New Beginner Course is ALIVE :) Cool new My Practice Assistant features and Italy Workshops & Luxury Island Acoustic Retreat!

Lots of love for the new beginner course and a ton of exciting things brewing for 2020! January 2020 Newsletter Happy New Year! Hope the year has been off to a great start for you! Been a bit crazy around here, lots of work to do but also had annoying throat bug, so not the best start - but managed to work through. I took a little break from social media over xmas and new year which was real nice... I love the interaction but I don't find it good for my mental health! The start of the year is very busy for me, lots of fun and exciting projects starting up and adventures in the works and some time to relax too. :) Off to LA in a few days for the NAMM show and catch-ups with all my guitar friends from around the world - always a fun time! Anyhows, on to the news... New 2020 Beginner Lesson Series Yeah, it's a bold claim, but I really think this is best beginner course ever written - the proof will be in the pudding of course but the feedback from the first couple of lessons is super :) If you know someone getting into guitar, let them know - I'm all over this new course and trying to help out everyone on it as best I can. A lot of love for the Nitsuj series too, watching me fumble about trying to learn left-handed is quite amusing and comforting for beginners. The first 2 lessons are out, in future the YouTube lessons will be coming out staggered (daily) but you'll get them all every second Saturday on the website (3pm UK time). Lesson 3 is out Jan 14. There are 7 lessons in this 'Grade 1' and I'll be filming Grade 2 when I get back from LA, I get back to the left-handed journey tomorrow after 2 weeks off, that'll be fun! [Click here to check it all out]( :) feedback, as always, very welcome! More improvements in MPA? Big thanks to everyone who left feedback on the MPA - we've made some awesome improvements and added a wicked new feature, video practice along (for beginners). We made some cosmetic improvements and simplified the metronome while we get that really rocking! And we got some more fun features cooking too! Video Practice Along Beginners on my new course can add a video playalong with each item - so you get a kind of running commentary on what to do and reminders as you go. It's working great and if there's enough love for it I will make it for many of the older modules too! :) Mark As Complete For those that practice at work or away from the computer we added a 'mark as completed' button so you can tick it off and add to your stats :) For Teachers Had a few fun conversations with other guitar teachers and seems that many are using MPA with their students! :) Any of you teaching out there, just get your students to make an account and you can program their practice schedule into it. Great way to help them stay on track and for you to keep tabs on how they're doing too! [You can now get to your practice page at justinguitar.com/practice]( New Lessons The beginner thing has been keeping totally run off my feet and so there are no new lessons other than those, but I've got 3 new series in the planning stages I'll be filming later this month which are more intermediate/advanced things - an acoustic blues series, a jazz lead basics and mastering rhythm guitar. They should all be out mid/late Feb if all goes to plan. New Songs December was a busy month for most of us, so a few of these new song lessons might have gotten past you. It’s totally understandable, though – I won’t take it personally! [Give Peace A Chance - John Lennon]( This two-chord classic from John Lennon (and yes, Yoko Ono) is a great one to practice some different strumming patterns with. It’s a good one to sing along with, too, not to mention its super positive and optimistic messaging! [Molly's Lips - Nirvana]( Ah, the angst and rebellion of 90s grunge – gotta love it! This song is actually a cover that Nirvana did and it’s just two power chords. Power chords are pretty perfect for singing your frustrations over at top volume, so you’ll want to keep a few in your back pocket… you know, just in case! [Tulsa Time - Eric Clapton]( “Tulsa Time” is one of those classic songs that gets covered over and over again by heaps of great musicians, but in this lesson, we go over the Eric Clapton version. Any opportunity you have to learn a thing or two from Clapton is one you should take! This country-esque tune is a lot of fun to play, and if you’ve got a good audience, they’ll love it, too. [Jambalaya - Hank Williams]( I didn’t really know what jambalaya was until recently, but apparently, it’s a meat and rice dish from Louisiana! I’ll have to check it out the next time I’m in that part of the States, especially if it’s good enough for Hank Williams to sing a song about it. [Achy Breaky Heart - Billy Ray Cyrus]( “Achy Breaky Heart” is a silly song, but it’s one of the biggest and most well-known (for better or for worse!) country-pop hits so I couldn’t ignore it forever. I was super tempted to “Rick Roll” everyone by titling the video something else, but I decided I couldn’t do that to you all! [All Your Love - John Mayall]( This one’s a play-along featuring my [Beginner Song Course App](. This song is from John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, featuring our friend, Eric Clapton. Since this is a beginner’s lesson, we’re not going to be going anywhere near the Clapton bit, but if you’ve got a friend who’s a more advanced guitar player, this is a good one for a quick jam session. [Use Me - Bill Withers]( “Use Me” by Bill Withers is a good song for a beginner’s play-along because there are so many