Starting over at 60

[Mr. Jelly]

I've been playing for fifty years and I still embarrass myself

[rmgjsps]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

I've been playing for fifty years and I still embarrass myself

Yeah. My knowledge and achievement is exactly like my knowledge of statistics: I know just enough to be really dangerous ;-)

[Merak]

I just turned 56 and started lessons last week with a local music store. Been wanting to play since I was 15 but mental blocks and responsibilities have gotten into the way until six months ago when I realized I was filling spare time with TV and internet accomplishing nothing, and there was that nice Yamaha sitting on a stand like it has for the last 8 years. Experimented with it for an hour every day but still couldn't play anything very well. That's why I am now taking lessons.

[jay7347]

Well, I didn't start at 60, but here I am at 64 after playing again for ten years. I played for a year and a half when I was 27 and really didn't get very far. Now, the kids are grown and responsibilities are different. Playing therefore is a different animal.

When I began again it was following reading somewhere about "cross-modal integration", (hope I got that right,) being great for exercising the brain as we age. Cross-modal integration is the concept of doing a learned response in which we have to integrate right and left brain at the same time. Playing the piano would be one example of this. Guitar would be another. That article and a moment of feeling very "called" to pick guitar up again during worship service were my impetus for starting anew. I also had this revelation that I didn't want to be on my death bed saying to myself "I wish I would have played guitar..."

During my professional creative careers I was known as rather obsessive or driven, so the concept of practicing the heck out of a guitar came pretty easily. That, blended with the awareness that we all get with age that nothing comes without working at it seemed to work this time around as I got "traction" with playing that I didn't seem to get at a younger age.

Presently I play lead guitar in a worship band. We have a song list of over 150 songs that we rotate thru and add to. Its a lot of work and a lot of fun and maybe looking at the bigger picture, is great exercise for my aging mind at 64. (Not that I'm old... ;-). But seriously, the fact that we are engaging in this activity of playing guitars as we get older is a good thing at least for itself. So welcome those times when it seems so freakin' hard to learn a passage. Working the "grey matter" is a good thing! :-)

-jay

[s2y]

I'm probably one of the younger folks on this site in my late 30's. Look at classical guitar and ergonomic technique. Playing the guitar with improper technique can damage the hands and wrists. I can tell when I'm making mistakes because my hands aren't as durable and don't heal as fast as they did in high school.

[Big Band Guitar]

I played guitar from 1964 to 1983.

Didn't touch guitar from 1983 to 1993 when I played Bass in a party band.

Took up banjo both Dixieland and old time 5 string plus tenor guitar.

Formed a trio in 1999 that went for about ten years. Playing all of the above.

I retired at 58 and joined a community big band on Guitar. Went to community college 2017-2018 earned a certificate in music. That's where I am today.

I reinvented my musical self about every 10 years. Always new music to learn.

I get calls to sub in other big bands and sometimes a bluegrass band.

[jbeecham]

I think the benefit to playing again at a later age is now you probably have the patience and most important of all, the time to learn to play. It all comes down to putting in the hours. Take all the lessons you want, but the more you play, the better you will get. The other great benefit of learning to play these days compared to long ago is the availability of online tools. It is so much easier now.

Good luck and keep playing.

Jerry

[harpspitfire]

i was never really a guitar player, but started at 63 after a 40 year break from music, i got 3 years playing now, or trying to i should say

[DWKitt]

I started at 55 and that was 2 1/2 years ago. I learned pretty much everything by watching Youtube videos. If not for the internet I might not have stuck with it or gotton as far as I have. As it is I'm strictly a strummer and I just play stuff that I enjoy for my own personal enrichment. I have fun with it, but you'll never see me on stage anywhere.

[1Charlie]

I still own my guitar from high school, a 1973 Guild D-35. That guitar sat in a case from my mid-20's to my mid-50's, while I was raising kids, building a career, and otherwise occupied with life.

