Intermediate revamp, new website design, and more!

A fresh look, a brand new series, and a job offer... SO EXCITING! :) March 2021 News Howdy guitar friend, Hope this newsletter finds you safe and well. I've been really appreciating the small things more than ever these days. The fact that it's staying light for longer is super nice, and being able to get out for a ride or run after work without being in the cold dark winter months feels great! You've probably noticed (I hope!!!) that the [new website design]( is live and much more user-friendly! We've been working on it for over a year, so I'm stoked to finally get the first chunk of it live. Thanks to Cassandra and Barbara from Pomegranate and our developers Ben and Mike for the awesome work! The feedback has been great, and I can't wait for the next improvements to be live too. This is only the very first bit - we have some awesome functionality improvements close to launching, too... stay tuned. In the last couple of weeks, I've also had the chance to give some private and group guitar lessons (online, of course!) to the Holiday competitions winners. It's always awesome to be in real contact with the students, and I feel inspired to create more ways of making it happen. Right now, the next live event will be in support of the Save The Music Project - more on that below! For now, my focus is on creating the best Intermediate Foundation Course ever made. A few lessons are already out, and so much more on its way! I'll release this course by modules, and there are different ways you can follow it. [The all-new Rhythm Maestro course starts today!]( Check out the first lesson [here](. I've also answered a few questions about it on [my Instagram]( - and a video about how it works is due out soon too. I might have filmed it today, but hay fever has gifted me one very red eye, which looks well weird, so I don't fancy filming! The Italy workshops will take place in September, and I can't wait for them. Loads guitar, incredible food, and too much wine - oh, we need that, eh? Check out more about it below, and I hope you can join me for an incredible week after we've all been trapped at home for so long. I can not wait! I also wanted to thank everyone that reached out about the Content Writing gig - we've got excellent applications and think we have found our writer. :) Now, we're looking for a super cool designer to join the team too. Please, read more about the position below before sending me an email. March Highlights - New Intermediate Foundation lessons. - The JustinGuitar Workshops. - Most requested Song Lessons. - Save The Music Project. - Job Offer: Designer. - Life Stuff, and more! Y'all are really excited about the new Intermediate Foundation lessons, eh? That's awesome - cos I am too! Been working on it for ages and finally figured a fantastic way to make it work for students moving on from the Beginner Course and for more experienced players with just some pieces of the puzzle missing. The word is MODULAR! I always called the Beginner lessons a 'course' and the Intermediate a 'method' because it needs to be more adaptable to different needs. Not everyone will want to go the same path... different routes up the mountain depending on prior experience and pain threshold. ;) haha! I will break it into the 3 Intermediate Grades (4, 5, and 6), and there will be 6 foundation modules: - Chord Study - Techniques - Rhythm Maestro (Lesson 1 is live, new lessons fortnightly) - Major Maestro - Transcribing - Groove Study Each module in each grade has 5 lessons. You will be able to do, for example, the Major Maestro modules right through all 3 grades if you want to, as well as the existing foundations, like the Blues Lead Courses, and new ones, like Creativity, Music Production, Acoustic Explorer, Tone Meister and Rock Rhythm, are optional. It's MEGA, and I'm super excited! It's a MASSIVE project, and I expect it will take me most of the year to get it all out. I finished pretty much all the outlines and have scripted G4 Major Scale, Technique, and Rhythm Master, so those will be first out of the blocks. I will also attempt a video explaining all this stuff so we are all clear on what to do and when it will come out. Stay tuned! [The all-new Rhythm Maestro course starts today!]