You're never too old

Hi

I bought my first guitar a few weeks not long after my 40th birthday. I came across a Fender CP-100 Parlour guitar in very good condition that someone had pawned. Got it for half the full price, went and bought some new strings, a guitar stand and was given some picks by the store owner. Had to buy a second new high e string as I didn't realise my own strength.

I've always wanted to learn to play an instrument. I played the drums a little in my teenage years and tried to learn the piano about 15 years ago and got to between grades 2-3. I went for the guitar because I love guitar based music and just want to learn to play songs for me.

I'm loving this site and it's helped me progress quite quickly. I've found what I learned both from the drums and piano is helping a lot. I try and practice a little bit every day either following the tutorials or learn parts of a song I like. I've got the intro to 'Time of Your Life' by Green Day nailed. The hardest thing so far is not the chord changes but to keep the strumming pattern going. Any tips?

I've got two young boys and I want to show them that you're never too old to learn something new and hopefully inspire them to learn an instrument.

Cheers

Two things. First, go buy and read Guitar Zero. You'll enjoy it.

To your question. Metronome and slow down the BPM. And, one thing you can do is mute the strings with your fret hand, don't worry at all about the chord.

Now, just strum (slowly) using the strum pattern you want. Like, Down-Down-Up-Up-Down.

Don't worry about changing chords, or speed, or even the sound of the chord at all.

Thanks for the tip, it is appreciated.