I’ve been using Justin’s lessons for some years now but have only recently started posting here, so I thought I’d introduce myself.
My name’s Ross and I hail from Bristol in the UK. I was a teenager in the 90’s when Grunge really exploded, and of course, a certain Kurt Cobain became my idol. Alas money was tight, so the only guitar I could get hold of to emulate my hero was a ratty old thing from a mate. It would never stay in tune, and the reason became clear quite quickly… when the neck literally snapped off in my hands. That was the end of that, and with the twists and turns of life, the idea of learning guitar faded from view.
Fast forward nearly two decades, and a colleague mentioned that they wanted to sell their beginner’s electric guitar and micro cube amp. They’d bought it after enjoying a certain guitar-based video game, but had instantly given up when they realised the real thing was a lot more difficult! I snapped it up, and it was soon after this that Justin Guitar was first suggested to me (by someone that had used it to become an accomplished player) as the best way to learn how to play. Unfortuantely I’d already found Rocksmith 2014, and it seemed much more fun to me to play songs than watch “boring” lessons. So I spent around four years, on and off, messing with that, learning very little, and picking up numerous bad habits that would take a long time to break later on.
Then for Christmas 2018, my incredibly generous girlfriend (who recently became my Wife) bought me a brand new electric guitar! There was no way I could allow that gift to go to waste, so it was at this point that I finally decided to do what I should have done in the first place… and turned to Justin Guitar. I learnt more in the first year with Justin than I had in the previous five, not to mention that my interest and motivation has remained high since day one, both thanks to the feeling of progress and to the fun way that Justin teaches.
So that’s my guitar journey to date. I now own four guitars (two electic, two acoustic), and try to spend at least an hour per day (often a lot more) playing them. Admittedly I still spend far more time playing songs I know well than I do practicing new ones or working on technique but… old habits die hard I suppose!
Anyway, I look forward to spending more time here and sharing our musical journey together!
Welcome to the community. Enjoyed reading your intro. Spending an hour a day means the guitar bug has definitely bit you nicely. My guitar time is the highlight of my day (often). Look forward to hearing more from you.
Thanks for sharing your story, Ross. Many of us followed various paths before finally discovering Justin and starting to make meaningful progress. Nothing wrong with taking it slow and steady on learning new things and spending time playing songs. I look forward to hearing some songs from you in #record-yourself-progress-performance:audio-video-of-you-playing Enjoy the adventure.
That’s near the top of my list of goals, as it really is time I got some feedback from people who aren’t my Wife! Of course, every time I hit the record button the urge to get it “right” kicks in, and the resulting tension causes more mistakes than I ever make when playing normally. But I’m getting there.
Oh yes, we call it Red Light/Button Syndrome And nobody is immune.
For me I have worked on a mindset of enjoying myself and sharing the results warts and all. I just try to keep on playing if I make a small mistake. And often nobody notices. It is good to practice that for recording and playing live.
That sounds like a good idea. If you get used to not worrying about people hearing your little mistakes, then you’re going to be less tense and therefore less likely to make them in the first place. I should give it a go.
And most of the time they don’ even hear the little mistakes.
The purported advice given to EVH from his father was, “‘keep pedaling through. Don’t stop and don’t let the audience know you made a mistake. Or, smile and do it twice, then people will think you meant it!”
And nobody is immune.