Hi everyone. I really like this community. That said, I have been trying to follow the coursework, but find myself going “off-road”. The issue seems to be that I learned and memorized a lot of chords on my own during COVID, I have trouble forming some (most) of them cleanly due to an early injury to my left hand. Any suggestions to help me avoid frustration and permanently putting my guitars to bed (or up for sale) would be appreciated.
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This is the kind of thing where some in-person instruction can help. You can show your instructor what your limitations/restrictions are and your instructor can help you find ways to deal with them or work around them.
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This is where your Learning Log could help. Post a video or some pictures of the chords you’re having trouble with and the members here will help you find work around or even different chord voicings to play the chords clean.
Posting it in your LL you can find it replies easily and review the replies when ever you feel you need help.
This community is the best on the internet for helping beginners, everyone here want you to succeed and are very willing to help.
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Very good suggestions in the earlier responses, but I’ll add a couple additional thoughts.
I personally don’t think its a problem at all to go “off road” with the material. Probably would be helpful to go through the basic material in order if you are a real beginner, but after that, I don’t see a problem jumping around to suit where you are at in a given moment.
Re trouble forming chords - I don’t know the extent of your injury, but its not uncommon for people to have problems forming chords when starting out. There are a lot of grips I considered to be physically impossible when I was starting out that are now natural and easy. I’d encourage you to keep trying - and to pay attention to Justin’s comments in lessons about how to form the chords. If you have solid mechanics and spend time practicing, I know your ability to form chords will improve, even if you can’t get to perfection.
As far as avoiding frustration - I’d suggest diving into one of the Grade 1 song lessons, the simplest one you can find. Demonstrating to yourself that you can actually play a “real song” is a great way to keep momentum and prove to yourself that you are making progress, even if it doesn’t always feel like it.
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Hello!
A lot of good advice has been given already, so i don’t know if this will help, but here are my 2 cents.
About going “off-road”. Don’t worry about that. If you follow the course and did the thing(s) you needed/wanted to do, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t go off-road.
Look at it as a breather for the brain. You get to have some extra fun, something you can discover on your own, outside of the course.
This can be very usefull when you’re ready to do some more work.
About injuries. Do you know the guitarplayer Django Reinhardt? He too had a serious hand injury, but that didn’t stop him from playing.
There’s always a way.
In the end it all boils down to this: having fun in playing the guitar. It doesn’t matter how you play, what you play or where, as long as you are enjoying yourself.
That’s the main goal here. (And learning something about the instrument too… 
)
Oh, and let’s not forget this awesome community ofcourse. Every time you feel you’re getting a bit frustrated, come on over. Drop us a line.
We’re here…
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Hello Camille
You have had some very good responses already but I would suggest the following from a purely practical point of view. I have a twisted/bent 1st finger (from field hockey when young) that limits the span of my fret stretch, although I have improved it a little with stretching exercises, also my pinky finger bends inwards, this make some chords difficult and playing solos I often have to work out other fingerings.
I doubt there is a perfect hand for playing guitar and most have some form of limitations physically especially when forming chords, certain open chords can be difficult and barre chords are often a big barrier for many.
A practical approach is to understand that all major and minor chords need just 3 notes to be a chord, the 1st, 3rd and 5th note from the scale it is formed. If it is a 7 chord you are adding the 7th note from its scale, so you would only need one more note but you can still imply a Dominant 7 chord by just selecting two from the 1st, 3rd, 5th and adding the 7th note of the scale. I am not going to go further into the theory of how chords are formed here as it is a topic in its own right.
The point I am making is you could simplify the chords and find a shape that works best for you, also you could find chords in different positions on the neck which work better for you. Actually Justin does this early on with the F chord in his early lessons, it can be played at the 1st fret with the root on the 6th string with a bar, with the open E chord shape slid up one fret before it, but to help beginners he removes the bar completely and just uses string 1 to 4, it still is the F major chord, this is actually quite a common way to play the F major at that position.
If you want to explore other chords shapes to help you play songs I find is an excellent and free tool to do so. Guitar Chords it also has lottos other uses for scales and chords progression etc.
I hope this may help you continue to play and keep those lovely guitars. There is always a way as others have said.
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We may learn in an organized and rigid way, but reality is that there are a gazillion ways to approach playing guitar. If it’s hard to play the way it is taught, look for your own adaptation as best you can. Some things may not work so well, but many will be fine.
I guess my point is that we need not feel trapped by someone’s instruction. If that isn’t feasible, find something close that works for you. There is no right or wrong, if it sounds good, it is good, right?
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Oh Joshua,
You disappoint me… a medical doctor using a made up word like “Gazillion”… I would think that a learned man like yourself would use Trillion (1 followed by 12 zeros) or Septillion (1 followed by 24 zeros) or Decillion (1 followed by 33 zeros)… 
Besides, if total exaggeration & hyperbole is the goal, use…
Supercalifragilisticexpialidociousillion (1 followed by a Gazillion zeros) 
Just kidding!!! I think your response to
Camille is spot-on!!!
Tod
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Hi Camille!
I’m a Jeep owner who stays on the road… what does that signify??? 
