Good guitar advice shows up in the strangest places...
... if you're paying attention.
I was watching an old clip of Chet Atkins the other night. Black and white footage from some TV special back in the '70s.
He's barely into "Mister Sandman" when some yahoo in the crowd yells out: "Play 'Wildwood Flower'!"
Then another guy: "Do 'Yankee Doodle'!"
Pretty soon half the audience is hollering requests at him.
Chet stops. Looks up with that grin.
"Y'all got some favorites, huh?"
Crowd goes nuts.
He nods, adjusts his guitar, then says, calm as can be:
"Tell you what – I'm gonna play what I came here to play. And if I do it right, you'll forget what you asked for."
Then he dove back in and absolutely destroyed it.
And by the end nobody was yelling. They were modelling that "deer-in-headlights" audience paralysis that only the greats make happen…
Here's what got me about that moment though. Chet knew where he was taking them. They just needed to settle in and let him work.
Guy fumbling through requests all night versus a guy who runs the show.
One's reacting, the other's leading...
Same deal when you're learning guitar.
You can bounce around chasing every technique that catches your eye or you can lock into a proven system and actually get somewhere.
Chet didn't piece it together from random YouTube videos… wasn’t even a thing. He studied the greats. Built the foundation. Drilled the fundamentals until they were automatic.
That's when it clicked.
That's when he stopped thinking and started playing.
I see this all the time – guy's stuck, so he figures he needs something different. New approach. New gear. New guitar.
But what he really needs is a real path forward, step-by-step, note-by-note.
And someone who knows the route because they've walked it.
That's what Chet had.
That's what guys who actually play have.
Anyway, hope a little lesson from Chet helps on a cool Thursday.
Eddie Haddad
Guitar Mastery Method
P.S. Need a little help finding that kind of solid ground under your playing?
Well, I might make the suggestion that you should take a look at this <<<
… there’s even a little Chet inside.
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