Welcome aboard, Keith! Glad you joined us. 
As mentioned by the others already, we’re all here to connect and help each other. 
For the moment, I wish you loads of fun on your journey!
Cheers - Lisa
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Hi Keith and welcome to the community. You won’t go far wrong by following Justin’s beginner course and I really hope that it works for you this time. I don’t know if any folks here actually meet online but I myself had many skype and zoom lessons when I first started playing. Good luck.
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Hi Keith,
Nice to meet you. Good luck with your guitar journey.
Best wishes,
Alan
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Hello Keith and welcome to our community.
If you stick with Justin’s course I’m sure you will achieve what you are wanting to on the guitar.
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Another welcome Keith, hope you’re having fun! My advice to your question, get involved with the Community here and get to know a few of the people, no doubt you’ll find some kindred spirits who’d be happy to meet and do something online. What I would not suggest though is trying to play together online (ie at the same time), internet delays just won’t make it practical or good, but perhaps as sounding boards and reciprocal live feedback it could be a good shout.
Either way enjoy
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Keith, welcome to the community. As others have said you can get help and advice on playing guitar on this site. I also agree with the advice that Justin recommends to start with a thin flexible pick and use simple strums at first. You can practice strumming while lightly holding your fingers down on the fretboard to deaden the strings so you can focus on strumming. I still do that to practice strumming. It takes time but eventually strumming will feel natural and you can strum without thinking about it. Have fun learning your beginning songs.
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Hello Keith.
Welcome to JustinGuitar and the Community. It’s great you have found Justin’s lessons, he offers structure and a sure path to follow from the very beginning. Thousands and thousands have learned using his lessons. If you need any help with a lesson specific question or with any general guitar learning question then do not hesitate to ask. Every lesson on the website has a video lesson, written content to supplement it, an orange click-button to take you to a Community topic for Q&As about the lesson etc.
There are many good folk here who will happily offer help and encouragement to those coming up behind them on Justin’s Beginner Courses. They embody and carry the pay-it-forward ethos we have nurtured for many years in our community. There are many old hands too who have years and (hopefully) a bit of wisdom they can bring as they give their support to those hitting the road blocks - which we all do.
Hopefully this tip topic I wrote will help you. Many people have issues when going from chord changes in isolation to chord changes at a tempo and in a consistent time when playing to a song or backing track.
Just ask if you need anything.
Cheers
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide, Approved Teacher & Community Moderator.
Thank you so much for replying to my question. I am starting a new job tomorrow which involves sleepovers. Once I get my head around the new rota and the available time to practice, I would like to catch up with you.
The amazing response to my question is very encouraging. I am making progress, still some finger pain, but much better.
Thanks
Keith
Hi again.
I found Justin’s course about a year ago and i did ok, except where I was expected to play a song. I tried but I couldn’t get there and felt soo bad. Maybe I will never manage to play, but working with Justin’s course and the song app have helped me more than anything else, ever.
I have returned to the beginning- learning and practicing A and D chords and trying to get to 30+ changes a minute.
Just a slight inconvenience was that I had my left shoulder replaced on September 20th. Only reaching 17 changes at the moment.
Last thing is I know I need to seek help from the community. I always found this difficult, but onwards and upwards.
Thanks all for being there.
Keith
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Welcome Keith. It’s a familiar tale of trying and giving up (and repeat) to a lot of us, and certainly is my story too. I think unrealistic expectations are certainly part of the problem because we see others play and make it look easy, but we didn’t see the work they put in behind the scenes.
I also found Justin’s app a big help in my first year.
I guess my suggestion regarding the shoulder would be to try to play often (maybe a few times a day when possible) but in short spells - even down 5 to 10 minutes if need be. You’ll make just as much progress that way as with longer sessions but hopefully will be less hard on your shoulder. It’s better to be able to play daily than have to skip days because your shoulder is sore. Building a habit of picking up the guitar and playing most days is important
Thanks, I appreciate your advice. I am trying to enjoy playing now. Playing silent night was the first song I have managed to play along to, and it felt so good. I am not really good but it is recognisable.
Thanks
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Hi Keith Mathew above has said just about all I would say. But if you enjoyed how silent night sounded and you felt good that is all that matters, any other help you need I am sure you will be overwhelmed with people supporting you in this community, don’t be shy in talking cheers Hec
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Hi Keith,
The important thing is to just enjoy it.
I have been learning for a year and a half and I find it takes a long time to learn a song. Just stick at it and it will click.
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Welcome Keith!
Keep at it Keith … it will all come together and you’ll be on the fun train. Check out some local open mic … it’s a great place to build confidence and hone your chops.
Hi Keith,
Welcome back and I wish you a lot of fun and perseverance… and choose 1 or a few simple (seemingly) songs and enjoy while you play them a little better every time you pick up the guitar or after 20 times in a month and then hear some improvement at the end… small steps and enjoy it/that 
Greetings,Rogier
Thanks everyone for your support 
Welcome back Keith.
Hope you’re enjoying your return to guitar.
Reach out here anytime mate.
All the best.
Cheers, Shane
Hello Keith & Welcome Back!!!
I see that you have Justin’s app. That’s good!
I find that using the app, picking songs that are for the Grade I’m currently in & initially playing at less than full tempo with one down strum per bar helps! Take it easy on yourself… easy does it & just remember that any progress IS PROGRESS!!!
Also, the thing that always got me to put down my guitar for months/ years was the learning path with it’s peaks, plateaus & valleys. Sometimes you “lose” a bit of progress, that’s ok. Just keep the faith that you can do it, keep playing & keep it fun! That’s another thing that I love about the app… it’s really fun way to “noodle” while actually practicing at the same time!!! Good luck!!!
Tod
You are absolutely correct. I am beginning to enjoy playing and it is exactly what you described. The app allowed me to play along with my first song ever. A real buzz.
It is a great piece of kit. I used to try to do both the app and the web versions and I got confused. Thanks for getting in touch
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