Hey Eric.

  Rusty here. I started my journey in October of '20 with the promise from my pastor and the music director of my church that they would " take me under their wings" and help me learn how to play.

    The odds were stacked against me from the get go. I was 61 and retired medically having had 4 major surgeries on my lower back, a three level fusion in my neck @ the C5, C6, & C7 levels, right shoulder rotator cuff surgery, which at this time looks like I will be having done again shortly. 

   Carpal Tunnel in both wrists with nerve damage and arthritis in both hands, nerve damage in both arms, and yeah, arthritis. My fingers are weak and I can't perform the majority of barre chords simply because I can not press hard enough. Some three finger chords are out of the question, yet alone the four finger ones.

    I have some degree of ADD which makes learning ANYTHING an uphill challenge. I can easily go to Guitar Center for a few lessons and literally foeget how to play what I just did an hour ago. 

   I completely get the dificulties that you struggle with and you have my sympthies. 

   The only reason I drug you through all of this is to hopefully encourage you in your journey, which , for me, I almost walked away from several times. Patience is not a virtue that I have oozing out of me, but my deep love of the guitar keeps me keepin' on. It seriously took 🤔..... 9 months before I was able to play the lessons correctly that most folks accomplished in week 3.

   The day I came home with my first acoustic I signed up with Guitar Tricks and am on auto renewal , this being my 3rd year. Do the work, no matter how good or bad you think you sound, study, try, and yeah, often enough you'll be upset and sound poorly, but it's all part of the process. TRUST THE GUITAR TRICKS PROGRESS!!

   Best of luck and never give up. Never never never I tell you. Peace