I am in recovery from mental illness in combination with burn-out. I spent to much time on doing this that wasn’t me. Now i am learning musical theory and guitar because i want to follow my dream of writing songs that suit me most. It helps me get motivation for living life again. Thanks!
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Maureen
Welcome to the Community.
If learning music and playing the guitar is helping your recovery, think of this Community as some extra medication. There are load of folks here who can help you on your journey. Some will be alongside you on the long road, others will be way down in the distance over the next hill but they have all trodden the same path. So plenty of help on hand if and when you need it.
If you’d like, you can introduce yourself HERE here or at least meet many folk who have joined us recently.
Enjoy the ride.
Cheers
Toby
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Hi Maureen,
I am now 100% sure, but after my first day and my first lessons that day I was almost sure that this would help me further than anyone or anything else,…now just over 2 years Justin/music theory I can say that it is and will be for a very long time,(i hope the next 50 years or so 
)…I wish you all the best and hope to hear and see more from you,
Greetings,Rogier
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Welcome Maureen
This is a great place to meet similar people. Definitely poke around. I’m still learning how this community thing works. I can be a great resource when learning guitars
= 
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A couple reasons. One is to play with others, another is I find it helps me play something if I know why I am playing it. Lastly the biggest push for me is I have seen to got tennis elbow from playing guitar and need to stop playing guitar for awhile but I don’t want to stop my journey, I want to learn everything I can.
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My why
I’m really interested in being able to apply music theory to playing the guitar and music in general.
I want to understand how and why music works
I want to be able to riff, and jam and just enjoy playing more
So what I’m really looking for in a music theory course, why I chose to invest in this course as opposed to just surfing YouTube was because I want something comprehensive, fun and applied, rather than just doing scale practice, or watching someone show me where all the places I can find the CAGED notes on the neck. I want to know how music is actually made from all of this.
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I am a very late starter. I am 61 and retired this past summer. I have always wanted to play guitar but never felt I had the time. I was gifted a guitar for retirement and quickly found your lessons. I had some concerns about not having a living-breathing teacher sitting across from me, but so far I have been pleased that I have been able to progress with the beginner lessons and can already do more than I would have thought possible when I started in August. I am studying theory because I feel it will help me to understand how it is all constructed and give me an appreciation for the instrument and art. I am starting with ZERO prior knowledge and I find it interesting. My goal is strictly to be able to sit and play for my own pleasure. So far, so good. Thanks for a great course!
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I’m taking a break from practical lessons at Module 10/11 and have come into Grade 3 of the Theory Course this week (did Grade 1 a few months back and did Grade 2 already) . I have a few reasons for wanting to learn theory.
The biggest thing is probably that the fretboard seems super complicated. It’s mysterious to me, being that it’s basically 6 pianos, and drives my wanting to learn guitar. I don’t want to be in a rock band or anything but I want to know how the magic of guitar music is made and I wanna make it.
The next thing is that I have many many years of piano playing in my background, and I think I’m needing to develop an understanding of guitar using guitar theory, instead of leaning on my piano theory. I realize some concepts will bridge the gap, but the building of chords will not. At least I predict that it will not.
I decided to hop over to theory at this point in the lessons, Module 11, because of the introduction of sus chords- suddenly chords can be all destructed, and actually its encouraged? I have been just memorizing chords and not even their proper names, just that they’re a variation of C or wherever. This won’t work for my logical brain. I don’t want to memorize hundreds of chords and then memorize them with dismembered parts, I want to know how to build them so I don’t have to memorize them. It’s just getting overwhelming for me at this stage, especially because I am not an improviser type of player and never will be. It all seems like it would be easier if I know the theory. Maybe it is easier to mem chords than it is to mem scales or the whole fretboard’s notes, I don’t know. But I’m giving it a shot.
Last reason, I just like listening to Justin. 
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I am now, but one question why don’t the videos have subtitles?
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In my very brief sitar journey (I gave up after 5 lessons as i’m just not interested enough in Indian music, but the sitar itself is pretty cool), one of the mental blocks for me was that there was only 1 string to be played, so for any melody I had to run my finger up and down the string all the time, and I found it pretty exhausting compared to the guitar where you can (have to, actually) jump strings and can think in “boxes” or shapes based on the position of the frets.