( :) If you always wanted to work out strumming patterns by ear or add rhythm notation to your tabs, then this course is for you! I've been working on this course for years and finally got it fully structured and new lessons coming out fortnightly! Learning scales is essential to improvising and develop your musicianship. In this lesson, we'll learn [an effective exercise to practice scales with a metronome](. I know that picking scales with a metronome is not the most exciting thing, but it's super effective for improving hand synchronization. The [Minimum Movement Exercise]( is simple, but don't think it won't make a huge difference in your playing. Well, I can assure you that it will. It transformed my playing, and it'll transform yours too. Sometimes, when the fretting hand does too many unnecessary movements, things get sloppy and more challenging than they need to be! New Song Lessons production stays pretty high over here! :) I'll start doing one tutorial per week instead of two for a while, though. I really want to focus as much as I can on the Intermediate Foundation, so that's why. :) Here are the new lessons I released over the last weeks - hope y'all dig them! Every time the [Goo Goo Dolls song Iris]( on the radio, I wondered how they did it. Tim Pierce played the mandolin and solo on the song, and he did a video on it which revealed the tuning... so here is a full lesson on how to play it - with particular attention to the rhythm! A great song deserves a great guitar lesson - so I remade my video on [Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) by The Offspring]( The first time I did a lesson on this song was back in 2006. Time flies - and gear gets better! Anyway, this is a GREAT song to practice some Power Chords - super fun to play. Another Pearl Jam classic, [Nothingman]( sounds great on both electric and acoustic guitar! I've played this song for years without realizing the right tuning for it - I knew something was off, but it was just when doing this lesson that I figure it out. :) Nothingman is a [6:8 time song]( and we'll learn about the rhythm, dynamic changes, and how to adapt a song for you to sing along with it! [I Used to Love Her]( is excellent for beginners! You'll only need 3 open chords to have loads of fun. It's also awesome if you're up for a [12 Bar Shuffle Riff](. In this lesson, we don't cover the solo - but I'm working on a tutorial for it! Subscribe to my [Song Channel]( so you'll get a notification when a new lesson is out! [Fade to Black]( by Metallica is the song that unlocked Music Theory for me. In this guitar lesson, we'll explore both James Hetfield guitar parts - so my electric and acoustic guitar are out! I'm planning another tutorial to dissect some of the solos as well. Metallica tunes are so rich, and learning them will help you develop so many skills! Explore it!! :) In these crazy times, music budgets are one of the first things that get cut. :( So, I've been looking to support some organizations that help with that! Save The Music does great work in supporting schools that commit to developing music programs for their students. I was lucky and had a music department at school, but I've met many students over the years who had NO music education at school AT ALL. And that freaks me out. Any amount is welcome, and I will be contributing myself! I was going to match all your donations, but I know how generous y'all can be, and I don't want to be bankrupting myself. ;) Please don't be worried about donating a small amount - even small positive actions from many people can make a huge difference. On so many levels. [D]( Here](. :) [Learn More about Save The Music Here](. As a way of giving back to everyone who donates to Save The Music, I plan to do a live workshop about getting started at teaching the guitar - something possible even for beginners! We'll explore some tips about getting started at teaching and its importance to your own personal guitar development! I'm not sure when the workshop will take place (all my schedule changes with V. getting back to school), but we'll contact everyone who donated with more information as soon as possible. After your donation, send an email to laryne@justinguitar.com with the subject Workshop for Donors with any screenshot that confirms the contribution - no need to include its amount on it. We welcome any contribution, and every cent makes a difference! :) The workshop will be only for donors so that I can take many questions - but we'll share the link for it to everyone to access the class after it! I love to see all JustinGuitar students spreading their knowledge in their communities. :) I want to give a shout-out to my friends at Andertons - they're doing a raffle to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust! Enter it to run the chance of winning an awesome guitar while helping others! Cool, eh? :) [More information here.]