PRESENCE - Volume 42
Inspiration For Guitarists
Hey everyone — I want to start today with a huge thank you!
This month the channel crossed 3 million views, and honestly, I’m still wrapping my head around it.
For decades, my teaching happened strictly at the local level. I uploaded my first YouTube lesson about a year and a half ago — it still sits at 288 views — and most of the videos I made in those first nine months didn’t do any better. But I kept showing up. I dug into the foundations: how YouTube works, filming, lighting, editing, scripting… the same way I once had to go back and rebuild my guitar fundamentals.
It reminded me of something that applies to every skill:
If you understand the core elements, everything else stops feeling so confusing.
Guitar. YouTube. Tennis. Whatever. The fancy stuff only works when the foundation is right.
Now instead of reaching a couple hundred students per year, I’m reaching thousands every week. It feels incredible — not because of the numbers, but because I care deeply about helping people play better and actually feel like musicians. Music has shaped my whole life, and being able to share that with so many people is something I don’t take for granted. So thank you for being here and for caring about the work I’m putting out!
Course Updates
For those of you inside my course, I’ve added a lot this week:
New tabs
New videos
New practice tools
And the part I’m most excited about: a brand-new Video Q&A section
You can now email your questions directly to me. I can’t promise instant replies, but I can promise thoughtful answers — and many of them will be added to the Video Q&A section so future students benefit too.
Here are the first two questions I’ve answered:
New YouTube Videos You May Have Missed -
The 2-Note Upgrade: Turn Your Pentatonic Into the Major Scale
7 Things I Wish I Knew Sooner About Guitar (That Would’ve Saved Me Years)
You’re Learning the Pentatonic Scale Wrong (Here’s the Truth)
Thank you again for all your support — truly.
— Dustin
P.S. A lot of people have asked about a Black Friday deal, so I’ll be offering a short, limited-time discount next week. If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to join the course, keep an eye on your inbox.