different levels of complexity. If you’re doing well with your open chords, you can try incorporating some barre chords here, or some hammer-ons. It’s a funky song, so don’t be afraid to get funky with it! [Sing - Ed Sheeran]( “Sing” is one of Ed Sheeran’s many massively popular hits, and in this play-along lesson, we’re using it to practice some fun strumming patterns. It’s just two chords throughout the song, so once you’re good on those, you can really start focusing on what your strumming hand is up to. [Ooh La La - The Faces]( From Rod Stewart’s old band, “Ooh La La” by The Faces is one of those songs that everyone’s heard at some point in their lives, I’m sure. It’s bound to be a hit if played in mixed company, and it might even inspire a group sing-along! That’s always a good time. New Songs Coming Up This Month Well, to be honest, I got none 'in the can' right now, but I've got a pile ready to film, the awesome Cold Stares song Into Black, some John Frusciante solo stuff (how cool is he's back with RHCP!!!), 2 Neil Young tracks and even some Joe Satriani! :) so lots of fun stuff on the way. JustinGuitar Jams Lot of you digging our new Jams channel with awesome guitar backing tracks... been holding out for the 1000 subs to explode it - we can't monetize it until we get over 1000 subs, and so cant add loads of new videos if we see no return at all on them. We're only a couple of hundred short so if you love the idea of a load of super cool jam tracks with a real band, then [go drop us a sub]( ;) If you want more you'll find all the tracks on our store at [www.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!). Got some incredible workshops lined up this year :) April takes me to Petite St Vincent - and island paradise and super luxury guitar retreat. We're running a bunch of workshops in Italy June, the Jam workshop is already sold out, but we have a singing workshop with the awesome Susan Blair (a few places remaining) and a guitar workshop with the incredible Josh Smith (also sold out). The Acoustic Jam workshop is perfect for people new to my workshops, it's all about making music with others and developing your acoustic skillset. UK workshops to be announced soon! [Click here for more info!]( Few [new lessons]( added and I'm still working on the play along things. I had hoped to get them done by now, but things been still super busy and I did take a proper break this year over xmas (which I needed). 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 - for now ;) [Click Here to check it out!]( Beginner Song Course App We've got some serious cool plans underway for this app in 2020, the updates will be free for those already subscribed and this really is the best tool to compliment my new beginner course (or the classic one!). We're serious about making this the best app for learning to play songs on guitar - go check out the reviews - we got it going on! ;) [Check it out here! :) available for iOS and Android.]( JustinGuitar App News *Android* Ear Trainer, Time Trainer and Note Trainer are all live - fully updated :) They do need some review love though, so if you're one of the dudes been asking me to get the Android versions out, then please go check them out and give them some love in the reviews - it really makes a huge difference, especially as they're 'new'. All these apps are available for [iOS]( too :) Australia Bushfire Donations The devastation caused by the fires in Australia is heartbreaking on so many levels. I saw bushfires not far from my home in Tasmania and they were terrifying and these are a whole other scale, so I had to try and do something... I'm running a GoFundMe page to raise money for associated charities - 100% of the money will go to 3 charities - and I'll be giving away 3 one hour Skype lessons to people who donate too. I'm also looking to give away 10 acoustic guitars to people who lost instruments in the fires of that might find learning to play some comfort (buying from my pocket, not from the donated money). If you know of anyone, please get in touch - I have a few names already, but need more. If I don't find enough people I'll be giving them to the brave volunteer firemen, that's one helluva tough gig and I have huge respect for those men and women. [Click here]( or on the image above for more info or to make a contribution. Other life stuff... I like to think I find a reasonable work / life balance but it's so hard when you love what you do... maybe work/life is the wrong term. I'm determind to get more creativity in this year and finish the tracks I started last year, and I have a bunch of almost finished collaborations I need to polish off too... the beginner course really just ate me whole! I've has a sore throat and cough since Christmas and not been training and really itching to get back to exercise, but from experience I know I need to wait a bit. I've set some ambitious fitness goals this year and wanna hit it! :) My relationship with guitar is a funny one - I will always love it, but I do spend time feeling a bit uninspired... but the last weeks I've been really thriving again, practicing classical guitar, jazz guitar and doing more acoustic writing... so nice to feel like this and I hope it lasts! If you're into art, the website lead developer (and top dude) Ben has made a super cool website that shows what art exhibitions are showing where, great if you're visiting a city and wanna find out what is on. Check it out: [Muzeumist]( I better get this finished off and chill a bit - I'm halfway through a great book called Solve For Happy which seems like a great book to start the year with! 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](.