Hi, I’m Marc, a 50 year old computer programmer currently in Albuquerque, NM, USA. I’ve been trying to learn guitar for going on 30(!) years. I still have the first acoustic guitar I ever bought back in '93 though my current guitars are a Breedlove acoustic electric and a Fender Strat. I’ve never been more than just a beginner-intermediate player because I never practiced consistently enough and went (too) long stretches without even picking up the guitar. I’ve tried a few in-person teachers and multiple online courses but none of them every really clicked with me. I mostly played from tabs and developed a lot of bad habits that kept me from getting very good. Plus life keeps getting in the way but when I don’t play for a while I always miss it!
I few weeks ago I found Justin’s site from the Guitar World review and decided to check it out. I really dig his teaching style and while my fingers hurt again (it feels like the 100th time I have to get my fingers back in shape) I’m having a great time starting from scratch and going through the lessons and really trying to establish good playing habits. Having tons of fun so far and looking forward to connecting with my fellow guitar students!
Hey Marc, welcome to the community. I’m a retired computer programmer who picked up the guitar 10 years ago when I was 53. Justin’s site gave me a lot of help and continues to do so. Keep at it, the reward on the other side is SO VERY worth it. Fun fun fun.
Welcome to the community. I admire the fact that you did not give up on the dream of playing after all the years of trying. Justin’s methods and style are nothing less than fantastic. I suggest to run through his lessons one by one in order and try his basic music theory course. Seeing the big picture of how everything fits together made a big difference for me. I started playing the first time almost 20 years ago and sounded awful to the point I gave up. I would start playing, fail and do it again on an endless cycle. Two years ago I started the Justin Guitar course and have has tremendous success. You can find that success as an artist too. I suggest to record yourself and your progress. We are all here to offer encouragement and support. Good luck on the journey.
Hi Marc from another Mark in Albuquerque,
How is your guitar journey going? I decided to give guitar another try after 40 years of doing life. I found Justin’s approach and songs really fit my style of learning and am really progressing. I just finished grade 2.
Welcome aboard from a fellow computer programmer! You’ll find the community here is super friendly and inspiring. And if you dig into song structure you may find that it somewhat resembles program code with iterations/loops etc. I feel what you mean about Justin’s teaching style as it somehow really resonates with me. I think if I hadn’t encountered it when I started I may have given up…!
Hi Marc, welcome. Good you found Justin Guitar for helping you to learn to play guitar. Not that other methods are useless, but Justin have successfully covered the needs of most beginner and beyond wannabe guitarist at a level hard to surpass.
Marc, welcome to the community forum. My experience matches yours, except that I tried for 40 years and never got much past the first 3 to 4 frets, except for brief attempts at barre chords. If you find 20 to 40 minutes each day to practice and follow Justin’s lesson sequentially, you’ll eventually reach your goals. The thing that I like is that Justin is always trying to teach you how to learn for yourself. I’ve also found the the song lesson videos are what keep me motivated. It’s easy to get caught up in learning guitar techniques, but it is much more fun and satisfying for me to actually play songs. Best of luck in finding the things that keep you playing. I hope to see you play guitar on the community site in the future.
Marc, Mark, Tod… I’m from Albuquerque too!
Sounds like our stories aren’t too dissimilar… picked up guitar years ago but was always too busy (and lazy maybe) to get very far… now that I’ve found Justin & his learning method, seem to finally be making progress!!! Lots of good luck to my fellow Albuquerqueans on their guitar journeys!
Hello Marc. Welcome to JustinGuitar and the Community. I hope you are making great progress. If you follow the beginner course properly and do the consolidation and the song learning all will come good I’m sure. There are many folk here who have had a stop-start history with guitar. I’m one of them for sure. There are also 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.
Just ask if you need anything else.
Cheers
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide, Approved Teacher & Community Moderator.
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I feel what you mean about Justin’s teaching style as it somehow really resonates with me. I think if I hadn’t encountered it when I started I may have given up…! 