Took up the guitar again about a week ago. Starting two weeks prior to that I found and started to use an old Planet Waves Varigrip to build up my hand strength. By reveresing the pad, I was supposed to be able to build up my calluses. That only worked somewhat. I’m working on the A and D chords and immediately noticed that I have a problem with streching. I found on Justin’s site, his short tutorial on finger exercises (not the finger gym one). I also located another excersise routine that doesn’t need an instrument. The creator said he learned it at the NY Conservatory of Music. I’m going to do both sets of exercises and still practice the A and D chords.
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Great hearing you’re trying. Im afraid I need a smack to wake me up and maybe the foot up the butt lol. I am 63 and was in auto body business for 50 yrs plus owned it and an, Irish pub for the last 5 yrs of my shop. Busy guy! Now retired im bored as heck and so, I bought a new Gibson les Paul 60 standard in unburst color then, 11 more sweet guitars and 4 sweet amps, all new. Last was Marshall 40 cr. So sweet. Lmao now, um, now to learn, you think 
laughing 
I need, like minded friends to kick my butt to motivate me a bit. Long story short, I’ve always wanted to play!
Hoping I can learn to jam with bluesy rock! David Gilmour, Gary Moore, so many others! Theory bores me so, I just want to learn to use my very artistic ability to learn scales and just jam, plain and simple. Anyone? Help
Michael. Cheers
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My interests, in guitar, are mostly early acoustic and electric blues. For the moment, the slower the blues the bettter. Later on, I want to tackle blues rock. I have been collecting blues songs on CD for a while. Along with individual artists, I have most of the “Blues Masters The Essential Blues Collection” and quite a few of the Roots ‘N Blues series. I’m still exploring styles but I’m gravitating toward Delta Blues (pre-electric), Memphis (BB King etc), Chicago Early and Late (the latter Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf etc) and I like Snooks Eaglin (New Orleans).
I was more interested in playing and thought I could skip theory but that turned out to not be the case. Just trying to know what chords go with what key and chord progressions got me intersted in at least getting my feet wet - theory wise. I’m actually finding it interesting.
The other thing that got me interested in theory was simply time. I wanted to allocate at least an hour a day to music, in the beginning that was going to be all guitar. Then I watched Justin’s video on starting to practice and he advised that until the calluses develop to stop when the fingers hurt, which is about 10 minutes and to practice on guitar every other day, to let the fingers heal. On the non-guitar days, I practice either with my harmonicas or Irish Whistle. On guitar days, after the fingers hurt, I either practice the other instruments or read/watch videos about theory. I don’t want to give up the time slot to other activities.
Hi again Hal (I saw your intro post)!
I have to commend you on committing yourself to the process of learning & progressing musically - you’ve gotten ahold of some great gear, you have found a superior place to learn & the (IMHO) best teacher on the web, you have some defined goals to work towards… now just get going!!! 
Stick to Justin’s lessons & put in the practice time & you will surely progress (at times slowly - but surely)…
Many people recommend taking periodic video of themselves to “document” their progress & post in their Learning Log… whether you post or not is optional, but it is a pretty good idea to take a few videos. At points in this Journey, you will have highs, lows & plateaus - just like any learning process - & when you’re down about whether you can do it, watching yourself basically unable to form a chord or strum will help you to see how far you’ve come!!! It’s a pretty good feeling & helps to re-motivate you!!!
Also,
My recommendation is to get a stand or wall hanger & keep a guitar handy for when you only have a few minutes - I like to play chord progressions or practice scales while my coffee’s brewing in the AM!
Good luck with learning, remember that when you get stuck, you can reach out to the Community, we’re a fairly helpful bunch here!!!
Tod
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Hello Michael & Welcome!
Good to hear you’ve found a retirement activity that’s got you excited!!! Motivation is a bit of a struggle for me as well… this Community is definitely helpful in that arena!
Good luck with you Journey into GuitarLand!!!
