Oct '2022, Hello fellow guitarists. My name is Dave and I’m from Rhode Island, USA. I took a few lessons as a kid but since I didn’t practice, my parents made me quit - don’t blame them! Now, here I am age 62, retired and I thought I’d give it a go. I started Grade 1 during the pandemic but got sidetracked (pandemic, got married!, bought a boat) and had to start over again this past winter. I finished Grade 1 this past May and figured I’d just review over the summer. Just resumed coursework in September and am just starting the dreaded F chord. Ugh. To be honest, I’m a little frustrated with my progress - my chord changes aren’t quick enough nor do they sound great all the time. I guess “Practice Makes Permanent, so Practice Perfectly” right? Looking forward to the journey…
Hello drc726. Yeah practice makes permanent. If there is anything I can recommend it is to use the one minute chord changes exercise. It will definitely help with chord changes. And use the practice assistant. Where you can log your progress. And you will definitely see improvement. Keep at that F chord. In the beginning I found it easier to stand and play f chord
Good luck. Keep at it. 
Hey Dave, welcome to the community. I started well over 10 years ago at the age of 53 and I can assure you it’s worth sticking to it. For me, once I could play a song all the way through, that gave me extra motivation and I can now play many dozens of songs. I agree with Jason’s comments about the one minute chord change lesson being very good.
The F barre chord was quite the challenge for me at the start, I was determined to stick with it and now I’m so glad I did.
Enjoy the journey! Look forward to hearing more from you.
Hello David, and a warm Welcome to the community 
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You’re a bit ahead of me with your guitar journey (I’m at module 8 right now). Also my chord changes aren’t always the way, I would like them to be. The one-minute-change practice definitely helps, but I always combine it with perfect change practice to avoid making mistakes permanent 
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I’m looking forward to hear more from you 
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Hi Dave and welcome! The F chord is a challenge for many. What really helped me was learning songs that included it. I spent a lot of time changing to/from it in the songs I was learning while also doing the one minute changes in the course. Stick with it and you’ll get it!
Thank you all for taking a minute to read my introduction and for reaching out with your kind words of encouragement. I’m truly enjoying this exciting journey, even with its challenges and frustrations, and am kind of looking forward to the winter months here in New England to devote more time to practice and playing. My next step is to post my first video playing my first song. I’m not gonna lie - I’m a bit terrified! But excited as well. Take care and have fun!
Hi David. Welcome to the community. Like you, I played when I was young, took 45 years off and started again after I retired. And, like you, I’m a New Englander and get a lot more playing time in the winter. Enjoy the journey!
Welcome David! Sounds like you’re progressing nicely! Look forward to continuing to hear how you get on.
Hi David,
Welcome and i wish you a lot of learning but above all fun 
Greetings,Rogier
Welcome, Dave! That’s great to hear that you decided to come back to guitar after all that time. And to echo other comments here, I agree, Justin’s “one minute changes” exercise is fantastic!
Do you use his My Practice Assistant tool? I can’t recommend that highly enough!
Welcome and best of luck on your resumed journey.
Hello Dave. Richard here in Mystic, CT. Welcome to the community and back to guitar. I have been working on guitar for a couple of years now, most recently on jazz. If you are interested I would not mind having a jam buddy to practice with once a week or so…I know it would really help my playing. Let me know if you are interested, but in any case good luck and Practice, Patience, and most important, Perseverance.
Hi Richard, thanks for reaching out. I am really enjoying the journey so far and, while I do see progress, I am still very much a beginner, practicing in solitude in a spare upstairs bedroom with the door shut. That said, I’ll pass on your offer for now. Maybe down the road? Until then, yes, practice, patience and perseverance! All the best…
Hey Dave. Sounds good and good luck with your journey. I’m going to try and be more active on the forum than I have been so I’ll be around.
Richard
Hello and welcome to our community Dave. 
Ahhhh, that pesky F chord. Just make sure you start practicing by landing that index finger first. I did it by landing fingers 3 and 4 and I’ve have to relearn it. It took a while but I’m nearly there now.
Have a great guitar journey.
Hello Dave. Welcome to JustinGuitar and this amazing community. Working steadily and patiently through the modules is the way to go and progress. You will have ups and downs - the F chord can surely be classed as a down in many people’s stories. If you need any help, support or feedback just ask.
Cheers 
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