My name’s Ben and I’ve been playing guitar for about 5 years, I started late-ish at 23. The general atmosphere in Justin’s videos leads me to believe the community must be one of the more friendly, accepting ones around, hence signing up.
My personal philosophy with guitar is that I want to be free with it as a medium for expression and mental health maintenance. That said, really enjoying many of the JustingGuitar videos exploring guitar/music philosophy. The recent ones on chord extensions with common shapes are also very creative and inspiring. It’s something I’ve employed for some time in my own music; I’d wager 40~60% of the chords I use in my songs are extensions or common shapes moved around the neck that abuse open strings.
I hope to be able to bring something to the community by being here, but it’s hard because I’m not too terribly skilled, and often second guess what I have to say and end up not saying anything at all.
Bonus facts:
My favorite guitarist is Elliott Smith, I mostly play acoustic, played 5 live solo sets, have 15 original songs, have yet to be in a band, working on rhythm sense so currently dating my metronome.
Hi Ben,
Welcome, I’m new here too. I’ve been working through the beginner lessons. One of the nicer fora to visit in my limited experience.
Cheers,
Greg
I started here about 1.5 years ago. I hope you find the folks here as friendly as I do.
23 is not a late start for this crowd - just look at the images on the front page of the community site.
I encourage you to look around the categories on that front page and dive into one to look at the topics. I’ve barely scratched the surface of the things to read and learn here.
Welcome Ben. 23 is definitely not late, plenty of people here started later than that. It’s quite a welcoming community, feel free to share some videos in the AVOYP area
Great to have you here mate. You’ll find a terrific, friendly community here, full of folks of all levels, from day one to band members.
Sounds like your experience would be an asset here too, as we all like to pay it forward, as we develop on our own journeys.
Be interested in hearing one of your originals when you’re ready.
Hi Ben, you’re right. People around here are not a group of know-it-alls but a very friendly and helpful group who gives you support and response to every question you may ask. For beginners, it’s a good place to expand basic knowledge, for the more advanced, to exchange information or share their ideas.
So, a very warm welcome. You already seem to be eperienced, so looking forward to maybe hear or see you playing. Have fun and keep on playing!
Welcome aboard, Mr. Nominative Determinism
You are correct about this being one of the ‘more friendly, accepting communities’, supported by the fact that even the resident troll (me) is fairly harmless
vs.
Hmm
You’re well ahead of the posse here, my friend.
I do love originals and would very much appreciate you sharing some in AVOYP if/when you feel like it.
Enjoy your time here
Hi Ben,
Welcome and I’m looking forward to a video of your music, with your experience you already have ,…much more than most here hear so don’t be shy, just listen to that friendly beard man here above ,looking a bit like santa claus from the right angle and without a shave ,…above all I wish you have fun…
Greetings,Rogier
Welcome Ben, you’ve certainly landed on the best and most supportive community so get immersed and have fun!
Glad you’re enjoying the continuing exploration
Hello Ben, and a warm Welcome to the community .
You wrote, your guitar is a medium for mental health maintenance to you. It’s really interesting - I absolutely didn’t intend it when I started my guitar journey, but I recognized quite early on that playing guitar is like meditation to me. I normally start my daily practice routine in the early evening (when Netflix is taking care of my kids ), and I’m always looking forward to that moment - that’s my time of the day to calm down and be focussed on something completely different .
I wish you a wonderful guitar journey and look forward to hearing more from you .
Hi Ben, welcome to the community. I joined a couple of days ago and have been warmly welcomed. 23 is definitely not a late start as mentioned in other posts. That’s why I hide behind my guitar pic!
Wowsers, so many great welcome comments… I wish I had the time to reply to them all individually. Really does show right off the bat how friendly the community is. Thanks everybody!
,…much more than most here hear so don’t be shy, just listen to that friendly beard man here above ,looking a bit like santa claus from the right angle and without a shave ,…above all I wish you have fun… 
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), and I’m always looking forward to that moment - that’s my time of the day to calm down and be focussed on something completely different 
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