Hey, I'm Chris 👋

Hey everyone! My name is Chris and I used to describe myself as a “guitar owner” in terms of music.

I owned a classical guitar for a while, but never really learned to play it. Then I got inspired by people around me and bought a Yamaha Pacifica 112v a while back and started to learn a bit, mostly by playing RockSmith. But I never got anywhere with that.

In the mean time I have a family and kids and I’m a lot more conscious with my time, especially alone time. So here’s my approach to learning guitar this time around: at least 5 minutes a day of practice, every day. I’ve been doing this for two weeks and it’s going great. It’s really easy to find 5 minutes to practice some chords, but sometimes I’m enjoying it so much that I play for 30+ minutes.

What also works great for me is having the guitar right next to my desk, so I can pick it up and play it just like that, no effort involved.

In terms of gear: I used to use my lovely Blackstar Fly Mini amp and play into headphones but I find that cables, buttons, batteries etc. are adding extra steps which take me away from playing the guitar. So I prefer either playing unplugged if it’s a short session or into a Fender Mustang Mini, which is such a wonderful practice amp. Keeping it minimal works great for me, I try to avoid GAS (which I know from other hobbies, like photography). I can already see myself not buying any pedals ever, but going with a multi effect pedal like the Valeton GP200. Anything to keep things as simple as possible without limiting myself.

As for the guitar, I love my Pacifica. It feels great to play, I like how it looks and I have a strong urge to keep playing it for as long as I can.

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Hey hey! Welcome. :smiley:

The five-minute thing often works that way for me, too! It’s a great way to trick myself into getting involved for more time than I might otherwise feel able to. Same with having the guitar easily accessible.

I’m glad you have a guitar you love so much!

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Welcome Chris :wave: yeah that feeling of “oh I’ve got five minutes, let me just have a little dabble at that thing I’m practicing” , more often than not turns into a 30min to 1hr session :joy: have fun learning, they’re a lovely bunch here and I’m sure you’ll enjoy being part of the community :v: Lee

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Hello and welcome to our community Chris. :slight_smile:

Having a guitar that you love is just another reason to help you want to carry on learning. Enjoy.

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Morning Chris. Welcome. I also started on a 112v and still play it a lot. Similar to you, I always have my guitar to hand so I can noodle when I’m working or crashed out in front of the TV.

All the best with the practice.

Steve

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Welcome to the forum Chris

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Welcome, @stchris !

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Welcome Chris. As you say just being able to pick up the guitar and have a play is well worth it. Sometimes, I don’t even plug into an amp, I just play it and listen to the strings.

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Welcome to the Community! :smiley:

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That’s super. Make it part of your life and it will become part of your life. Welcome to the community

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Chris, welcome to the community forum. Glad you found a guitar that makes you want to play and that you play a little every day. If you play what you love and love what you are playing you are on your way to a lifetime of joy with the guitar. Good luck with your playing.

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Hi Chris,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun :sunglasses:
Greetings,Rogier

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Hi Chris, welcome. Keep playing those five minutes every time you can.

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Welcome, Chris!

Hope you’ll be having loads of fun learning new stuff. :smiley:
You’re in good company here and as you, I keep my guitar next to my desk so I can grab it in between, whenever it is possible or I feel the urge to take a break and play a little.

Cheers
Lisa

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Hi Chris.
Yep I often say I’m going to play for 5 minutes but that’s 5 minutes in GT (guitar time) which is actually about 2 hours in real time. :laughing:

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Similar situation to mine when it comes to free time. I have a 3 month little one and it can be difficult to find a bit of time.

I’m fortunate enough to work from home, so I usually start work quite early, so I can get about 30min for practice at the end of the day.

I actually got sub to try Rocksmith but did find a bit meh. what did you think of it?

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Welcome Chris! :wave: Sounds like you’ve got a good plan :+1:All the best with your journey :metal::sunglasses:

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Thank you all! What a warm welcome. I’m really enjoying the “at least 5 minutes a day” routine and hope to keep it going. Yesterday my kids joined in on Ukulele and air guitar respectively and it was great fun!

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I thought RockSmith was good in terms of getting to practice specific songs, but I’d rather pick it up as an intermediate player and get the basics sorted first.

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Hello Chris! Welcome to the community. Enjoy your time here.

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