Guitar therapy during lockdown?

For sure this virus is causing a lot of distress for many, but I hope this email finds with time to spend enjoying learning guitar! April 2020 Newsletter Howdy guitar friend Oh my, how the world is changing! I really hope that you are doing ok in the turmoil this virus is causing all over the globe. Site statistics show a nearly double amount of website users which means there are a lot of people using lockdown to learn and practice guitar. Would be awesome under other circumstances! But I've had an 'interesting week' since I started this newsletter... Sunday I took my daughter for a bike ride and when we stopped for a drink I got myself a splinter in my fingertip when resting my bike against a fence (right-hand middle finger) which scarpered lefty practice and made typing difficult. Monday my Mrs got sick (probably the damn virus, she's doing fine - just seems a bad flu), I'm still 100% fine but tired from doing solo parenting for 5 days (massive respect for y'all that do solo parenting all the time!) and yesterday I put my back out doing weight lifting squats, not even heavy ones... so now I'm hobbling about the house chasing around and entertaining a hyper 4 year old. Amazing change from Sunday where I had massive plans for filming and launching a few new projects this week! But I'm very aware that we're lucky to have food, shelter and that I can still work from home (when V gets telly time, or now when she's doing a facetime playdate!). Anyhows, here's most of the news - but keep an eye on the website for updates on my new projects! :) Beginner Grade 1 complete, 2 starting soon! Grade 1 is now complete - well almost... I've got one more exciting bit to add which I hoped would be finished by now, but it's just not ready - more on that next newsletter or the one after (depending on when I can get back to work). Lesson 8, the first lesson in Grade 2, is almost there. All filmed and edited except for 2 lessons which I had hoped to film Monday and release the lesson this weekend, but it'll be at least another week I suspect. But I'm on it. Nitsuj is about to start practice on Lesson 9, so that one should be ready 3 weeks after Lesson 8. Sorry for the delays here, I know some of you are waiting on it - but just can't be helped, I'm on it and just as eager as you to get it done and released. [Click here to check it Lesson 1]( :) New Lessons There are a bunch of lesson series in the works, but the only one I got off the ground before I had to switch to full-time parenting was a new series of Lockdown Lessons where I'm taking lessons with guys I really rate and want to learn from and friends with cool stuff to share. I'm recording them all and sharing them on YouTube! There are some super cats lined up for this, but only 1 finished and edited for you now... and that one is a pearler - the legend that is Josh Smith, for sure one of the finest living Blues guitarists. [Josh Smith - Killer Blues Chords]( The first of my Lockdown Lessons is with the incredible Josh Smith! We chat chords and grooves and I wonder at his incredible depth of knowledge of the blues! There's a LOT HERE! New Songs I had started on re-filming some of the old classics but then 'this week' happened and I'd hoped to have a load of songs here for you - but instead, there are just 2... and they're the same song! More for you next time - I'm gonna hit this hard when life returns to normal, if that ever really happens. [The Scientist - Coldplay [EASY]]( I started with this remake because I wanted to check my new video workflow before I started on the big hitters! But it's a great song and very popular still! [The Scientist - Coldplay [in 4ths]]( Playing this song in 4ths tuning sounds amazing and is pretty easy - I love the effect this gives on acoustic guitar. Now updated :) Any of you that have gone through the original beginner course will know Jedi - he helped me get going on YouTube and filmed and edited all the early videos and DVDs and then went on to run the official JustinGuitar store, which he's run for over a decade. But at the end of March we've closed the physical store - the move away from books and DVDs combined with impossible competition from massive online retailers it just wasn't generating enough to remain viable. He's been there from the beginning, filming my very first YouTube videos and such classics as Advanced Biscuit Submersion Techniques, and helping in the store back when I would photocopy hundreds of copies of my music theory book at a school I taught at and he'd post them from his bedroom between video edits! He's put his heart and soul into helping the site and while it's sad to see the store close, I know that there are many exciting adventures ahead of him. Love you man, and thank you! I did a big Q&A session in early March and realized that there was a big chunk of lessons without video that needed them... so I went crazy and filmed 28 new video lessons over a few days and they're all live. Pretty much all the lessons that need video have it (just a couple of stragglers left!). Those last couple of modules I did will be super interesting for all intermediate guitarists, all about chord manipulation in the CAGED System. Super interesting, well I think so anyhow. It's now at over 140 lessons, and 12 hours of video! The first couple of grades are free so you get a vibe on what it's like, but the real fun stuff is in Grade 3 where you learn about chords in the key - and remember you get both my old theory books as PDF files (which used to sell for 10 pounds each) with your subscription and it remains at just 9.99 for 6 months - I was planning to put the price up this month, but because of the virus situation I'm going to leave it for at least the next few months. [Click Here to check it out!]