I’ve heard someone compare the 1-string approach to a piano, but I think it’s not entirely true given that on keyboard instruments you can play chords, use various fingering patterns, etc. just like on the guitar. And you can use more than 1 finger to play a melody, too, which is also a good thing
So yeah, if someone has experience with one or more instruments, it probably helps to keep comparisons to a minimum and approach each instrument as something more or less unique with their own idiosyncrasies.
That’s what Justin’s PMT module is all about. He places an emphasis on learning a small set of basic chord grips (like the open chords or E-shape barre chords, for example) and then teaches you how to alter them in a practical way, so you won’t have to rely on “1001 chords to learn before you die” sort of publications.
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I think it will make it easier to figure out how to play songs that I love, and eventually construct my own and improvise.
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Hi, Justin. I have 2 comments. The first is that almost every other book or video I have ever watched about music theory has failed for me because it goes too fast and leaves too many unanswered questions, including the biggie: what can you do with it? My second comment is that the reason why I am learning music theory is primarily for music appreciation of the guitarists I admire most, to help me understand what they do when they do it. I don’t ever expect to get there myself, but understanding it all will (hopefully) get me one step closer!
That’s all, thanks for everything you do, Justin.
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In recent months I started playing guitar again. I tried over over 20 years ago and felt like I failed and drowned in music theory that felt disconnected from anything I could play. This time around I am approaching the guitar with playfulness and I am surprised by the pleasant experience of reunion (and how much muscle memory was retained over such a long period of time).
In one of your early lessons, where you introduced the chords E,A, D using the anchor finger, I found myself just moving between the chords and I could feel simple music come to life in this oh-so-limited range … and I want to expand on that initial experience, to be able to express more then I was able with those three chords, but with similar grace and ease.
Lately I’ve been listening to and watching a lot this clip from Julian Lage: Julian Lage - Tributary (Official Video) - YouTube
I can practically taste (and see) the music theory … so I am curious to see if I’ll be able to bring my heart to hear better and my fingers to play better … hence the theory course 
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So many times I hear a few cool chords or a solo, and I am left thinking, why do I like this so much? What is so magical about the combination of these notes, that make me like this? I can play a few songs, I have been playing for a little more than two years now, and I want to understand what is so interesting about the music that I like. I know the basics of music theory, but now I want to get more into the advanced stuff. So that I can eventually make some music myself.
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I’m studying theory for two main reasons, first is to better understand the music I love - why was a song written a certain way, what key is it in, are there key changes, what chord progressions are in it, mode. Ultimately be able to analyze songs and maybe find some common patterns that really resonate with me, and in the process learn something about myself!
Second reason is around writing music, I’d love to get into writing songs but honestly wouldn’t even know where to start right now. I think it would help with getting started at least, have a framework to sort of use as a base to build on, if that makes sense.
Super excited to get started, I was going to wait till I finished grade 3 before signing up but couldn’t wait and decided to do them in parallel!
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I’m studying music theory because I want to be able to jam with my musician friends and maybe even start a band- I want to be able to communicate with them and understand what they’re talking about. I also just want to be a well-rounded guitar player!
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I’m curious about the ratios between the lengths of the string that produces octaves & intervals, 4ths, 5ths &c - there seems to be every answer and none on the internet.
I’d like to know my way around the neck of the guitar a little better!
Song composition - what are the structures and can I ever write something that sounds better than a simple chord progression. That would be nice
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I want to know the why behind what I’m learning. I love Guitar so much I want to know everything about it.
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• What would you like to get out of this course?
When I get especially interested in something, I strive to learn all there is to know about it. I find I learn far better when I understand the “why” of something before I try to learn the “what.” Theory must come before practice, at least for me. When I decided to take up the guitar again after many years, and before I even bought a guitar, I began by reading several books on music theory. I wanted to know the how and why underlying music in general, and how it came to be that way. From this course I hope to get a good understanding of music theory with respect to the guitar, and how to apply music theory to understand and actually play music on the guitar.
• If you have tried learning music theory before, why did it go wrong? How will you avoid that same problem?
I have never seriously tried to learn music theory, but have always been curious about it. Now I want to learn as much as I can about it. I suspect it is the major key (as it were) to the music kingdom.
• What’s your BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Guitar Goal)?
Right now, I have a growing admiration for current and former session musicians (Justin Sandercoe , Jimmy Page, et al.). How do they get that good, and how close could I ever get to that level of expertise. My BHAG is to see how close I can get to that level of expertise.
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Ben @BBFJR
First of all welcome to the community
I am a bit like you in wanting to know why I am doing what I am doing on the guitar.
Michael 
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