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Hi Simira: I don't feel my playing is good enough either, but what a kick in the pants to get to an adequate level. I'm glad you came out from "lurking." That's a neat story about the store. I haven't been to a music store since my chords have been improving. I suppose soon when music stores reopen, I'll go try some guitars. Hadn't thought of that. Years ago--maybe 2004 or so--I worked in a gift shop that sold jewelry and crystals, minerals, etc. We had a performance by a man and woman who played dideridoo. Since I did energetic healing work as well, I felt the tremendous healing energy of the didgeridoos and openness for all. I decided to start learning to play in order to add this instrument to my healing work. Awhile later a super-talented didge player performed while playing djembe drums strapped to each hip (sitting down). Wow! I had to do that. I found a nice pair of djembes from Africa and started that too. Soon I thought, why not learn from the Africans? They've been doing this a long time. I never did get around to playing the didge and djembes together much, but I studied WA drumming in the Mande tradition for years. The drums and didges taught me a lot about music. The one thing I would do differently is *always* use a metronome while practicing once I was playing at a speed where a 'nome would fit in. The value of being forced to play consistent time cannot be overstated, imo. I bought a 'nome and the teacher said the Africans don't use metronomes, so I never did. But I also didn't hear and feel that music from the time I was in the womb, like so many Africans did. One other thing since you are in Australia. Yes, I now have a great love for both Australia and Africa through my years of music study. A neat experience from Australia: I bought a yirdaki (East Arnhemland native name for the didge) that had been used in ceremony. The player sold the 'daki for Christmas money--he could just walk out and cut another easy as pie--and I bought the instrument online. I think it's beautiful, but a friend told me, "That's the ugliest didge I've ever seen." It was hacked out quickly with a machete and not finished, all business by and for a top player. Well, when I first tried to play the 'daki it just sat there. Smiling. It's super thick-walled and I couldn't get my lips to buzz. I relaxed and felt what the instrument was offering. The only way to play it was to forget about my lips and concentrate on moving air from my abdomen. This took me into another realm of playing. Such power and ease! Kind of like leaving a little economy car to a Porsche. Working overnights as a grocery stocker (still do), I got to listen to years of the music I grew up with, learning the words, singing along, which led me to a much more universally accessible instrument in contemporary society: the guitar. Rock On!

Hi Simira: Well, you inspired me with your recordings. I'm getting ready to take the smart phone plunge I and hope to share as well! (warts and all.) In the early years I often felt lousy about my West African drumming and didgeridoo playing. Learning to play music well can be SO demanding. It's an endless journey, which brought me back to music and the guitar. Thanks for your sharing and honesty. Rock On!

dan0725: Steve's video on using the ditto is good. I was sidetracked by a Klon KTR, but the Ditto is most likely next. Let us know how it goes. Dave: Congrats on making that milestone!

I would've gladly sent you the postage, but I have all three sitting at the ready in the living room. So far I'm focusing on the L & M course. I considered going off on a song learning tangent, but hesitated at the thought of playing Lion King 1000 times to get the F barre chord down. :-)

Hang in there. I went through the back dance in the army years ago. Three epidural injections simply prolonged the inevitable--in my case. I had an L5-S1 fusion a few years later in 1999. The doc asked me whether I wanted to try an operation. "It's 60-40 whether you walk after the operation." I was walking like an 80-year-old man, so I said, "When can we do it?" Perhaps investigate something called Reiki if you feel like it. That's beyond the scope of this forum, but directly related to being able to gig. Good journey my friend.

Thanks Maria. Very nice. Soothing. It's also nice to see what you are doing. I''d like to share at some point too. The job loss. Well, like Odie, been there, done that. Hang in there. You live in a beautiful place.

Enjoy the magical chord forest. I was so worried about barre chords when I tried that F Steve included in one of the early songs that I included the barre chord strengthening exercises from session 7 in my warm ups. was relieved to find that barre chords are doable, as Steve says, but obviously I spent many hours not focusing fully on the notes. Now I'm bumping along across sessions 5-8. I still love the course: No bumping around in the dark on youtube, just straight ahead learning. As so many have said, we each have our own way of learning! Amen. Rock On!

matonanjin I know the feeling!