( The JustinGuitar Workshops So excited to announce that we've confirmed the Italy workshops for September! Of course, we don't know how the Covid situation will be at that point, but we'll ensure everyone's safety. The venue is huge, and all necessary precautions will be in place. The co-teacher for these courses is Pete Whittard. Pete was one of my teachers at The Guitar Institute when I went there back in ’96, and we’ve been close friends ever since. We played together in The Counterfeit Stones for seven years, and he’s probably forgotten more about guitar playing than most of us ever learn. Pete has incredible enthusiasm, which you’ll love! Acoustic Campfire Jam Workshop The Acoustic Jamming will be a campfire-style workshop! We’ll have evening sing-alongs where we’ll pair up and play songs for each other using concepts we learn each day. It’s an advancing beginner/intermediate level course. We’ll explore fingerstyle, acoustic chord work, layering parts, and specific things I love - like Neil Young’s style and how to add some percussive elements to your playing. More about it [here](. Electric Jam Week Get ready for a fantastic Electric Jam Week! In this course, the focus is the electric guitar - so acoustics won’t work. The program is perfect for any electric guitar player at an early intermediate level. You’ll need to be comfortable with power chords, open chords, basic strumming, and at least a little experience with barre chords and playing whole songs! A little expertise soloing with blues scales will help – but we’ll be covering that in the course. More about it [here](. We had planned many more workshops for 2021. However, Covid is still making planning events a tricky affair - but keep an eye for new announcements! [Reserve Your Spot Now! Places are limited. :)]( So, the team is growing! Now, we're looking for an awesome graphic designer to join us. Please have a good read before reaching out to us - I'm sure you all want to help, but there are a few requirements that we'll need to fill: - We're looking for a creative designer experienced with Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Lightroom. The position is home-office - so you can be wherever you are! - The position is temporary, beginning with a large amount of work and then more sporadic demands. Depending on how it goes, it can become a part-time and long-term position. ;) - We'll receive applications between today, March 6th, and March 11th. If you're interested, send your CV and portfolio to laryne@justinguitar.com. - The candidates must complete a sample test before March 17th. We'll send the guidelines to all the pre-selected candidates. We're looking forward to checking out the fantastic designers we have in our community. I can't wait to hear back from you. Keep Calm & Play the Guitar! It seems like y'all dig [cool guitar-related products]( eh? :) Been having some fun playing around with designs, and I think these bottles look great. We are more often frightened than hurt, and we suffer more from imagination than from reality. So, keep calm - hydrated - and play guitar! :) Thank you to all shoppers - I really appreciate your support. [Click Here to Shop! :)]( Other Life Stuff... I'm so looking forward to Vivi going back to school next week. I have loved taking a couple of days off a week to spend homeschooling her, but keeping everything running has meant working super hard when I've been at the studio, and I've had very little time to practice! I'll miss her, though. It was actually wonderful to watch her learn and grow so much over the last few months and to have so much quality time together... but she misses her friends, and developing relationships is probably as or more important than academics! The studio build is rocking along, the insulation and under-floor heating is in and concreted over. Now we have some more work in other parts of the house to finish before getting much more done in the studio. Electrics and MVHR are the next big projects to get into... I've been getting back into running and mountain biking now that the weather is getting better. Last weekend, I had a fun one! I went for a long ride with Vivi on my Shotgun seat. I have a heavy electric bike, and with her on it, the electric boost is really needed on hills. It doesn't propel itself; it just helps... but with 3 big hills to get home... the battery died - it was only half changed when I left, but I thought I might make it. Pushing the bike and V up those hills was hard graft indeed. But lesson learned :) 📚 What I'm reading... - Nothing. I've had no time for reading the last few weeks. Sad but true! 🎶 What I'm listening to... - [Michael Kinawuka]( has been on our playlist at home quite a lot. Amazing singer, writer, and guitarist! - A bit late to the party, but been watching/listening to a few [Tash Saltana]( vids; she got it going on. Super cool :) 📺 What I'm watching... - [Schitt's Creek]( - I'm super late to the party on this one, but it's got some brilliant writing, acting, and aware social messaging in it. "I like the wine and not the label." Incredible. Been binging on that mostly when having tv time! OK, I better love you and leave you. Lots to do, and wanna find proper chill time this weekend before hitting my first full week back (schools re-open in the UK from Monday, so no more home schooling!). So much to do, and I'm really excited to get stuck in!! Stay safe and well, and wishing you much happiness :) J. Copyright © 2021 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! 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