PRESENCE - Volume 41
Inspiration For Guitarists
Back in my twenties, I played in a band called The Hardsoul Poets.
We toured around in a beat-up old van that smelled like coffee, strings, and broken dreams.
We never stayed in hotels — just couches, floors, wherever someone would let us crash. Our Taco Bell budget was less than $5 per day, and that was only if we sold a few CDs at the gig.
One night, we had a show at the legendary CBGB in New York City. For us, that was it — a bucket-list moment.
As we were walking to the club, guitars slung over our shoulders, there was a car on fire right down the block. Flames shooting up, smoke everywhere.
We just looked at each other, shrugged, and kept walking. We weren’t about to miss our chance to play that stage.
We played our hearts out that night, not because it paid well (it didn’t), but because we loved it.
Looking back, that whole tour taught me something important:
Progress — in music or anything else — doesn’t happen in perfect conditions.
There’s always a little chaos.
A van that won’t start.
A bad gig.
A solo that won’t quite land the way you want it to.
But if you keep showing up anyway — if you walk past the fire — you eventually get where you’re trying to go.
That mindset is still at the heart of how I teach today.
You don’t need perfect gear, perfect conditions, or even a perfect plan — you just need the willingness to keep going and focus on the right things.
That’s what my Essential Skills course is built around: clear, simple fundamentals that work, no matter what stage of the journey you’re on.
Keep going — even if there’s a little smoke in the air.
– Dustin
This week’s YouTube video is about Pentatonic Sequences, one of the best things you can practice for soloing!
Here are a couple more recent videos that you might find helpful:
PS - For those of you in the Essential Skills Guitar Course, I've added a new section called "Daily Start: Essential Exercises".
This is your 5–10 minute warm-up to wake up your hands, focus your listening, and reconnect musical ideas to the shapes you know. The goal is to get the sound in your head first, then let your hands follow.
Think of this as starting the engine, not taking the trip. Do these at the start of your practice, then move on to the Practice Studios where the real progress happens.
The section includes both a demonstration video and tabs to follow along.