Today I want to share with you the polar opposites of two types of students out there.
One who is a true gentleman who is making great progress and the other who was downright rude and likely to never amount to much on the guitar.
Here we go…
Email #1
A while back I got this email…
“I want a refund; you sound like you are begging me, do you have that few students that you have to gravel”.
Terry
This email was quite a while back, but when I read that I was like “wow!”
I had to laugh as I read it.
Here’s what happened…
He joins my membership, NEVER logs in, but wants a refund on the same day.
Despite my instinct telling me I should not waste my time with this guy, I offer my help, because why wouldn’t you with a new member?
Terry, the guy who sent the email, had recently joined the email list, never purchased anything from me before, and seemed to think he was getting private lessons at his beck and call.
(He should have read the sales page – it is clear that he gets support and help from me, but not weekly zoom lessons).
He was probably expecting me to pop over and tune his guitars for him too.
Heck, why not turn up at his Christmas party and play him a carol called, “We Wish You a Terry Christmas!”
I joke, but you only have to read the 100s of comments inside the membership to see it is a cool place to be, but as he never bothered to log in, he will never know.
I mean, begging? Gravel? (Did he mean grovel?)
There was certainly none of that.
If offering my help and assistance, and asking him to actually try it is tantamount to begging, just call me Oliver Twist!
The thing is, this was for his benefit.
For me, my first instinct was that he was probably going to be an awkward person and one who will never be pleased.
My instinct also told me to refund and block him from re-joining.
I should have done it right away, but after his insulting email, that is exactly what I did.
To make it funnier though, good ol’ Tezza emailed me a week later to say:
“I truly believe your courses are beneficial. I just was unable to easily achieve access as I am not comfortable with computers. Your book is wonderful”.
Comical.
Anyway, this was a big lesson I learnt back then.
It made me realise the importance of weeding out time wasters so I could focus on the rest of you who truly love learning guitar.
Okay, onto #2…
Anyway, on the flip side, this next experience was a great one and made my day recently.
It’s a poem I got from a student all the way from Napa Valley, California…
This is what it said…
The English Guitar Master
There lives in Birmingham, UK…
A master guitar instructor named Dan,
He had many thoughts of guitar teaching,
So soon in his mind he formed a plan,
He grew up performing songs…
Complete with riffs filled with crazy licks,
Fortunately for us students, he decided to leave the stage to create the Acoustic Academy…
Sharing his techniques and tricks,
Fellow students, if you follow his process and schemes,
You may realize your life-long dreams,
If mastering the guitar is your yearning…
Dan is the teacher from whom you should be learning.
Because he is The English Guitar Master!
That was a really cool poem to get, and I am very grateful to Allen for the kindness and thought.
It is students like Allen who make teaching so much fun.
Seeing you all progress is why I do it (but I ain’t a robot, so getting something lovely sent to my studio like this is great).
I love the creativity too.
As guitarists we are lucky, we have our music and our words as a way of expressing ourselves.
Both are pretty cool things to have.
Anyway, there you go.
Two interesting sides of the coin.
One – a rude guy who will probably never make much progress with guitar and the other, a creative, kind, and enthusiastic student.
I know who I prefer to have around.
Thanks again to Allen and to all of you who email nice things.
It is very much appreciated.
Enjoy your playing and keep being creative!
Dan Thorpe
Guitar Domination
P.S. If you want to join Allen in the membership, and see what it is all about, below is the link to find out more:
The Dan Thorpe Acoustic Academy
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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