just two chords, it’s crazy.
You can jam lots of strumming patterns, play staccato grooves, bass runs, percussive hits, and so much more.
In fact, I urge you to pick up the guitar a few times a week and see what sounds, groove, and textures you can create just with two chords.
Restricting yourself to two chords can be really liberating.
…Because instead of relying on the same strumming pattern and having new chords create the interest in the music, you have to use your creativity to create the interest.
Getting good at this is fun and it will turbocharge your rhythm skills.
And, as we all know, creativity is good for the brain.
If this sort of thing interests you, I’ve created a new lesson you might well love.
It’s out on Thursday in the Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy.
Inside, I’ll show you how to take two chords that work wonderfully well together and how to have endless, inspiring fun jams with them.
Best of all, this lesson is based around a very popular strumming pattern meaning you’ll instantly have the tools to liven up and spice up any songs you know how to play that use this strumming pattern in ways you may not have imagined before.
Once you learn these ideas, you’ll no doubt be inspired to create your own jams too.
Find out more about the Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy
Happy jamming!
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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