Hi John, welcome. You’re probably sounding the way Keith Richards and the other ones you mentioned sounded when they were learning so nothing to feel uncomfortable about, but if using the headphones works for you, your household and the neighbourhood everything is good. Any new guitar skill you’ll try will most likely take it quite a few and even numerous attempts to master it but at the end, if you persist, you’ll do that and more.
2 Likes
Hi Kim,
The Dm chord feels very approachable today on the second day I’ve attempted it, and particularly better after playing some songs with Dm although I was fumbling to find the right fingering. My small finger gave up it’s strength on the second string somewhere during songs, so it was laying down on the high E string and muting it.
I know the F chord is supposed to be a monster, but I haven’t really looked at it yet. I’m glad you’re having success with the G chord after three weeks. I was not aware that it’s a difficult one, so thanks for letting me know.
2 Likes
Hi dobleA,
Thank you for the encouragement! I appreciate it.
I just learned that a lot of the old British rockers learned from a book called “Play In A Day”, which I saw is still available on Amazon but doesn’t seem worth picking up at this point. We’re lucky to have far better resources to learn from at this time.
3 Likes
The G chord might not be that difficult for you, but for me it have really been a struggle. Still my pinky is not always doing as I want it to do, which then mute the high E string or make the sound distorted. So I still have some traing to do with that. I have trained other stuff and only done G somewhat few times per day compared to other chords and stuff, yet it just becomes better and better, even I don’t put much effort into that one atm.
The Dm I simply can’t do, if I don’t use my pinky on second string. I use index on 1st string first fret, then middle finger on 3rd string second fret, and then pinky on 2nd string third fret. The only way I can make it work.
I am only grade 1 lesson 3 and 27 days into my journey. I am so surprised how much I can do already. I could do nothing at all when I started.
It took time and effort for me to learn farming. It took time and effort to learn carpentry. Gardening and so on. But today I can build a house, grow food and make many flowers. It’s no different. Mentally I don’t see the G or F chord as something horrible … the F… Chord… ha ha ha… it is indeed if you want to look at it that way. - I can’t help laugh when I tell the fingers to do one and they do something else. 
10 days ago or something, I suddenly saw my hand trying release the grip of the fret board, and go around in order to try to take the Dm from above… I couldn’t help laughing.
All is habit, you just have to program well, then it will be like automatic. It could help to think like that. That’s the reality, so why not 
Most important is to enjoy and have fun, then things come much faster. 
1 Like
Welcome to the Community John. My grandmother was from Brooklyn. 
Ah, the Dm, was it only a couple weeks ago I learned that one? lol Now I’ve got a handle on C and the G chord I just started today, and if you watch Justin’s video about “hacking” the G chord, it makes it a lot easier to play, no pinkie involved.
2 Likes
Hi LunaRocket,
Good to hear from you!
Best of luck with the G chord, I hope it goes easily for you.
Today was my second day with the Dm chord and it was easier than yesterday so I assume I’ll be good with it in a couple of weeks time. I managed to not strum the 3rd beat of The Most Common Strumming Pattern by practicing while watching Justin’s video on it, so that was a minor victory. Yesterday I absolutely could not strum DDU UD without strumming the third downbeat.
3 Likes
Hi John.
Welcome to JustinGuitar and the community.
You’re doing the right thing taking time to get the very early foundations solidly in place. Stay in those first modules for as long as it takes. Learn songs as you go. They’re what it is all about and they bring together all the skills and techniques youu learn and practice. Enjoy.
Ask if you’re unsure of anything.
Cheers
Richard
1 Like
Hi Richard,
Thank you! I’m on module 7 now, the consolidation phase. Having a time picking out the five songs to memorize. Some are fun to listen to, but not fun to memorize. Chocolate Jesus, for instance. It’s tricky and much more complicated than I thought. Plus it misses beats in a few areas. The chord sequences and length of measures change around a lot during the course of the song, so although I love it I think I’m going to have to pick another. I’ve written it all down from the version on the app, which I love but don’t really think I can memorize it at this point. It’s been taking my focus off the other songs I need to learn. Another reason I chose it is because it has the Dm chord, which is for me the most difficult to play and I didn’t like any of the other songs with this chord but I may have to revisit them. The other songs I’ve picked are Wish You Were Here, For What It’s Worth, Wild Thing (or maybe Louie Louie) and Hey Joe. I do enjoy playing these.
Best regards,
John
1 Like