Hi everyone, my name is John from the Netherlands.
In the 90s, I tried to learn to play (electric) guitar, but because I preferred going out to practicing, it wasn’t successful.
But after that, I’ve always wanted to learn to play guitar, and at 53 (better late than never), I’m going to try again.
I hate lessons through a music school or something similar, which I’m required to attend every week. I want to practice at my own pace and whenever it suits me, so JustinGuitar is ideal.
I now have a nice Ibanez and amp that I’ve been practicing on for about a week now. I still have the rest of this week off, so I can practice a lot. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s better than a few days ago, and the sore fingertips aren’t holding me back either.
If it gets too bad and I can’t play the chords anymore, I put the guitar aside and do another short session a few hours later. I use those hours to watch YouTube videos, because the mechanic in me wants to learn how to maintain the guitar myself.
I still have a long way to go, but I can’t wait until my fingers move faster and more flawlessly across the fretboard and I can play some rock songs.
Welcome to the community. I was also 53 when I learned to play guitar (for the 2nd time) and yeah, Justin made a huge difference for me. I’ve been playing for nearly 14 years now and am so thrilled I stuck with it. The reward is huge.
A great age to take up a hobby for your retirement. That’s exactly the age I started seriously learning to play the guitar two years ago.
That’s right! Changing strings and trying out different ones, making small adjustments to the string action to suit your needs, etc., will help you grow together with your instrument.
Enjoy the journey, have fun and play songs you like.
Indeed also learning to set up your guitar is time well spent. I did that and have definitely saved on spending money on a luthier and after learning I also built my own guitar from parts which is also fun.
I normally recommend a guitar stand to newcomers on guitar, but I see you’re ahead of me there!!! Good for you!!! I get up in the morning & switch the coffee maker on, then grab a guitar & plays for the few minutes until time!!!
Also, good choice for your amp… the Katana line is very versatile! Which model is it?
My other suggestion is to always keep learning FUN!!! As long as it’s a happy time with that beautiful Ibanez, you’ll never give it up… when you’re feeling down about playing or are feeling that you’re in a rut, change your focus to something else about your guitar Journey that you love… then go back to the problem area later!!!
Good luck!!!
It’s a 50 MkII. I was torn between a Blackstar ID:Core 10 V4 and a Boss Katana. Just when I decided 10W was sufficient for a living room and wanted to order the Blackstar, this Katana was offered on a marketplace website. And it was 10 minutes away. At 0.5W, the Katana is just as suitable for a living room as the Blackstar.
I try to do that just like starting with coffee. If it doesn’t work out, I put “her” down for a bit, grab another cup of coffee, and go do something else.
That’s what I like about JustinGuitar: no obligations, practicing whenever I want and can.
Indeed, the JustinGuitar universe is a great place for self-learning musicians in control of how and when they want to learn. You still have to be patient and realize it will require time and a path you will need to carve out for yourself. Make sure to check in whenever you need to and good luck!
Welcome to the community Johnny . Your never to old to learn. Hope that’s true as it will apply to many of us . Im sure we will all get a lot from the next few months.
A warm welcome to the forum
You’ve found the perfect place here for your second attempt, and I’m sure you’ll make good progress very soon.
A lot of your guitar journey sounds very familiar to me: I’m 53 too and like you had my first attempt in the 90s. Then life got in the way, but started again about 2.5 years ago and still enjoy it every day.
Your sore fingertips are a good sign and will soon be fine.
Have lots of fun and success on your musical journey and enjoy your time with this beautiful guitar
I didn’t use the practice assistant for the first few days and did all the exercises with my phone’s timer, so I don’t know exactly how many hours I’ve completed in total, but I think it was about 5 hours at most.
I think I’ve made quite a bit of progress in that short time. The one-minute changes are around 40, so I could start module 2, but I’ll wait a bit until everything in module 1 goes a bit more smoothly.
( well the " playing guitar "in 1989 -1991) me now 52 and really playing almost 6 years 
time!!! 
Journey that you love… then go back to the problem area later!!!