My wife, after dragging it out from under the bed one time too many to clean around it, asked me what I wanted to do with it. I decided to get it worked on to improve its playability, spent maybe $75 to get it right, and started playing again.

That led to additional guitar purchases, the development of songwriting skills I never knew I had, and a new life as a performer at 60.

[strat4me]

I started playing for the first time at age 64 and am now pushing 70. During that time the journey has been fascinating and wonderful and frustrating all at the same time.

I found the most difficult part of the process was deciding what to focus on while learning. I started with electric (a Strat I built from parts) and worked on Hendrix, then I met a Martin acoustic and never looked back on electric again. I've gone through 25 guitars in 5 years (24 purchased used) and found what I like and what matters to me. I also learn how to work on them and make all the normal adjustments. I even sang and played for a bit at a high end restaurant (pedal board - the whole deal).

You go through several stages - at first I learned how to play songs with just basic chords strumming. Now I learn primarily fingerstyle - like Bricklayers Daughter, songs by McKee like For my Father, Etc.

I can't believe where I am now after 5 years. I never would have believed it at the beginning of the journey as my fingers hurt and everything sounded like crap. So my advice is keep doing what you're doing; stay with it and you'll continue to blossom in your skills and enjoyment. In fact it has become one of the most fascinating parts in my life ever. Most fun you can have with your clothes on. I can't believe I waited this long to do something I love so much.

The journey is the destination. Enjoy the ride!

[boneuphtoner]

Although I still consider myself to be a decent amateur level brass player and almost pursued a career as an orchestral trombonist (became a chemist instead), I had never touched a guitar until I turned 44 and my 9 year old starting taking lessons. In almost no time, the father was even more into it than the son! Starting at that age - or even later as the OP - I think the key is to set realistic goals for yourself...in other words, when you are starting out at middle aged and later - chances are you'll never become a real guitar wizard in all facets of playing. The two goals I set myself were to become a proficient rock strummer and become a competent classical fingerstylist. I think I'm 80% there for the former, and I haven't even really started on the latter.

For me reading music, understanding chord structure, scales, etc. is easy, implementing it on a 6 string is the hard part!

[JAMKC]

Played (bad) electric from 12-14 and then picked up acoustic 48 years later. Two years in and having a blast. Regret the long gap. Also, trying to learn some FS and becoming a little convinced that the age factor is making linking the brain to the hands harder than it might have been when I was younger. But, no other choice at this stage!

[Br1ck]

Thing is, you need to enjoy the journey, realize you are never gong to be as good as you want to be, and just do what you can do.

I consider myself passable at best. I can accompany myself when singing and am focusing on that. I realize I've got my style that has evolved.

One day I was noodling in a guitar shop and a guy about my age (old) came up to me and asked if I gave lessons. Out of his mind? Wanting to put an end to such nonsense, I grabbed a guitar, and played a little Travis style pattern, said, that's pretty much all I can do. Can't play jazz comping patterns, melodic finger style, single note improv, none of that.

He responded, that's exactly how I want to play. That is when I realized that your mediocre is someone else's amazing. Gave the guy my number and told him I'd show him what I could but wouldn't take his money. Nothing came of it.

So plug away as best as you can and have fun. Play the music you want to play. Some of the most fun I've had is playing Itsy Bitsy Spider to a three year old. You should be able to do that in a couple of weeks.

[tommieboy]

I started at very young age of 10, but my family turn so anti musician as I progressed that I eventually gave up on playing guitar. At 53 I decided to give it another go due to the availability of those guitar teaching DVD's. What a world of difference those DVDs made for me.

Now at 57 years of age, my family is still anti musician and they are still trying to control my life to their benefit. But I have since learned from my dog Buddy (R.I.P.) how totally ignore those who stumble me. Buddy never took commands from my family members, he never cussed nor swore; he just totally ignored them and lived his life his way. His yard, his rules! Too bad I didn't have Buddy when I was 10.

Tommy