Here are two more interesting emails I have got lately. I hope you find the emails and my thoughts useful…
Email #1…
In regard to her recent purchase of Fingerstyle 101, this is what Juli said:
“I’m already hearing improvement! Oh yes, I had all the bad habits.
Poor instrument position, lazy fingerings, I never even used my thumb unless I was strumming!
It’s hard to break what I’m used to, but as I practice the techniques, they make sense much more than my old ways.
I hear improvements already, and I’m motivated to keep working through the material.
It’s already so worth it. I’ve tripled my practice time because it sounds good.
Thanks again. Gotta go feel my cup!”
Juli
So pleased to hear it.
It just goes to show results breed motivation…
…Which in turn breeds more results, and the positive cycle goes on.
To the point the excitement builds and you get bitten by the guitar playing bug.
This is an exciting time for Juli.
Not everyone gets results like this right away of course.
You have to get stuck in, put in the effort and apply these lessons to your daily playing…
…Doubly so, if you have been taught wrong in the past by others (which most guitarists have) and you have old bad habits to break.
Oh, and I had to re-read the cup comment at the end.
The “Cup” Juli mentions is a little technique to help you learn which strings to pluck when fingerpicking!
Anyway, onto Email #2
“Afternoon Dan,
At a very basic level, I want to finally learn to play, but fundamentally, I want to play well.
I’ve always wanted to play guitar but never found the time; and then a few years back was bought a guitar for Christmas along with 1:1 lessons…I practiced for a few weeks and then life got in the way again.
No excuse but learning became too difficult and my interest reduced…I’m tired of seeing my guitar gathering dust and not being played.
I WANT to play it and play it with confidence.
I’m a beginner in so many ways and want to have the confidence to pick it up and play…HELP!!!
Cheers”
Jason
I can hear the frustration in this email.
My advice to Jason and everyone else who has found learning guitar really hard is this:
There will be tough days, but you have to stick with it.
You can think of learning guitar a bit like weight loss.
You chip away, losing a few ounces at a time…
Over the weeks and months, those ounces turn into pounds, and those pounds turn into stones.
After a year of chipping away like this, you will lose a lot of weight and your body will be totally different.
It is the same with the guitar.
If you ever feel like it is tough, chip away, and look to make small (even tiny) improvements on one thing each day…
…And do something fun on the guitar each day.
Do that for a small amount of time each day and in a year, your playing will be transformed too.
It takes focus, but that is the price we have to pay.
We can all get there.
For more help with a plan on how to get there, lots of motivation, and multiple specific techniques such as the “Cup”, check this out…
Fingerstyle 101 – a step-by-step guide to beautiful fingerpicking guitar playing
Have a fab day!
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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