I work overnight in a grocery store, so not much change in my life so far other than almost being run over by frantic shoppers when we open. Quarantine is a great idea but among the peeps: "We want food." So it goes. Going along through session 5 I thought what the heck: I learned the chords in sessions 5-8 months ago. Why not just practice across those sessions to gain clarity and speed? So that's what I'm doing. Yesterday I got unexpected insight into how to hold my--relaxed--hand during the 5th string barre chord majors practice. I found that I can even play a G with my three fingers as long as I angle my hand so my finger nails are aligned parallel with the strings, rather than trying to edge my fingers in. It seems to be an act of faith that keeps getting better. I had messed up one chord and saw that my three fingers somehow were bunched up on two strings for an F or G on the 5th string, so I thought, Three will be easier. Yep. How fun! Another thing is that I am quite interested in the Jarod James Nichols Blackstar amp/cab and Epiphone guitar. I watched JJN play and his rationale. He is quite skilled at doing a LOT with a little bit equipment-wise. I started doing about half or a bit more of my practicing fingerstyle. I need to revisit the fingerstyle dvd now. I really love it and it feels natural to me. I first tried fingerstyle with the octave jump exercise expanded to include sharps and flats from session 4 and I just keep exploring. I won't abandon the pick though. I like that too. Rock On!

That's really cool. When all this virus stuff started I thought, "Is this going to be remembered as the day the music died?" Well, I guess not! Thanks for posting this.

NeilES335: Very nice! A happy coincidence.

Wim VD1: Great as usual. I agree: the birds are tweet!

Simira: It all just means I spend too much time researching. I heard your fingerstyle post in the other thread. Great job! I'm not there yet. I'd say heck with all the equipment until you feel the need. You inspired me too, like the other poster said. Thanks.

I'm early in the guitar journey, but a longtime tone nut. I've only played my Blackstar Artist 10ae tube amp so far. It's a ten watt hybrid amp with lovely clean sound and a fun overdrive boost that effectively makes for a lead channel. I was torn when looking at tube amps between the 6L6 and EL34 sounds. The UK crunch is what I grew up with and love in so many rock songs, but my first requirement upon looking up specs of amps I liked was that sweet 6L6 clean sound. A Sweet Water blowout sale made this amp a no-brainer for me. It was that or wait longer for a tube amp. So far I've played with the pretty cleans that I love which made it easy to start working on my "jazz tone", especially with my Starla. This amp can easily get way too loud for home use! Cool for me has been exploring pushing the amp to the edge of breakup and beyond at an ear friendly volume. My ears don't hurt and neither do those of my dog and cat. I am amazed at how the "sweet spot" makes the non-overdrive mode into a two channel amp using volume. I've read lots of talk and watched youtube, but how magical to suddenly hear it and play it on a small amp! The game changer for my tone exploration was the only pedal I have: a Klon KTR. I had read the raves and the list of who's who in the guitar world who use Klons. I had settled on a Soul Food (Klon clone) someday, but noticed Reverb sellers with a new run of KTRs for sale at just under 300 dollars delivered. (They sold out in about a week.) I figured I could always sell it quickly at a reasonable price if I didn't like it. Wow do I ever love this pedal! That's for another thread someday, but I recommend an overdrive pedal to other newbies exploring the world of tone. The first time I got that sweet overdriven crunch out of my little amp I just about danced a jig! Rock On!

Thanks Mandy, great read and on point! Ties in with your humor too. :-) I've always been a quality guy, but working with others taught me that quantity can lead to quality: a whole lot of quality. Back in the simpler, gentler days of the Cold War, I became a quality controller for others who transcribed what they heard in the Russian language into an ancient computer. One new transcriber had tremendous typing speed and a good ear for prioritizing. We stopped her when necessary and gave guidance, which she took and ran with. She soon left her peers behind due to the volume of material she processed! I often remember her with a smile while learning a new skill. I don't have to wonder about playing "as much materiel as possible" learning guitar. Ms. fast fingers showed me!

Hi Kenneth, Hang in there! This stuff is challenging. I took a loong time in Session 4 and recently left for Session 5. I warm up by playing and naming all the first position notes including sharps and flats, then the octave jump exercise. As the chord speed improves with decent sound--I tend to be particular about the sound--I plan to return to individual note work with Steve's Fretboard workout. Rock On!