( Beginner Song Course App Seems like a lot of you are digging the app for your quarantine practice sessions, so we have made a special playlist called Music For Hope And Well-Being in which we've added 10 fun songs that you can play free (without a subscription) until at least the end of May! Music is such a wonderful escape that we wanted to offer some fun for everyone to jam and practice along with, music is such amazing therapy and great for stress relief too! We're still working on the big update and it's a looking awesome but the coding still not started, gotta make sure we get it awesome first), it's going to be fantastic when it's all done, so excited to share it with you but it's a ways off yet (will be a free upgrade for all subscribers when it's ready, not a separate app!). [Check it out here! :) available for iOS and Android.]( Our little [forum community]( is a very special place and there are some amazing members that deserve some recognition. The incredible forum moderators Richard (close2u) and Lieven (LievenDV) are suggesting a forum member to be recognized each month and they win a $50 music voucher and an hour skype lesson with me! Unsung Hero Award This month we wish to celebrate stitch101. He is something of an unsung hero in the forum. He is always super helpful to people right across the board. He has been an ever-present for ten years and is always willing to answer questions on what guitar to buy, how to play chords, on technique, on theory and more. He does not make a song and dance about this. Put simply, he is a good guy with a generous heart and a fantastic pay-it-forward spirit. JustinGuitar Jams - 50% Discount! Been a busy month in Jams land - we now have Jam Blues, I, II, III and IV as well as Jam Rock and our latest offering, Jam Modes. This month we're offering a 50% discount using code GFYC19 ;) which you can use for any purchases! It's unlikely we'll offer a discount that big again for quite some time, but hoping to help y'all stuck in isolation have some jamming fun! There are loads of free tracks on our YouTube channel [go drop us a sub]( and if you have time to listen through a few tracks it would really help us out - and help you out because they are LOADS of fun to jam along with - it's what I use for my own jam practice sessions. We got some stellar players lined up for some jams on the tracks too - the plan is to get tabs done and offer them free to everyone who bought a deluxe pack of the album it's off :) a perk for supporters. If you want more you'll find all the tracks on our store at [justinguitarjams.com]( :) where you can get deluxe editions of the albums with charts and some extra special content on the way (you'll always get the updates for each pack free!). All of our workshops are now postponed, all the Italian ones (including Josh Smith and Susan Blair vocals) will now be held in late September (same venue) and the one in Petite St Vincent (Barbados) is in February 2021. [Get all the latest on the workshop's website.]( JustinGuitar App News Big thanks to everyone leaving reviews and feedback on the apps, much appreciated. We've got a new cool tool in development now too :) All these apps are available for [Android]( & [iOS]( :) Got some heavily requested features live in the Note Trainer app for iOS (Android updates coming shortly!) - You can now choose which strings and notes (whole notes or all notes) to be tested on - There is a reference fretboard where you can view all the notes / notes by string / specific notes for revision - Layout for some of the newer phones has been tweaked to make everything fit onscreen a little bit better [Tim Pierce Masterclass]( Tim Pierce Masterclass Even if you don't know his name, you have heard loads of big hit songs that he's played on. Tim is an LA session legend and he's also a really nice guy and great at explaining the things he does that have made him the goto session guitar guy for many decades! He's got over 1000 lessons on his site and adds to it during the year. Go check it out - you got 14 day free trial too to have a look around and see if it works for you! [He's given justinguitar friends a discounted price on the annual subscription for you from 149 to 129!]( Please note that this is not a paid ad (no kickback either!). When my friends make cool stuff I'll share it! Other life stuff... It's been a rough week but I still have a lot to be thankful for... I'm still well, my daughter is unfazed but missing her friends and we live out of town so have space to play outside and enjoy the unusually good weather. The last month I've been trying to smooth out my workflow and I got a real nice system going, recording onto hard drives in my Atomos monitors (rather than using small SD cards in the cameras) was a good time saver, and then I discovered the Logic Remote app for iPad so I can control that software on my main computer without getting up all the time. I bought a new monitor for my iMac and that's shown me that I had a really messed up 'colour profile' on my old mac which was the reason I was making my clips on YouTube so dang dark all the time and couldn't figure why! I've had very little time to practice but I loved my lessons with Josh Smith and that's inspired me to work on my groove a lot... really enjoying it when I get a moment! I have so many things going on right now that are taking priority over just playing for myself, but maybe I need to change that a bit! Outside music I've been doing a bit of work in the garden, made a massive fenced in veg garden which I'll be doing some planting in this afternoon with Vivi. I took her for a mountain bike ride last week (seat on the back) and loved it, so thinking I might have to update my 15 year old mountain bike for something with a suspension system to save our bums! :) I hope you are managing to stay healthy and well and that guitar is giving you some enjoyment in these crazy days. Best wishes! Cheers! J. Copyright © 2020 Justin Guitar Ltd, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up on my web site justinguitar.com, hope you enjoy my newsletters! Our mailing address is: Justin Guitar Ltd PO Box 695Farnham, Surrey GU9 1NB United Kingdom [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.