Tod from New Mexico
PS - A lot of Community members don’t frequent Learning Logs… you may wish to Introduce yourself here - Latest Community Hub/Introduce yourself … topics - JustinGuitar Community
Tod
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I first posted on Introduce Yourself, but thanks.
The two electrics and the uke are on stands in the living room. The amp and effects box are also in the living room. (I have a very, very understanding wife) The baby grand piano, which is really my wife’s, and was in the house when we bought the house, is also in the living room. My acoustic guitar is sometimes in the living room in a stand but is currently in its stand right by my desk in my “cave”. The harmonicas and Irish Whistles are right above my head when I sit at my desk. Some how I ended up with three “C” harmonicas and I will probably start carrying one around with me, in my “go bag”.
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Hey Hal…
I saw YOUR intro post, I was replying to Mike @MikesLessons with that particular response… sorry if it was a bit confusing!
HaHa!!! We are a couple of lucky guys! My wife loves my guitars out on display - she considers them works of art! Now, if I could just convince her that the sounds coming out of them are also “ART”!!! 
Tod
Hi Hal, I’d be interested in seeing the exercise routine you mentioned. Is it online?
Justin’s exercise routine is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYx8r0EtGsE
The other one (I hope this is allowed) is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSrfB7JIzxY
D’Addario owns Planet Waves. They improved the VariGrip that I bought years ago. Mine doesn’t have the hand fitting rubber pad. The website that lists the product also sells it and I don’t know if a link is allowed to that kind of site. Just search D’Addario and go to the accessories page.
I also found a “stress ball” that i started using when I’m just sitting at my computer watching videos or TV.
Just an update. I rewatched one of Justin’s intro videos and he mentioned getting the guitar setup. He also mentioned he has his re-set every few years. My guitars were never set-up, not even when I bought them. He also recommended starting with an electric, even without an amp. I decided to put the acoustic aside and switch to the Squier Strat for a while. In tuning it, I broke a string. Then I broke another one trying to replace that one. I had company coming and really didn’t have time to replace all the strings, so I took it back to the guitar store to let them do it. Before they did it, I asked them what a set-up would cost, about ($100) and the new strings come with it. So I decided to leave the electric and let them do a full work over on it.
When I got home, I took a good look at the acoustic. When I look at the strings from the side, I noticed the high E string is much lower than the other 5 strings, which might explain some of my strumming issues. Since I’m still having finger placement issues on other strings, I will continue to use the acoustic until the electric comes back, then it and the Bass VI are going in for set-ups.
Hal, thanks for the links.
All I have is an electric, and in my home there’s not a good place for me to play amplified without disturbing my family. It’s OK to play without an amp, but I got a great product called the Mustang Micro. It’s a small amplifier, just a few inches long, that plugs into the output jack. It has a 3.5mm jack for headphones. There are cheaper brands also, check Amazon.
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I spoke with my chiropractor about finger exercises for guitar. He has a little experience with guitar and many patients who play. I showed him what I was doing (detail above). He thought what I was doing was good. He also suggested I try one or two other things. He said that I was primarily exercising the finger tendons and forearm muscles and forearm tendons and I might want to add some exercises for the finger abductor muscles (the ones that help you pull your fingers apart). He suggested two exercises.
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Bring the tips of the fingers and thumb together (do not make a fist). Wrap a rubber band around your fingers and thumb, do not cut off the circulation. Then spread the fingers and thumb apart, hold, relax. Repeat. There are things you can buy to do this but just about everyone has rubber bands around the house.
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Instead of, or in addition to, fill a bowl or jar with rice or sand. He recommended rice since it is cleaner. Also it would help if the container was sealable and therefore the contents reuseable. There only has to be enough rice/sand to cover your fingers when you put them in the mixture. You do not need to cover the hand - just the fingers. Put your fingers and thumb together as above. Put them in the mixture. Slowly spread them apart. Left them out, let the rice/sand settle. Repeat.
I going to add exercise one to my routine.
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