Hello, AJ and I like your 5 minutes a day! Back in the mid-80s I had a Hebrew teacher (an Italian) use 5 minutes a day as an initial guide. (Amici carissimi, hebreo e’ facile. Solamente cinque minuti ogni giorno. – Dear friends, Hebrew is easy. Only five minutes each day.) He was a lot of fun. The class? Well… With the guitar I am still working at going back and forth from A to D. I am not feeling comfortable with the pick. Over the years I have sung in choirs (high school and university), and played the trumpet in a few community bands. Notes like Em are foreign to me. I had to get up and walk over to my music stand to see Em. I like that chord!! David
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Hi AJ, welcome to the community forum. I was wondering about your statement above. I know that Em is covered in module 3, so I wondered if this really is your first lesson. If so, you might have missed the lessons in modules 1 and 2 which have a lot of good info on holding your guitar and pick and strumming.
As others have said, look at the JustinGuitar website also and you will find additional information on the chords and riffs in Grade 1.
Have fun and keep playing a little each day. The pain should go away when you develop calluses on your fingertips in a week or two.
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Sorry, Steve. I meant Em# (E Minor). Beginner mistake. Thanks for the welcome and reply!
Thanks, David but I meant E minor.
Hi AJ, welcome. Good you’re trying the acoustic and using Justin Guitar lessons for that. You may be doing it right, but I think it’s worth to ask if you have already have learnt A, D and E major chords before studying the Em (E minor) chord you’d been practicing. Just to check if you haven’t been inadvertently taken the lessons in a different order that the course is set up (assuming you’re a complete beginner). The order Justin has set it up is an order that works for most students (including students with previous guitar experience). The E#m chord you were referring to is a more advanced chord that needs to barre (put the index across al six strings) and use middle and ring finger to do the Em position in the 3rd fret instead of the second. Barre chords are not introduced until Module 9. Have fun.
Hello and welcome, AJ. I hold my guitar “classical style” when sitting and when I stand it is in that same position. When I first had a go at guitar way back, I didn’t like how the guitar wanted to slide off my leg, so I switched and am very happy with it. See the link below if you want to see the basics of it. It’s a personal preference, but I like that way.
Good on you AJ, welcome!! You’ve started a great journey, wish you much fun 
