Last night, I woke in the pitch black with a jolt.
I heard an anguished cry, the sound of strings twanging, and wood cracking.
I quickly ran to my living room to see a very overweight guy in a red suit holding the smashed remains of one of my guitars.
“Ho, Ho, Ho,” he said meekly in embarrassment.
After rubbing my bleary eyes, I realised it was…
Santa!
“Dan, I’m so sorry,” he said.
“I was delivering presents for Archie and you, and I saw this guitar of yours and wanted to play it”.
Santa explained how he always wanted to give it a go and was looking forward to romancing Mrs Claus with a rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” for the new year…
…But he was upset and frustrated, so he smashed it up.
“Calm down, Mr Claus,” I said.
“Everyone finds learning guitar incredibly hard at first”.
Santa told me he was new to guitar, he wanted to learn it in one week (which is crazy, even for Santa), and that he had never played any instrument in his life.
He asked me for advice, so I told him…
1 – Practice every day
Instead of sleeping through January, get up and practice – even for just 5 minutes per day but 20 minutes is an ideal amount (if you can, more is ideal, though).
Most people can do this – even the super busy ones.
2 – Sit with the guitar using good posture
Delivering billions of presents each year puts strain on the back.
It is important to look after your body and get in the ideal position for playing.
3 – Warm up properly before you play
It’s super cold up at the North Pole. You must physically warm up the hands, and do some gentle finger stretches before you play.
Don’t dive right into the tough stuff or you risk injury.
4 – Get the elves to make a guitar that suits you
If you don’t play a suitable guitar, everything becomes harder than it should be.
Take the time to find a guitar that is ideal for you.
5 – Believe in yourself
I told him, “You are Santa, and you have achieved great things, but even the most confident of people can lack self-belief when learning guitar at first…
Especially those learning later on in life.
You need to believe in yourself, and one way to do this is to think about the good things you have already done in life.
Nothing is easy at first but just like driving, cooking, golf, sewing, archery (sleigh riding with eight reindeer) or whatever else…
Playing the guitar eventually does become a natural feeling.
It takes time, so enjoy it all!”
So, there it was…
I gave Santa a plan, gave him a copy of my eBook bundle, and sent him on his merry way.
The tools he needed were all inside. (Check the bundle out HERE if you want it).
He knocked back the sherry (that guy can drink), and off he went to deliver more presents.
And so that’s that.
No doubt by the end of 2022, he will rock his guitar.
I hope you enjoyed that. Thanks for reading my humble little posts and I wish you and your family…
A rockin’ and very Merry Christmas!
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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