Hi there. I am 55 and while I have fooled around with guitar off and on for many years, I never took up a structured lesson/practice plan until this year, so I am more or less a beginner. I have been at it for about three months.

One thing that I have found truer than anything else is that practice practice practice is the key. One of the songs I have chosen to learn is “Imagine” (made easy). I have been practicing/playing it for about 3 weeks and I still can’t make a reliably clean chord change from Dm to F, although it seems it should be pretty easy. Still, I do notice that I am getting better just by practicing it every day. It helps to focus on the one item you have trouble with, so I practice that chord change especially as opposed to the entire song every time.

One thing I have noticed is thatas I have “learned to learn”, new things come easier. The natural minor scales came easier than the major scales, I guess because my brain is now better at connecting the sound with the note pattern.

Some me days are terribly frustrating: “I thought I had that down!” But that is inevitably followed by days where I really do have it down. It can be difficult for us, the learners, to recognize the progress we are making because we hear every note we play. But if you stop and look back you can appreciate how far you have come, and that is very motivating.

Persistence, patience, practice. Keep up the good work!