Ah, the night of Halloween.
A time of year that Archie and I rather enjoy.
So, in honour of this night, here is something fun…
It is about the blood-sucking monsters out roaming the lands of guitar-ville, ruining many a would-be dream of guitarists all over.
So, let’s get our pitchforks (or should that be tuning forks?) at the ready and let’s beat these music-destroying demons once and for all.
Here they are…
The devil on your shoulder
We have all been victims of him at some point.
The nasty little horned red face of the devil sitting on our shoulder.
He tells us we are not good enough to play guitar.
He laughs at our mistakes and mocks us for trying to learn as an adult.
Thankfully, he is beatable.
To destroy the devil, we simply mock him back, smile, and enjoy the journey, knowing if we have fun and stay positive, he can never win.
The devil cannot stand positivity, so be positive, as that is the easiest way to beat him.
The chordal crypt keeper
He is the ancient guard of the guitar world.
He can play wonderfully well and on a shadowy night long ago turned his hand to teaching guitar.
Yet, he lures you in with lots of chords and advanced theory – before you can even play a song!
If you take a step into his world, you must take with you a stun gun loaded with joy for music.
…For the chordal crypt keeper can suck the fun out of playing if you are not aware.
Beat him with your love for music by learning the songs you love!
Hellhound helpers
These try to be helpful and give you guitar advice.
Yet these horrible hounds are as useful as an ice cream parlour in hell.
Often these Hellhound Helpers can be friends in your life who have played guitar for much longer than you.
They tell you things like, “Yeah, guitar playing is tough, but don’t worry, your fingers will toughen up”.
They preach the importance of metronomes, scales, lots of chords, and theory, and everything they say overwhelms you, or worse, makes you feel discouraged.
Beware of listening to these.
They mean well, but as they have forgotten what it is like to be a beginner, they rarely know how to help.
Ghostly guitarists
The haunting spirits who keep reminding you of your past.
They whisper at you long into the night.
They like to recall your struggles and failures from back in the day…
…Reminding you about questions you may have asked yourself, such as:
“Am I good enough?”, “Do I have enough talent?”, “Am I wasting my time?”
Take comfort in the fact these pesky ghosts have haunted us all at some point and they are harmless if you ignore and dismiss them completely.
Vampire tutors
They may charm you on YouTube, but they only want your “likes, subscribes, and shares”.
These bloodthirsty foes can teach you bits and pieces of guitar.
What they cannot seem to do though, is give you a complete plan or teach you the finer details that make you a successful guitarist.
They leave that for you to work out for yourself the hard way.
It is not their fault as they were bitten by another guitar tutor vampire and simply did what those before them did.
Beware of these and aim to find a tutor with a proper plan.
Not just those who “wing it” like a bat.
The Grim reaper
He stands with a scythe in hand and ends the journey with finality for many guitarists.
Those who have tried and failed at learning to play guitar many times are at his mercy.
…Especially those who feel worn down by trying to learn guitar after many failed attempts.
Guitar playing can be challenging, but never entertain the idea of giving up…
…Because the grim reaper is ready to strike and call time on your guitar playing.
Thankfully, most of you reading this are proven to be strong and dedicated and will never let the grim reaper of guitar nearby.
Keep at it!
Okay, so that was fun to write!
I hope that little bit of Halloween madness was enjoyable for you to read too.
If you want to protect yourself from these ghastly creatures this Halloween, then a good way to do this is to become a member of the Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy.
That’s because tomorrow, I release the new lessons, witch are good fun (see what I did there?).
These new lessons are on how to play a fun fingerstyle version of “Away in a Manger” (giving you plenty of time to learn it before Christmas)…
…A detailed guide on the 5-Point Musicality Checklist (which will make everything you play more musical)…
…And a fun little two-minute challenge everyone will enjoy.
Find out more and listen to my version of “Away in A Manger” below…
The Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy
Happy Halloween!
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.
Add Comment