Best is a practice area set aside with the instruments and accessories in place. I don't have that currently and the desert is a dry place. No guitars sit out of their cases, so I always have to get one out. But I have the same routine every time--plus amp or no amp?--so in a few minutes I'm playing in my living room. Best sound! Years of drumming and didging taught me that. Make sure it's a place you like; you'll be there for years. (It took placing drumming before everything but work for years to reach an advanced level.) If you want to learn to read music, but are resistant, what I did inadvertently was place the books far enough away in so so lighting. I couldn't read the tab, so I had no option (didn't care). Conversely, I bought some brighter bulbs and now would love a nice music stand light. (Any recommendations?) My music stand is of the solid leg orchestral type, which has saved me from a few spills. The one thing I wish I would have done in my drumming practice was use a metronome. The steady beat drives the train, which exposes inner resistance and helps build a sense of time. I also need to post my immediate goals and start a practice journal. The journal works well with training for any skill. No smart phone so far. My tech is still flip phone. Would "surfitis? prove irresistible? Probably. Usually I set up my practice area even when I feel lousy or don't want to play the same durn exercise for the umpteenth time. As Steve says, even 15 minutes daily gives better results than weekend or day off binging. Even if a practice session sucks, I keep going unless I feel the familiar "approaching burn out" sensations. Then I stop, wipe my guitar off and pick up. Rock On!

I play guitar to share the joy in my heart.

Awesome!!! I agree with others that you would be a treat performing.

Steady as she goes for me. I've been becalmed for a few months, but things have settled down at work enough that I have a lot more energy. I realized that I've been playing to the standard, so I'm going to get moving on the chord sessions. I'll continue obsessing with notes on the side. :-) Currently I'm playing with getting my amp on the edge of breakup. I've been playing with getting a clean, round "jazz tone" for awhile. The advice holds true for me that time on the instrument guides the search. Rock On!

Thanks all of you for sharing and supporting everybody. I find it inspiring. And sometimes amusing. And that IS one sparkly pink guitar.

Thanks both of you for your input on this question. It's a timely nudge. I was about to move on to lesson 5 when the retail holiday scene required a lot more hours at work. I've played just enough to "swim in place" for a few months. Today I'm back to the routine. (He says.) I planned on ordering the fingerstyle course when I was well into Canon in D. However, thanks to Steve's including that F chord in session 3 I'm fine with all the chords up to and including sesson 8. The open chords were fairly painless and I mainly learned them for a quick foundation enroute to barre chords. I was WORRIED about barre chords. It turns out that for me the "magical chord forest" is like the Hotel California. I can check out any time I like, but I can never leave. Nor do i want to. :-) I'll see how the chord sessions go with an eye toward playing around in session 10 and maybe ordering fingerstyle. I'd prefer to be comfortable with fingerstyle before the blues course too. But I just ordered the Song Hits, so who knows? It'll be fun and a lot of work regardless. So it goes. Rock On!

Glad you got a great deal. It's fun when that happens. Three of my guitars were used. Two came virtually unused. The acoustic's wood came aged and opened up! A third guitar--a dream guitar for me--came with wear on the case, no signs of use other than a dull area on the Bigsby and a tip that falls off the selector switch. After playing it I saw how the Bigsby sits directly beneath one's sometimes sweaty arm. Just part of the experience I suppose. The guitar was around eight years old and I knew about the condition. I had played awhile hour-wise and realized that my usual habit of being a tool user rather than collector applied to guitars as well. I take care of them, but I play them a lot. (The only reasonable solution is more guitars.) All three guitars came from reverb. One guitar was new on closeout sale at Sweetwater at a price still lower than the used market! My tube amp was on closeout as well. I pay attention to the Sweetwater emails!

Thanks for the video demo Old Guy and thanks for the expansion Six String. It feels like the world of affordable electric guitar sonic options just exploded! Fortunately an unanticipated Starla purchase has me unable to pull the trigger on the current Sweet Water HX Stomp sale. :-) This will give me time to calm down and play around more with my simple single-ended tube amp, which is plenty right now. Back to those notes...

It's fun to read of the diverse ways we ended up learning to play guitar with maestro Steve. One thing I look for in an instructor is how they walk their talk. Steve has been a working pro all his life and we can see this regularly most Tuesdays, at Gatherings, etc. So I study this material without holding back. The more I learn, the more habits I notice in more experienced players that I won't have to unlearn. I said hello elsewhere. (This thread was not open.) I started a few months after my 56th birthday and hit the "Session 4 wall." I restarted a few months after I turned 58. I am over the crest of Session 4. MOre sixth string exercises anyone? It's exciting to read those octave jumps and notice that sometimes they have been sounding without my thinking about it. Wait! How did that happen? Welcome to you fellow beginners and thanks for all the help from you more experienced players!