Quick bit of background info; I’m a 55 year old husband, dad and grandad who has a lifelong love of music, especially anything that involves a guitar. I was actually bought my first guitar at 10 years old as a Christmas present. It was a typical 3/4 size nylon string classical guitar and I loved it! Apart from one thing that is - I’m a lefty south-paw and the guitar was right handed!! “Don’t worry”, my dad assured me. “The man in the shop said it’s straight forward enough to restring it.” I waited and waited, but alas the restringing never happened. I even had a go trying to play right handed, but it just didn’t feel right, so unfortunately the beloved guitar slowly got relegated from pride of place next to the bed to being slung on top of the wardrobe with all the other unwanted toys, dust and detritus. Fast forward to my 40th birthday and my wife surprised me with a new shiny steel stringed acoustic guitar and yes, it was left handed! Tanglewood was the name on the headstock and whilst I had never heard of the name, it sounded like angels crying and I instantly feel in love. Not having the internet in those days, I rushed to the local music shop and inquired about lessons, books and any other viable method in order to learn to play my dream instrument. I was told that being left handed, it would be hard to find a tutor and most players are self taught anyway. Instead I was sold a pile of books and tuition guides including one that claimed you’d could learn to “Play in a Day”. I diligently set about trying to teach myself, and whilst I did manage to learn a few chords, I never really understood what it was that I was reading. My questions were never ending and the answers never seemed to be forthcoming. Alas, my interest waned again and once again the guitar was relegated from pride of place in the living room, to being slung next to the wardrobe in the spare room. Fast forward again to 16 months ago and I decided to dig out the guitar, clean it up and try again. This time though I had a huge advantage - the internet!! This time, I had answers to my questions and I started to notice I was actually improving, albeit extremely slowly. A couple of months in though I was struggling once again. Whilst obtaining information was no longer a problem, getting relevant information was. I tried to ignore the extravagant claims and guarantees of being able to play your favourite songs if you could invest the next 10 minutes to watching a video. The confusion and frustration started to set in again and once again it looked as though the beloved Tanglewood was destined for the spare room. That was of course until. I stumbled across a certain You Tube Video, which in turn lead me to a life changing website. Of course, it was Justin Guitar! And when I say life changing, for me this is no exaggeration. I have always loved music and as the saying points out, “A life without music is a mistake.”, but for me, it has always been the guitar that has held the most fascination. Growing up I had yearned to be able to play, but as an adult I had come to resign myself that it would never happen, but Justin Guitar has changed that. At first I thought there was a catch, after all, nothing in life is free. But it was!! I dived in and followed the course from the beginning and slowly lesson by lesson, day by day, I started to learn to play the guitar. Now, a year down the line, I can play a few songs, can play open chords fairly confidently and even finger picking is starting fall under my fingers. Barre chords were tough and I thought I would never get them down, but after about three months the “big” F chord finally came. Ironically enough, I am finding A shape barre chords slightly easier - go figure! I have donated to the site when I can, have bought a number of Justin’s books and I have even paid for the music theory course (yes, I need help!), but I wish there was more that I could do. I never dreamed that I would be at the stage that I am and I’m even proud that I can play Wonderwall! So you see, my claim that I have fulfilled a lifelong dream might seem an insignificant one to some, but to me it means everything. Thank you Justin!
Yay! How awesome! Glad you made it!
That’s really awesome. I took up playing at the age of 53 just over 10 years ago and there are many parts of your story that really resonate with me. Now that you’ve got your start, you’ll never look back and it only gets better and better. Welcome to the community. And congratulations on what you’ve acheived
Alex welcome !
55 is a great age to start but as that was also my restart age after years in the learning wilderness. Well it was the last of many such restarts having, like you been given a guitar for my 40th by the missus. I found Justin around 9 years ago and can’t believe how far I’ve come. So you are in the right place and on the right learning path. Feel free to ask any question here, as folk are only to willing to help as we have been or are all on the same road.
Cheers
Toby
Hi Alex welcome to the forum! Sounds like a lot of us in here, tried before and failed but with JG help we’ll succeed this time 
(I’m 50 and played when a teenager but lacked any teaching, just picked bits up here and there, ‘self taught’ isnt the best)
They are a great maker so you should have a really nice guitar there
Pure cruelty, Guitar takes a lot of time and effort, with so many subtle details, an experienced player could learn a son in an hour from a YT video, a total beginner could absolutely not learn to play in a day unless perhaps one open chord counts
Your experience is very very close to my own, including being a lefty who gave up as a kid trying to learn on a right handed guitar. No question that this is among life‘s greater pleasures. And so what Justin has provided to us all is a magnificent gift to humanity. I’m 67 and feel that I’ve earned the right to say that. Allow me to add my gratitude to Justin. He’s earned every right to be proud.
It does seem as though 10years is about the right amount of time to let a guitar gather dust before learning to play. Me too.
Welcome to the Community, Alex. It’s never to late and sounds like you are making great progress and living the dream, just like so many of us here. Now I’d love to hear your Wonderwall over in #record-yourself-progress-performance:audio-video-of-you-playing
Hello Alex and welcome to the community.
Welcome Alex, good to meet you! Lots of us are late starters but I guess that’s the beauty of Justin’s lessons, they seem to inspire a massive range of people!!
I also had a smile on my face when I could play Wonderwall!!
Hi Alex, and welcome to the community.
Finding JustinGuitar has changed your life and for the better. What a long road you’ve come along and you’re on it for good now I hope. Making music, playing songs. 
Hi Alex, welcome. Good that you kept the flame alive waiting for the proper time to light the hearth. As a beginner it is easy to stumble on any little obstacle. Justin has done a good job in addressing how to overcome a lot of those little obstacles.
Hello fellow lefty!
It was great to read your story. A lot of it was familiar. I am just starting to learn theory myself at 45. I wish you the best and look forward to your progress!
Thanks Jamolay, glad to be here!
Thanks tony, looks like a great community and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in!
Thanks Toby, loving the site and the community, everyone seems so welcoming and friendly.
Thanks RobDickinson. You’re right about those books being cruel. I even tried the Dummy’s Guide and that one had my name on it!! 
Couldn’t agree with you more Horsehockey!
Or at least until the dust is the same height as the frets!!!
Thanks for the welcome DavidP. Not sure I’m brave enough just yet to record myself!! 