Hi! My JustinGuitar “handle” is Plunker.
I’m a retired avionics systems and software engineer with a master’s degree in physics. That illustrates that I’ve been extremely “left brained” all my life, with little intrinsic artistic (“right brained”) aptitude. I plunked around with a bass use as a teen, but I really fell in love with guitar music in college when my roommate brought home Disraeli Gears and Blind Faith. I have to admit that the Guitar Hero game on Wii really whetted my appetite. (I still love that playlist and recently duplicated it on Apple Music.) After I retired a few years ago my son-in law “J” gave me an acoustic guitar and pointed me to Justin Guitar. I made some halting progress until the interactive app really got me going. J also found me a great deal on a Strat, a significant step up in inspiration for me, and bequeathed me his guitar guru, with whom I’ve been taking private lessons for several years - love the guy. My process is painfully slow given my aged brain, limited “twitch” body, a deficient artistic aptitude, but richly rewarding. I’m excited to be inspired by BLIM 4.
Nice to meet you, John, and welcome to a great community. Stick with it, and you will be rewarded, cheers Hec Blim1 student
Hi John,
welcome to this great guitar community, you’re in good company here. There are many engineers here, I am one of them, and I would like to prepare for retirement with a nice creative hobby, and you confirm my belief that this is a good choice.
What matters is the wonderful time you have with music you like and beautiful instruments in your hands that you bring to life. I wish you lots of fun.
Cheers Withold
Welcome to the community John!
Lots of engineers here, I’m one 
Hi John, welcome to the Community, all progress is good and as you say, richly rewarding. Have fun, enjoy the ride.
Hi John
Welcome to JG, lots of friendly and helpful people here to keep you motivated and get advise if you need it,
Two great albums, sounds like you may be from the same era as me. 
Have fun on your guitar journey.
Welcome to the community John. This is a great forum with a lot of really nice helpful people. Best, Ian
Welcome @Plunker! And don’t worry about the left brained/right brained thing - it’s just a myth! Have fun!
Hi John, welcome to the community. Have fun in BLIM4.
Welcome John,
BLIM course has really great reviews. You will enjoy it for sure. 
Good luck.
Hi John,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun 
Greetings,Rogier
Hello John.
Welcome to JustinGuitar and this fantastic community. There a whole host of golden oldies over in the dog house.
Please take your time to look around and get to know the wider space. View by Categories.
We are a supportive and encouraging group of students and guitarists from across the world. Essentially, we are all here for music and to improve as players. We truly are a ‘community’. Members help and support one another and a friendly, positive attitude underpins this. We hope that all - young or old, experienced or new players - adopt and foster the pay-it-forward ethos that Justin personifies and embedded all those years ago when he started the website and forum.
Also, please make sure to read the Community Etiquette announcement for some important information and guidance.
If you want to record yourself to show your progress and / or seek feedback there is our ever popular Community Recordings section.
Behind the scenes there is a small and dedicated team who work to make the JustinGuitar experience as good as it can be. Check out the Onboarding sessions provided by Fanny.
Justin also has a small group of Approved Teachers he recommends for people wanting 1-to-1 lessons to supplement his courses - of which I am privileged to be one.
We also host regular (virtual) JustinGuitar Community Open Mic events for community members.
That is plenty to be going on with. It is a vast community space so if you need help as you find your way around just ask.
Cheers. Richard
| Approved Teacher & Official Guide / Moderator |
Hey Plunker!
I am an Engineer myself, so I completely understand the left-brain right-brain conundrum. I think the "painfully slow’ is something we all feel, no matter age or anything else. I am 32, I also feel it is extremely slow and grindy sometimes, but anything worth doing is in the journey itself. I wouldn’t put too much pressure on it and just have fun. There should be no expectations.
I will say that is probably one of the biggest things I had to learn and come to grips with. I felt like I needed to be into Justin’s intermediate lessons within a 2-year timeframe. Fast forward and I am still refining beginner grade 3 and some of 2 a bit over 2 years later, but I stopped putting pressure on it and just started learning things I enjoyed and I felt like I got a lot better and had a lot of epiphany moments.
Glad you are here and welcome! Happy 2026!
Hi John, welcome. Good you’re having good direction on how to fell in love again with the guitar. Don’t worry about the pace but the enjoyment. Keep having fun.
Welcome John…
I’m sure Clapton is an inspiration for a lot of people …Good luck on your journey
Steve 
Welcome to our Community John! Don’t worry…your right brain synapses are going to connect soon 