Welcome to a new Monday post with 3 random thoughts on all things guitar, music, and life…
Here we go…
#1 – 500 times
I was watching a video recently of a basketball coach.
He was giving a talk in a school gym to a bunch of teenagers.
As he was talking, the coach would step up to the free throw line…
Throw a shot through the hoop.
…And tell the story about how every single day throughout the whole of his teenage years…
He would throw 500 shots.
Every day.
As the coach was talking, he didn’t miss one single shot.
Aim, shoot, score.
He talked about how he wanted to make it in the NBA growing up (an injury curtailed that career).
But to be honest, it seems like he got a more important calling in life to help inspire and improve the lives of youngsters.
I loved watching that.
It highlights a simple point about the relentless pursuit of excellence.
Repetition with good technique.
It cannot be beaten.
There are some people out there who want to sell hacks and shortcuts.
…But deep down, they know the truth.
Putting in the reps is key.
Not many of us need that sort of dedication to get to where we want to be on the guitar.
After all, 99.9% of people reading this don’t want the guitar-playing equivalent of being in the NBA.
For you, you might not need to do 500 passes through a song or technique a day.
It might be more like 10 or 20.
…But repetition and focus (along with precise technique is key).
It’s such a key point to remember.
Speaking of which, let’s move on to the next one…
#2 – Playing leftie
I did something a little funny earlier today.
I picked up my guitar and started playing it left-handed.
How did it go?
Well, for someone who has only ever tried it a handful of times in the past few years, it was as bad as you may expect.
My brain knew what to do, but my fingers didn’t.
I quite like doing stuff like this.
It puts me in a beginner’s shoes.
Yes, I have a lot of knowledge and skill of what and how to play, so it’s not like I was a true beginner when doing this.
…But technically, my fretting hand fingers were hopeless.
Yet after a while, the fingers started doing what I wanted.
I’m not saying you should try this often or anything, but maybe…
If you ever doubt how much progress you’ve made on the guitar, you might like to try playing the “wrong” way for a minute or two.
The chances are you will likely see that you have come a long way since you began playing guitar.
#3 – Healthy competition
Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day here.
We haven’t had many of those lately in England.
Me and Archie met my dad at a mini golf course.
It’s a lovely little “pitch and putt” type of place out in the countryside.
The holes are short enough for Archie to be able to play.
…But long enough for us adults to enjoy too.
At one point, Archie’s jaw dropped as he chipped a ball super sweetly.
It went further than anyone expected, past the hole we were on…
The ball bounced off a metal crocodile put on the course to make it more jazzy.
It then pinged off a tree to land near a group of teenagers.
It was a nice little comedy shot.
Overall, there was a good bit of healthy competition between the three of us.
…And I do love a bit of healthy competition.
At first, I wasn’t really feeling that great.
But a bit of fresh air and competition livened me right up.
So, if you ever need a little motivation and you’re the competitive type, you might like to try doing something to “gee” yourself up.
Maybe set a timer and see how many chord changes you can do.
Then try again and try to beat it.
…And then again.
Competing with others isn’t always the best thing in music.
But I do believe competing with yourself like this can be a good way to improve and have a little fun.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this week’s random thoughts, and they featured some useful things for you.
If you want more help with your playing, including how to fix the “7 stumbling blocks” of guitar playing that many people struggle with, then you might like to check this out below…
Guitar Domination Super eBook Bundle
Enjoy your Monday.
…And as always, thanks for reading.
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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