Ah, the night of Halloween.
A time of year that Archie (my five-year-old son) 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 your stakes, garlic, and pitchforks and beat these demons.
Here they are…
The Devil on Your Shoulder
We have all been victims of this at some point.
The nasty little horned red face of the devil sitting on our shoulder.
He tells us we are not good enough, laughs at our mistakes, and mocks us for trying to learn guitar.
Thankfully, he is beatable.
To destroy this demon, we simply mock him back, smile, and enjoy the journey, knowing if we enjoy ourselves and stay positive, he will never win.
The devil cannot stand positivity, and that is the way to beat him.
Classical 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 boring technical scales 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 classical crypt can suck the fun out of playing if you do not beware.
Beat him with your love for music by learning the songs you love!
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 things 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 them and dismiss them completely.
Hellhound Helpers
They try to be helpful and give good advice.
Yet these horrible hounds are as useful as an ice cream parlour in hell.
Often these can be friends in your life who are guitarists or other musicians.
They tell you things like, “Yeah, guitar playing is tough, but don’t worry, your fingers will toughen up”.
They also give vague answers when you ask about things like chord changes (saying, “Yeah, they will get better”) and never really offer much, other than making you feel a bit 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.
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 do though, is give you a complete plan or teach you the fine 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 find out if they teach real students in your situation or do they simply teach online all day?
The answers will help to flush these bloodthirsty vampires out.
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 many times are at his mercy.
…Especially those who lack the energy, dedication, or methodical tuition to beat him.
Guitar playing can be challenging, but never give up, for 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.
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 check out the Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy.
Tomorrow I release the new lessons, witch are good fun.
These new lessons are on how to play a fun fingerstyle version of Deck the Halls (giving you enough time to learn it before Christmas)…
A guide on how to remember more using the most effective techniques that I have discovered over the years, and a little challenge for your pinkie!
Find out more here.
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.
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