Dan Thorpe's Acoustic Guitar Domination

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Celebrating Sir Paul

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sir paul
The other day, of course, was Sir Paul McCartney’s 80th birthday.

So, here’s a little story that showcases his talent for and dedication to music…

…And how we can all find inspiration from anywhere.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Learning, Legends Tagged With: Inspiration, Learning, The Beatles Guitar

3 Random Thoughts This Monday (Inspiration, Surprising Guitar, and Stopping to Smell the Roses)

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inspiration

Welcome to a new Monday post with 3 random thoughts on all things guitar, music, and life, including thoughts on inspiration, my new surprising guitar, and more.  Here we go…

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Filed Under: Learning, Practice Tagged With: Inspiration, Learn guitar online, Practice

3 Random Thoughts This Tuesday (Keyboards, Musical Skills, and Inspiring Others)

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Here is another of the weekly posts with 3 thoughts about guitar, music, and life. As it was my son Archie’s 5th birthday yesterday, this week’s post is a special one based around 3 useful things I have learnt from him, including how to inspire others, how to develop musical skills, and more.

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Filed Under: Beginner guitar, Learning, Practice Tagged With: Inspiration, Learning, Musicality

3 Random Thoughts This Monday (a Special Guitar Group for You, “Pairs”, and Some Big Inspiration)

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Here is another of the Monday posts with 3 of my thoughts on guitar, music, and life, including a new guitar group, an inspiring story, and more.

I hope you enjoy…   [Read more…]

Filed Under: Fingerpicking, Learning, Practice Tagged With: fingerpicking, Fingerpicking eBook, Inspiration, motivation, Practice

What Thinking Big Can Do for Your Guitar Playing

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Lately, I have been reading a good book called Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars.

In it, there is an interesting story about one of the biggest legends of music.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Legends Tagged With: guitar star, Inspiration, motivation

What Clint Eastwood Can Teach You About Guitar…

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The other day I got my partner to watch one of my all-time favourite films ever. (She fell asleep, but I was in my element). It was…

 

A Fistful of Dollars.

 

I’m a big film geek and I love the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Learning Tagged With: enjoying the journey, Inspiration, learning guitar, motivation

Guitar Injuries – Be Inspired by the Most Unbelievable Guitarists Overcoming the Odds

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William P. Gottlieb / Public domain

If you ever feel like learning guitar is too darn hard, you’re not “cut out for it” or you have “no natural talent”, read this and hopefully, you will think twice before telling yourself you ain’t no good.

The amazing stories of recovery of these five guitarists will be sure to inspire you even on the darkest of days.

They are amazing really…

Les Paul – the guy who created, ahem, the Les Paul guitar (and was a superb player too) was involved in a severe car crash after which the only way to stop his right arm from being amputated was for doctors to set it in one position without him being able to bend it. Les Paul showed dedication to the guitar and chose the position that would allow him to play the guitar. He re-learnt how to play this way and went on to be a maestro juggernaut guitar player.

Django Reinhardt – had the ring and pinkie of his fretting hand burned so badly they were unusable, yet he went on to create some incredibly interesting, fast and exciting gipsy jazz, all using only two fingers. His playing was something else!

Tony Iommi – the guitarist of the mighty Black Sabbath and Ozzy’s mate had the tips of his fingers severed in a machine accident (about 5 miles from where I’m writing this). He used synthetic tips and low tunings to reinvent his playing which in turn helped invent the music of heavy metal – love or loathe Black Sabbath they changed rock music for good.

Pat Martino – after a seizure and brain issues, and lots of surgery, jazz extraordinaire, Pat Martino was left with amnesia, not being able to play the guitar and not even recalling his own albums! He went through a painstaking process of re-learning everything from scratch and, in many people’s opinions, became an even better guitarist the second time around.

Larry Carlton – who performed with legends such as Michael Jackson, Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel, Steely Dan, and Barbra Streisand was shot, (yes shot!) in the throat, which left him with nerve damage down his left arm. It all looked to be over for his career, but Larry said “no way to that amigo”, and painstakingly started all over again, and is still relevant and touring to this day.

If you ever need inspiration, look up these guys playing, read more on their stories, and you’ll see what YOU can do if you put your mind to it.

Severe burning, being shot, amnesia, a car crash, industrial accidents – they had it all. It sounds like something from a Tarantino movie, but these things happened and these guys overcame the odds.

The thing is, everyone can learn to be musical and have fun on the guitar, but only with the right mindset.

Getting to where you want to be is all in the mind, as these guys have proven (as well as many of my private students over the years).

Don’t let anything stop you.

 

Dan Thorpe
Guitar Domination

P.S. This was inspired by an interesting email I got the other day from a new subscriber telling me about how he lost the use of his index finger 40 years ago but how he just started learning guitar.

He was pretty positive about it and had a plan, which is awesome.

He suggested trying open G tuning and using simpler chord shapes where needed, which are great ideas. He could even add playing power chord stuff if he’s into rock, playing blues lead and working on some simple fingerstyle arrangements which are more melody-based and less chord-based.

You don’t need four fingers for any of the above.

He too is overcoming the odds.

Anyway, I hope this inspires you if you ever get down about your playing. All the above guys were/are human. If they can do it, so can you!

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) then join Dan’s list. It’s 100% free, HERE 

Filed Under: Legends Tagged With: Inspiration

Q and A – Five Minutes With Superstar YouTube Teacher, Andy Guitar

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Welcome to a new Q and A. For this one, we have Andy Crowley from Andyguitar.co.uk.

Due to his laid back teaching style, his genuine focus on helping beginners improve and high quality tutorials, he is someone I respect highly. Most popular online tutors, especially those on YouTube say they teach beginners, but often their lessons are too difficult for actual beginners.

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Filed Under: Q and A Tagged With: Inspiration, Learning, Recording, songs

Reader Question – Help! I’m stuck in a guitar rut and don’t know where to go next

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In this video, I discuss a variety of ways you can get yourself out of a guitar-playing rut. Many guitarists plod along for a long period of time without realising it.

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Filed Under: Reader Question, Videos Tagged With: beginner guitar, getting grades, Inspiration, motivation, Playing live

Q and A – Five Minutes With Guitarist and Teacher Max Chiossi

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For our latest Q and A, we have Max Chiossi. Although Max is more of a rock player and teacher, I wanted him on the blog because of his focused approach to practising, his interest in the psychology of learning, and his insights on how to use your practice time more effectively. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Interview, Q and A Tagged With: Inspiration, motivation, Psychology, Time management

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