Started Playing At Age 44

[Davis Webb]

Congratulations on finding a new passion.

Some things I can share;

a. guitar is a lifetime study...it never ends, so in a way, it doesnt matter when you start, because you will never get "there", its unending...

b. what happens to you, and how you feel when you play is far more significant than what you play....a simple song with alot of feeling (think of Ripple by the Grateful Dead) goes alot further than a complex song without much feeling.

c. totally relax your entire body when you play, I cannot emphasize this enough, complete relaxation is the key to putting feel into the playing

d. play for 3 days, then take a day or 2 off, then like clockwork, resume, you will make huge gains this way...time off = more life experience, life experience = having something to say musically

44 isnt that old. Joe Satriani is 56 this year! Just look at him go.

You will learn very fast I think....kids learn alot then plateau and often give up. You will win the race of tortoise vs hare.

Break complex things down into simple managable steps.

Keep on truckin!!!!

[Bluepoet]

Hi, Smilemaker!

I messed around with guitars, when younger, but quit, for a long time. When I finally decided to start up again, I did so, not because I wanted to be a fantasy rock god, or anything other than to simply play music...I've been playing, this way, for the last 15 years...I'm now 60, btw.

What I really enjoy about guitar, and music, in general, is that it's never quite the same, each time one plays, or even listens to a piece of music. Sounds get filtered, by our emotions, our attention span, and a myriad of other variables...

For me, it's emotional therapy...I can sometimes simply play a chord, for a few minutes, and just be...I know, it sounds kinda nutty-zen like, but it helps me to relax, and then play songs...I sing, too, so it helps me to blend my voice, with the guitar, and how I'm striking the strings, at the time.

Guitar playing....so simple, yet so elegant, and such a palette of tone!

Play on!!

[slinco]

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[Smilemaker]

Thank you all for your words of wisdom and advice. I truly appreciate the support and camaraderie that the AGF is giving me. I am privileged to be part of it!!

[dastowers]

What an amazing thread. I sulked for awhile thinking I was the only one in the same boat. LOL! What an idiot!

2 weeks and 2 guitars later.. Taylor 214CE-G and a "97 Martin DM..I am hooked.
I am lefthanded but decided along with my two teachers to go righthanded.
It is a bit harder but I had acrylic nails put on my right hand to help with the getting rid of the pick. The pick feels so unnatural. The nails are fabulously easy to use to strum. Not quite to the fingerpicking stage but that will come.

I have one teacher instructing me on reading music and the other is helping me with the praise team aspect- chords..praise strums ect. One comes to the house once a week and the other I travel to her once a week also.

Honestly the best thing about being older is you can afford to spend a bit more on your hobby.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Smilemaker

Thank you all for your words of wisdom and advice. I truly appreciate the support and camaraderie that the AGF is giving me. I am privileged to be part of it!!

Hi Sm...
Yup a great forum filled with nice folk…

[slinco]

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[Sage97]

Never too old or late to learn anything.

Started playing when I was 10 or so but I am still learning guitar. At 42, I am on old beginner.

More power to us all!

[gfogarty]

I re-started last year at age 45, a couple of months after my son started taking lessons. I used to play bass, and a tiny bit of guitar, 25 years ago, but had not played a lick in over 20 years. Then for some unknown reason I took my bass out of the attic, and right off the bat started playing every day. A year or so after that, I got the guitar bug, which I was able to indulge after getting a Telecaster for fathers' day, and an acoustic as a "job well done" award from my employer.

While progress seemed slow at first, I've been surprised at how far I've come. I can play a number of bar chords, and can play the unplugged version of Layla all the way through, if not really smoothly. I attribute that to playing at least a little bit _every single day_ when I'm at home. I keep my instruments in my home office, hanging on the wall or on stands, so I can just grab and play when the inspiration strikes.

