I am happy to be here and looking forward to having some interesting and stimulating interactions with you all about guitar playing and all that’s related.
I’m a 55 year old American living in southeast spain with a pre-teen son and a day job teaching English. My wife and I are big travel lovers and move around Europe with our son as much as possible. Especially in summer!! We’ve got a great van that makes travelling an exciting adventure.
I consider myself to be an advancing beginner / low intermediate player and have been watching Justin’s videos since about 2008 or so via Youtube and on the site. I even went to a workshop of his once when I was in England for another course. Unfortunately, I have been an on again/off again guitar student and haven’t been actively playing since about 2017 or so!!
I picked up the guitar again in early June of this year am just now getting back to the areas of interest I had when I put the guitar down in 2017. One of the reasons that I put the guitar down was that I didn’t have anyone else to bounce ideas off of and felt kind of isolated in my guitar playing. Hoping that this community can help me to avoid that from happening as I move forward.
I am currently on a BIG Jack Johnson kick as I am learning to play the various Barre Chord shapes (and notes on the fretboard) and his songs are great for that. Any other Jack Johnson fans out there??
I also just started recording myself and will be starting to use a looper soon. These new additions to my gear collection will hopefully inspire me to move forward in the different areas of guitar.
I feel like this is already really long so I am going to stop here!! WIll start looking around on the community pages and see where I can contribute to conversations and things. Hope you all are having a great day! Be seeing you out there in the community!!
I love Jack Johnson, huge fan of his. I play a couple of his songs as well, Flake and Sitting, Waiting, Wishing. Have quite a few more on my must-learn list (along with way too many other songs).
I am trying to learn Banana Pancakes, Better Together and Good People off of that record. His songs are a perfect challenge for where I am at the moment and some of the progressions are really beautiful. I am also trying to learn other JJ tunes from the On and On album.
Don’t worry if the Jack’s songs are above your play grade at the moment, they’ll be there when you are ready for them. They’re lots of fun. I would urge you to try some of the simpler songs (Times Like These springs to mind, although the rhythm is a bit challenging at first) if you see that there are chrods you have trouble with (like for example F#m Barre or B Barre) just take it slow and practise those shapes and getting you Barres down solid. . . again ALL at YOUR pace!! Enjoy!! I know I do!!
Hey jkahn! Flake is another one that I’d love to learn!! Yeah, I also have a way too long list of songs to learn, but am trying to focus on the Jack Johnson stuff at the moment as those songs require the skills and knowledge I am wanting to master at this point in my journey. Things like playing licks out of and into barre chords is a great thing to bea able to do and so I am wrestiling with that at the moment (Banana Pancakes is a great one for getting into that!!)
Hi Jeremy,
Nice to meet you.
Southeastern Spain sounds very hot.
Good luck with your playing/practice.
Transitioning between chords and riffs mid song is something I am trying to integrate into playing but it is quite challenging to get it to a competent level. Good luck with yours.
I haven’t listened to Jack Johnson for many years seemed to disappear off my radar, will have to go and recheck him out.
Best wishes,
Alan
Yeah, it’s definitely hot down this way. I am used to it now but it still it can still be areal pain in the summer. . . I recommend the Jack Johnson stuff he plays some riffs on the E and A strings that are pretty accessible. I try to slow the riffs way down and get them into my fingers first and then build the speed. . .still. . .making the transitions from chord to chord whilst staying in time is always a big challenge at the moment. Just gonna keep at it. . .
Hello Jeremy & Welcome!!!
English teacher? I better watch my spelling and grammar!!! LOL!!!
This Community is a nice place… lots of encouragement and interaction that can definitely inspire one to keep playing & learning new skills! Spain is on my list of places to visit, never been there… Jack Johnson is one of my favorites too! Love his laid back style… so relaxing to listen to but above my play grade for the time being. Check out this (recorded during the height of Covid lockdown):
Glad you picked the guitar back up and remembered your guitar past with Justin.
At least you have some ground to build on, which is good. Further, all will be coming back quite fast, I guess. Wish you lots of fun on the journey, enjoy the ride and see where it’ll lead you.
Hey Tod! I’ve tried a couple of times to view this link but it won’t load. It goes to the google search page but then I can’t see the actual video posting (or anything on that page, it’s just a blank white window). . . weird. . .not sure if there’s another way you can share it. (?) Would be great to have a look see. . .
Thanks for the welcome!! Things ARE coming back fast and it’s kind of scary actually. It really shows the power of muscle memory. I particularly notice this when playing songs that I used to play along with a lot. All the chords (fingerings and changes) as well as progressions come back quite quickly. Now, learning new stuff is where I really HAVE TO SLOW WAY DOWN and get it RIGHT FIRST. I didn’t pay as close attention to that important detail in the past as I am doing now. Hopefully, it will bear guitar fruit!! Thanks again for the welcome!!
Jeremy,
I’m definitely technically challenged…
just Google “Jack Johnson Sitting on the Dock” & it should come up…. That’s what I did to copy the link (which seems to work fine for me) … I hope you can get it to work. Let me know if you still have problems & I’ll try something else!
Ah ok, I thought perhaps it was your rendition. The playing for change version with Corrine Bailey Rae and Aloe Blacc among many other talenteds I have definitely seen. It’s absolutely wonderous!! Jack brings this laid back “pocket feel” to everything he does. . .
HaHaHa!!!
Not my rendition!!! I really don’t want to scare the nice people in the Community!!!
Actually, I have tried so many times to get through a song ( even the ones I can play fairly well) while recording and usually fumble it up within a few bars… turn the camera off & I’m ok! Same thing happens if someone walks into the room… my wife will stand in the hall outside my practice space until I finish, then come in to congratulate me for playing something well… weird I know!!! No OMs in my future… probably not even an AVOYP… it’s not “Red Light Fever” - more like “Red Light Aneurysm”!!! I can’t think if I know someone is listening……. So impressed with those of you who can record themselves!
greetings from another relatively new member. I think you’ve made an excellent decision to join the community. There are plenty of active members here with whom to exchange ideas, share the passion for guitar, or simply chat . Wishing you lots of fun!
. Wishing you lots of fun!