Welcome to a new Monday post with 3 random thoughts on all things guitar, music, and life, including a guitar cheat sheet, what next, and more…
#1 – When Ed Sullivan banned the Rolling stones
I bought a book a while ago about music from the ’60s.
It is by NME and is a chronicle-type book showing newspaper clippings and headlines from the ’60s music scene.
It is great as you can open up a random page and find something interesting from this era.
One headline from October ‘64 was about when The Rolling Stones performed on The Ed Sullivan Show and caused mass hysteria.
Ed Sullivan turned around saying, “I promise you they will never be back, and we will ban teenagers if we have to.”
Well, guess what, Ed had the Stones back multiple times.
It is interesting to look back at history like that and see how things were back then.
I never used to like the Stones but enjoy them a lot more these days.
I grew to enjoy their music and apparently so did Ed Sullivan too!
Tastes change after all, so it’s good to keep evolving and keep listening to different music.
#2 – A tip from the studio – a guitar cheat sheet
I taught a good lesson last week with Glynis.
Due to Covid, it has been a while since we had a lesson, so it was great to catch up.
During the 6 months since the last lesson, Glynis has made great progress.
She has done this by being meticulous and organised (a trait she has always shown since our first lesson).
She showed me her guitar cheat sheet, which featured strumming patterns, theory notes, and other little pointers that help give her quick reminders.
Each day Glynis opens up her notebook and goes over the lessons inside.
Having a simple little notebook can be a powerful tool as it can stop you from learning a random lesson on the net one day and never practising it again.
The notebook can be the constant reminder that many of us need to practise the things that are important to us.
#3 – Your opinions, please
Very soon, I will be releasing a brand-new course.
At the moment I am putting the finishing touches on it, and I will talk about it more in the next week or so. It is going to be pretty exciting!
For now though, I want to start planning the next thing and I would love your feedback.
If you could, it would be super helpful if you would take a look below and hit reply letting me know which of the following appeals to you most.
The one with the most votes is the one I will work on next. In no particular order here are the suggestions:
- 99 fun quick tips to help you develop your all-round playing (all quick, easy, and enjoyable tips to scatter in your playing)
- The acoustic songbook – (featuring 30 fingerpicking and strumming classic songs for you to sing and play along with)
- A mini Travis picking masterclass – (go from never having Travis picked before to being able to play a classic “boom chick” Travis picking song).
- The 7-day kickstart acoustic course (A mini-course with 7 short daily lessons to give you some fun and kickstart your playing).
- A simple guide to beginner blues guitar (featuring the 12-bar blues, riffs, licks, and a turnaround or two – nice and simple but fun)
- The 8-week acoustic plan – A specific plan to transform your technique, songs, and all-round acoustic playing.
Also, it would be great if you let me know which format you prefer – books, videos, or PDFs?
Like I say, the most votes will win, so please let me know which you would like.
Just a quick reply will be handy, and your feedback and thoughts are really appreciated!
Have a great Monday!
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.
No.1
Mini travis picking masterclass,
No.2 songbook,
Preferably in book form