Welcome to a new Monday post with 3 random thoughts on all things guitar, music, and life, including meeting your musical heroes, two key things for learning anything, and more
Here we go…
#1 – She’s such a groovy lady
I was watching a great episode of Frasier the other day.
I have no idea if you’re a fan of the show, but I’ve always loved it.
Well, in this episode there was a cool music scene.
Frasier and his brother were helping their father to finish off a song.
It was a song their dad, Martin, wrote 30 years earlier for Frank Sinatra.
It was his secret dream to write this song and have Frank sing it.
The song was “She’s Such a Groovy Lady”.
The scene I especially loved was when they were all around the grand piano in Frasier’s apartment, and they’d been fine-tuning, tweaking, and working on the song all night.
It’s a fun tune and written really nicely into the show (that scene kind of reminds me of many nights at band rehearsals working on tunes over the years).
Anyway, this was a great episode that really highlights something I tell everyone…
We all have a great song in us.
Many of my students over the years have always thought it would be cool to write a song, but often they thought they wouldn’t be able to.
I always say, “everyone should write at least one song in their lifetime”.
It’s a fun and very groovy thing indeed to do!
#2 – A little highlight
I went to see three bands from my youth the other night.
These were three bands that I loved back when I was a teenager and sneaking into rock clubs underage for the first time.
Well, 20-something years later, these three bands toured together and put on an awesome show (They’re slightly obscure UK rock bands called Hundred Reasons, Hell Is for Heroes, and My Vitriol).
…And what was cool was that this wasn’t some nostalgia tour or anything like that, instead all three bands sounded tighter, more energetic, and more exciting than the previous times I’d seen them.
What made it really cool was that, at the end of the gig, my mate disappeared to go to the bathroom…
And me and another chap got talking.
It turns out he has a podcast (which I can’t remember the name of now, but I remember the chap’s name was Tom).
He’d done some interviews with the bands and had a backstage pass.
So he said, “Do you want to come and meet the band?”
So, of course, I did, and we went back and hung out with the headline band for a bit.
That was a nice moment, and they were a cool bunch of guys and very down to earth.
It’s great to meet your music heroes and have them be really nice folks.
Just shows how our musical idols are real people like me and you.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that.
#3 – Two key things
I got a cool comment from a student the other day.
Her name is Denise, and she’s a Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy member.
Over the past year, we’ve had a few Zoom lessons together (these were prizes for Denise winning the Leaderboard in the Academy).
Anyway, Denise was struggling with a tune and in the last lesson, we went really deep into this song.
Previously, she was trying to learn the song in too much of a big chunk.
So, we literally went over the first two notes for a minute or so – nothing more.
Just two notes.
Then I got her to add in the next note, and repeat.
We did this for a little while, and Denise’s confidence was improving.
Now, a couple of weeks later, she left a comment saying she is able to play the song now.
Yes, it took weeks of practice and focus, but Denise is pretty new to the guitar, so this is expected.
…But two things no doubt helped – breaking the song up into very small chunks and perseverance.
They are both key to learning anything.
It’s not easy practising like this but once you make it a habit, you’ll start seeing progress, and this is highly motivating and builds confidence…
So, keep that in mind when practising…
Small chunks and perseverance – both are key.
For more help with your playing, especially if you’re a fingerpicker, you might want to take a look at this…
Fingerstyle 101 – a step-by-step guide to beautiful fingerpicking guitar playing
Have a great week ahead!
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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