I play _far_ better than I did years ago and have learned a little music theory and how to read a little too. Maybe it helped that I played a bit when I was younger, but I was really terrible at guitar then so I'm not so sure. I think wanting to be able to play with my son is better motivation than I had before.

GF

[johnboy1234]

Hi to all started at age 68 and singing songs with all the open cords and pratice about 1 hour every day .i recon when you get older it can be easer to consintrate because i recon as a young person there are to many things going on in there lives and they give upto easey .Today they wont everthing in the fast lane .If guitar was easey everyone would be playing thats my pennys worth ...Kind regards to all ....John

[oldhippiegal]

Welcome! I started at 50, I think, and I'm 56 now (I think--getting harder to keep track!) But I did have a musical background, and it was easy for me. I have a student who started a year before me and doesn't practice much and just doesn't get theory, and she's barely able to play three chords and Twinkle Twinkle little star, though I'm a pretty good teacher. So I'm not sure you can generalize. I finally realized that while she's listened to music her whole life, she's never really sang harmony parts to what's on the radio or recognized minor from major keys, and so she really is starting from nothing.


But what I've found that makes it easier now, and more than compensates for sore joints are a few things: I have all the time in the world to do practice, the presence of MP3 players makes it easier, I have a much better work ethic, and I'm a more patient person than I was as a youngster. I've worked on three difficult songs for six months, and I don't know if I had that in me at age 20 or 30. And I care nothing about looking cool, so I don't have to fight the urge to sling the guitar down on my hipbones or the like and school my face into a pouty expression...So there are compensations that come with age.

[New2Guitar]

I'm now 56 and started playing 2 months before my 55th birthday, simply stated I've been playing for 16 months. We all approach the guitar journey in different ways, what works for someone may or may not work for someone else.

After my fingers acclimated to the steel strings, I started practicing 3 hrs a day for the first year. I quickly learned, it was best to break up the 3 hrs of daily practice into smaller blocks of time; thus, seeing more reward for the time that I practiced. I focused only on finger mechanics, barr chords, chords and music theory. I must admit the first year was , very, very, very, very, very dull. Fast forward one year and I'm now working on playing songs. The very first song I learned to play was the Star Spangle Banner; then, Silent Night. Two songs that I'm currently learning are Classical Gas and Stairway to Heaven. I can play Classical Gas (CG) but not as well I would like so I continue to refine that. I continue to practice CG while learning Stairway to Heaven.

Learning the guitar has been more fun than the Log Jam ride at Magic Mountain.

My motto, practice, practice, practice and use a metronome, practice relative pitch and always warm up with something simple, yet is a must have a groove to it.

Regards,

New2Guitar

[Mike114]

I'm 52 and started playing at age 47. Guitar instructors will normally give you extra help and be extra attentive to any special needs or wants, mostly because YOU WANT TO BE THERE! One summer I just took my boys to guitar lessons for a kicker, in the fall they had to start back up with piano and trumpet at school and I kept going with the lessons.

About a year later was asked to join a Christian worship team with some established musicians, who really brought me up to speed quickly as the acoustic rhythm player/fingerpicker guy in the group. It has been highly rewarding, I really had to put the time in and it really paid off. I would highly recommend getting into an AGF group or other local group to play with others, it will really help you along. I've seen such things develop on Craigslist under Musicians too..

I took voice lessons from my sons piano teacher and have discovered I have a nice, bluesy voice as well, which is just the icing on the cake.

This is a great thread, I'm hoping it entices some more over 40's to get into the guitar.. it's a great passtime to take into your later years.

Best of luck with your guitar journeys one and all..

-Mike

[larryb]

Originally Posted by slinco

Welcome to the club. I started a little over a year ago at age 50, and I'm loving it.
Here's a book on the subject you might find interesting:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/bo...itar.html?_r=1

Great book. I am in the middle of it.

[ANeat]

46 here, just started about 6 months ago. Took a couple lessons when I was 12 or so but never really got interested untill recently.

Cant imagine NOT playing now, I love it