Howdy, guitar friend,

Remember our Playin' It Forward program—our initiative that helps new players who cannot afford an instrument get started with a free guitar?

We've sent out over 150 guitars across the US and UK, and even fulfilled a few in Europe! We're wrapping up a 20-guitar batch in the US and preparing a new 50-guitar batch in the UK with our awesome friends at Andertons. How exciting is that! :)

None of this would be possible without incredible students like you, supporting JustinGuitar by purchasing our products, making direct donations, and spreading the word in online communities and on social media around the globe. 💙

But as you can imagine, expanding internationally has its challenges. Due to logistics limitations, we've had to keep most of our shipments within the US and the UK. That's why this next step means so much to us…

With the help of Tagima Guitars, who kindly provided instruments at cost, we're thrilled to kick off this new chapter by gifting guitars to 10 young athletes from a social project led by BJJ College from Black Belt Melqui Galvão.

Melqui takes discipline very seriously and ensures that the athletes receive their guitars, follow a practice routine, take care of their instruments, document their progress, and engage with their lessons.

🤼 As you might know, I train BJJ, so linking my two passions is awesome. Maybe I'll meet up and train with some of these kids one day - and hopefully they'll go easy on me! :)

The guitars are being distributed among athletes who live both inside the BJJ College social project houses and independently. They're also getting access to the JustinGuitar Lessons & Songs App! They're excited to share a bit of their progress online, so keep an eye out for our social media.

✨ Check out their Instagram: @isaquelimajj | @angelus_lutinhajj | @guilherme_souzajj | @zangado.bjj | @eve.azevedojj | @gabigordobjj | @marcos_jiu01 | @gabi_guedesbjj | @gabrielfonjj | @thiagaoteam

Thanks to Tagima, the largest Brazilian guitar and bass manufacturer globally in Latin America, the US, Canada, China, Japan, and more. 🌎 Their support made this Brazil expansion possible!

What's Next?

Connecting with these young athletes—eager, disciplined, and passionate about learning—has deepened our love for Playin' It Forward and our mission to make JustinGuitar and high-quality guitar education as accessible as possible.

Many have come from incredibly challenging circumstances, and their dedication to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu represents a real shot at changing their lives. Seeing their enthusiasm for music as a way to express themselves and find balance is truly special.

Their story also inspires us to support other forms of learning and basic needs alongside music when appropriate. We've learned from connecting with the BJJ College athletes that some of them, despite their high performance on the mats, often lack access to quality English education (among other things), which is essential for traveling and succeeding as international competitors.

So we're currently exploring how we might sponsor a full year of English lessons for these young champs. We'll tell you more when the time comes. :) This is just the continuation of our mission to teach the world to play, every little bit of support makes a difference.

We've also decided to take things a step further and make it official that anyone who cannot afford a paid JustinGuitar product can request it for free. It's easy and simple to apply—just a little help to keep the music going. We also decided to keep many upcoming new site features completely free to registered students, plus we're committed to another year of excellent Live Classes and masterclasses offered for free in our Clubs. These changes will soon be announced and reflected on the Playing' It Forward, Donation, and Store pages.

How can you help?

If you're wondering how to support all this, keep doing what you're doing! Whenever you use the site, purchase a course or some merch, or tell a friend about JustinGuitar, you're helping us grow this mission.

And if you've got a moment, head over to our Instagram post to give Tagima a big thank you for making this possible—and to cheer on the amazing young athletes who are now learning guitar with us. Your words of encouragement mean the world. 🌍🎶

That's it for now. :)

Laters,
Justin & Team