Great stuff. I started playing over 10 years ago at the age of 53 and my goal when I started was to play 15 minutes a day, every day. And I did. I remember a lesson back then from Justin where he said to time your practice because a lot of people say they are going to practice, they look at the clock and it’s say 3 o’clock, then they get their guitar out of the case, they tune it, they find their song sheets, etc, and finally play at stop at 3:15 having done maybe 5 or 6 minutes of real practice. So I timed my practice and made sure it was 15 minutes of actually playing / rehearsing. Great investment of time for sure.
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Perfect Advice! Awesome - Thank you,
Todd
Tony,
I bet you can play almost anything you want now! What an inspiration to give me something to look forward to.
Thank you,
Todd
I do recall early practices getting tough with finger pain and the drudgery of cord changes and plain strumming that really doesn’t sound musical. It can be hard to press forward when most of what you can do is uninspiring.
My recommendation is to play along with the JG app. It takes your rote training and makes it musical!
Eventually you transition and now I sit down for the 5 minutes I can barely muster after work and stop playing an hour later.
Hey Todd,
I started with probably 10 minutes a day but hardly ever missed a day. The key for me was repetition in the early days and after a couple of months the muscle memory kicked in and my playing just took off from there. Good luck with your journey!
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That is just what I need to hear! Thank you so much for taking the time to respond- I am so glad I found this course and love the community support!
All the best
Todd
…c, and finally play at stop at 3:15 having done maybe 5 or 6 minutes of real practice. So I timed my practice and made sure it was 15 minutes of actually playing / rehearsing. Great investment of time for sure.
Yeah, that’s why I love the Practice Assistant on the website. I have routines for everything, even while using the App. For example, I set up an 11 minute routine for the song “For What It’s Worth” which allows me to play it through 4 times before the time is up. I just repeat if I want to play longer.
Edited to try and fix quote.
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My approach since I (re)started learning just over 6 months ago has been little and often. Rather than setting aside 20-30 minutes, if I have a few minutes I’ll pick up my guitar and do some chord changes or maybe a new strumming pattern. I think there’s diminishing returns on longer practice sessions particularly when I’m struggling with something - I find it better to put down my guitar and keep coming back to it, sometimes several times in a day. It’s not to say that I don’t sometimes practice for longer but I usually do things that I have a better grasp of in those sessions.
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@palmtreeguru haha. if only. There are plenty of songs / genres I struggle with. Sigh. The cool thing is I can really play plenty that the me before I started playing would not have imagined was possible.
Once I got my first complete song under my belt, in fact it was one from Justin’s beginner song book, that 15 minutes a day became 30 minutes and more because it was such fun and I could see the progress.
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My new business plan:
Step #1 - Register domain name “LearnGuitarIn17Minutes,com”
Step #2 - ?
Step #3 - Profit!
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I think that’s a great idea and if it works all the better, I think sometimes if we tailor it to what fits our schedule and aptitude, it makes all the difference. Thank you so much for the reply.
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One of the best pieces of advice I got was to never put your guitar in a case or pack it away somewhere after use. Leave it lying around (assuming those you live with approve)
Makes you pick it up and play. A few extra minutes hear and there on top of your scheduled practise.
To put it another way, rather than pick up your phone and scroll social media everytime you have a few spare minutes, pick up a guitar and strum a few chords.
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18 minutes a day can definitely make all the difference if you stick to it.
And having your guitar on hand does help.
I hung my guitar at eye level in my office, on the opposite wall to the door. She always stares at me when I enter the room 
And it’s all good to go, so I just need to take her out, plug the cable and we’re good to go.
I did the same thing - its in my office and I work out of my home so no excuses - it makes it so much easier to pick up and practice. I love how everyone in the community is such a big support as well - thank you so much for responding.
Best,
Todd
Amen brother - I have it sitting on my stand in my home office - thank you for the advice and reply!
Best,
Todd
I will try that too!
Best,
Todd
I really appreciate your encouragement and the fact that you started about the same age I am makes me see it is possible! Thank you
Todd
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And if they don’t approve, find new people to live with!
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Hey Todd., it’s really worth it too. It’s a challenge at the start because even simple things like changing to a D chord seems so hard but soon it gets easier. My wife has said to me many times she’s so glad I decided to pick up the guitar. We’ve made life long friends through the music club and had lots of great experiences together. Go for it! It’s definitely within your grasp.
Tony, I really appreciate your confidence booster. That is just exactly what I need to hear. I am going to continue on. Thank you so much for the encouragement this community makes this course the absolute best thanks again.
Todd
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