BUT, when it comes to guitar learning it’s really hard to stick to the suggested course…
I’m also a J.R.R. Tolkien fan ~
Not all Those who Wander are not Lost…
Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate
And though I oft have passed them by
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun…
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say…
To sum up my advice, stick to Justin’s Method for the basic Basics - at LEAST to the end of Grade 2 . THEN, as you’re moving forward into Grade 3 & beyond, find little “side roads” that keep the fire 
inside you alive!!!
God luck & most importantly, KEEP IT FUN!!!
Tod
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The learning log confuses me. I’ll look at it again and figure out how to post to it.
Thanks for the advice.
David, thank you for your response.
I broke my left ring and middle fingers 50 years ago; they healed crooked. The funny thing is this never affected my typing ability.
I already “recognize” a lot of major chords. I understand how they are supposed to be formed and what they are supposed to sound like.
I’ve gone through the grade 1 songs. I had to pull them up on YouTube, but I don’t recognize most of them.
It was suggested my another community member that I find simple songs that uses 3-4 chords that I am most comfortable with and practice those.
Right now, I’m working on “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. The simplified version has only 4 chords: G, Em, C, & D. I also found a play-along video that allows me to slow the speed waaayy down.
My D & C chords aren’t as clean as I would like, but my fingers seem to know where to go on the neck.
I haven’t figured out an anchor technique for smooth transitions yet, but I feel like I will get there soon.
I also believe that if I can play this song smoothly, I will feel somewhat accomplished.
First of all… 
To you.
Yes, I’ve heard of that guitarist. I believe his was an industrial accident.
My off-road trip has been play along videos. For some reason purely audio backing tracks aren’t resonating with me at this time.
I use them to practice ukulele; I figured they might help me with the guitar.
Part of my frustration is that there are several techniques, tools, lingo, etc. discussed in this forum that goes completely over my head.
I understand scales on a keyboard, but all these different ones on the guitar and systems like C.A.G.E.D, etc. are confusing to me.
I will try to block a lot of that stuff out for now…it will be difficult.
Tod, it would be easier to follow Justin’s path if there were more songs in the beginning courses that I could relate to… maybe some more soft rock?
Although I have both acoustic and electric guitars (& a bass), it is not my goal to shred. 
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Maybe I need to learn more theory…?
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It will help but probably best to do in parallel to Justin’s grades, his PMT(practical music Theory) is very good and the first few modules give you the basics, it will help eventually with fretboard navigation.
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Thanks. I will check out the PMT. 
Not an industrial one. His caravan caught fire one night, wich left him with severe burns.
I understand your frustration regarding techniques, tools, lingo etc… It’s pretty easy to get overwhelmed.
If you understand scales on the keyboard, then you"ll be able to understand the caged system.
It all comes from the major scale. CAGED uses 5 shapes on the neck, which interlock with each other.
In C major, the notes used are C D E G A, startingpoints on the neck (E string) = 8 (C) 10 (D) 12 (E) , 3 (G), 5 (A). And uses all the notes of the C major scale, in each position.
This gets adapted when using other scales but the shapes stay the same. They just move about, depending on which rootnote you start from. (which invariably defines the rest of the notes used).
(Western) scales are scales, no matter what instrument. Nothing changes, except the instrument.
I had the same troubles, some years ago. The thing that helped me was taking things one at a time, depending on where i was in my journey.
And again, whenever in doubt, you can ask for any advice here!
Oh yes, be sure to check that out.
If there was anything that helped me, it had to be that.
Hi Camille, lots of advice has been given already and it’s now up to you to pick what makes sense to you and you feel more inclined to.
My combo to avoid frustration and keep learning guitar a joyful journey:
- consistent practice
- keeping expectations low until I feel I would be able to achieve this or that
- cherishing the small victories
- self-indulgence
I suggest you have a look at some LLs, there are very different ways to keep a LL, all are very personal according to eachone’s needs, there’s not a right or wrong way to do it, just your individual way. I’ll mention just a few different approaches for you to check that might help you to get the idea:
@math07 and @Socio both very structured and informative of what their journey is like (they update about every few months or so)
@GrumpyMac she updates daily, her log is a real practice tool to keep herself and her journey accountable
@C_McG and @witkatz they both upload audio/video of their playing to share and get feedback while sharing about their guitar journey in general as well
@Silvia80 my own LL, I update monthly (with some extra updates here and there) - I like to share pictures and videos - at the end of the month I want to update it with a video to keep myself accountable and ask for feedback - very often it’s just a video of what I’ve been practicing in the month.
@roger_holland also needs to be mentioned, as he shaped it as a virtual living-room and he hosts his friends for some chatting and sharing pictures - gardening seems to be the king topic there - but he also delights us with his playing once in a while and shares his both refined or work in progress recordings.
What your LL is going to be like? Just start it and shape it along the way!
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I only found out, last week the Django had a severe hand injury and predominately used two fingers to play the fret board! An amazing player that influenced thousands of guitar players. It helped me as I have an ulnar nerve issue on my left hand and seeing how others have managed to play, and play well, helped me to keep going.
Others have gone into more technical things, all good advice, and dont be afraid to try new things and go “off road” Justin encourages experimenting and trying things.