How often do you get disheartened when learning guitar?

Well, here’s a little story to hopefully inspire you during those times.

On Friday night, I was sitting, having a beer with my mate, watching our kids play cricket at training.

The sun was shining, the music was blasting, and the kids were loving it…

…but then one of the mums came over and in a panicked voice she looked at my mate and said:

“I think your son has just been hit in the face with a cricket ball!”

We looked up and at the other end of the pitch, my mate’s son was lying on the ground – he was still.

The other players and coach were all around him in a circle.

“Oh, no,” I thought.

Cricket balls are rock-hard and can be dangerous, of course.

My mate legged it over to him.

In a few moments, thankfully his son, Leo, who is ten, got up and was a bit shaken up.

He’s now got a black eye but was okay.

They did a concussion test, and after sitting out for a few moments, he carried on playing.

Yep, he got up, and with an ice pack on his face, he carried on.

It was actually very inspiring.

I do love to see it when people get back up “on the horse” so to speak and carry on.

At one point, Leo had an ice pack on his face and fielded the ball with his spare hand.

Well, I find this sort of thing inspiring because some kids may have been put off cricket after that.

…And it’s a lot like people with the guitar.

I’ve taught two types of students over the years – both in person and online.

There’s the type who let bad moments get to them and find reasons to quit or not carry on.

…And there’s the type who gets on with things no matter what hurdles or setbacks come their way.

Naturally, I am a big fan of the latter type of student.

Of course, the journey is not easy so I do my best to help the other type too.

…But ultimately, it’s not up to me if people quit or carry on.

Sticking with it during tough times is, of course, essential.

Learning the right lessons for you is essential.

…And building up your self-belief brick by brick so it becomes an impenetrable wall is essential too.

So hopefully you can take inspiration from Leo if you ever get stuck.

Sure, some might think, “Well, he’s a kid and kids are resilient”.

True.

…But so are many adults.

There are countless emails I’ve received over the years from students who often felt like learning guitar was too hard and were ready to give up.

…But they didn’t and they’ve done themselves proud.

Those who kept at it and practised with focus, a sense of joy, and a relentless pursuit to improve one little thing each day…

At some point, they found something changed for them and things started to “click”.

Then playing the guitar became something they were never going to quit.

So, I hope this is helpful for you – either today or at some point on your journey.

…Because I’ve never met a single soul who regretted sticking with the guitar, but there are plenty of folks out there who regret giving up.

Enjoy the journey and thanks for reading.

…And if you want some more help and inspiration, then you might like to check this out.

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Me and Archie will be practising some cricket tomorrow ready for his next big game.

Hopefully, there will be no black eyes, but he hits the ball pretty hard, so wish me luck!

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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