Beginner at age 66

Man... hearing you guys makes me want to learn even more. When I first signed up here i felt really old and i am only 21. I felt I should have learned when i was in my teens. You guys make me realize that my age should not affect if i can play. I am going to work even harder now to get better.

Gothax,

Don't make the mistake I made. When you are 21 you think you are old, but no one really tells you you have all the time in the world. If you are done with school and don't have anything else weighing you down, it's the perfect time to start a hobby. Go for it. By the time you're 25..still young, you'll be better than you are now. If you love music, why think learning an instrument is a kid's game?

Hi all love the site and all the lessons so far. i am 40 yrs old myself. i have made it through almost all of Guitar Fundamentals 2 praticing the house of the rising sun chord changes. i am a product of the 80's metal revolution. love the bands like judas priest, iron maidien, AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Ratt, Cinderella. always wanted to learn. just never felt comforatable in front of a real instructor. so the online thing is great.

Originally Posted by: swright00Gothax,

Don't make the mistake I made. When you are 21 you think you are old, but no one really tells you you have all the time in the world. If you are done with school and don't have anything else weighing you down, it's the perfect time to start a hobby. Go for it. By the time you're 25..still young, you'll be better than you are now. If you love music, why think learning an instrument is a kid's game?

Yeah now I am more dedicated then ever to keep learning, I have been really busy with so many things and could only practice like 2-3 times a week. Now I am going to make room in my life to practice everyday for at least and hour.

One of the things I love about playing music is that there are no barriers! If someone gets excited about playing and learning, I enjoy making music with them, no matter their age, sex, race, etc... it is a unifying language! Besides, the new generation of audience generally care little about image, (though there are exceptions), they are are much more interested in good music, and if you make it in your 60's, 70's, etc, that's fine with them. I used to work at a high school, and a whole lotta kids used to come see a band I was in with fellas their parents ages or older. Keep playing!

Daddyrabbit here. I just turned 55 on Thursday. I received my first guitar this past Christmas and was taking lessons for two months from an instructor. He didn't know how to read music and hence could not teach me that part of things. When I found this site last week and went through the free material, I joined right away. It is by far the finest instruction I have experienced to date and would highly recommend the site to anyone I knew who wanted to learn to play guitar.

I am struggling to learn to move between the chords. My instructor told me it takes 10,000 repititions to gain "muscle memory". Does anybody know if that is true? I am not sure whether age has any bearing on my learning right now. When I was a lad, I learned to play the sax quite well. It took me a year to feel comfortable playing and to read music. Even though that was more than 40 years ago, reading the music is coming back to me with the help I am getting from this site.

My main problem seems to be the large size of my hands and fingers. I wear a 15 ring size on my third finger, just to give you an idea of how big my fingers are. I have found that the Ibanez guitars (Artcore) seem to have the widest necks and larger spacing between strings. With some of the chords, there is just no way I can find to get three finger tips between the frets. Does anyone know which electric guitars have the largest necks and spacing between the strings?

Hats off to the oldest members on this list who are learning guitar. I really admire you for that.

Regards
Daddyrabbit

Hi Daddyrabbit-

Great post - thanks for sharing your story with us! In my experience teaching adult beginners, the *big fingers* quandary usually resolves itself with time and practice (and usually in fewer than 10,000 hours!), but if it's really tremendously frustrating to you, it is possible to get a guitar with wider spacing in between the strings.

I actually had an acoustic guitar custom made with an extra wide neck for that reason - not that my fingers are large, but I wanted the extra space for certain techniques I was going for.

Someone with more knowledge of electric guitars may be better able to answer your question about which electric guitars might be the best fit for you - (I'm more of an acoustic player), but in the meantime, I wanted to thank you for your post and sharing your story. I'm sure it will inspire others!

Please keep us posted- and have fun!
best wishes, Lisa

Thank you Miss Lisa. I have particularly enjoyed your portions of the beginner's instruction. You have such a clear and concise way of giving instruction, and that makes it much easier for the learner. Mr Schlegel is helping me very much with his instruction on music theory. Not to be repetative, but this is a great site for learning guitar with all the instructors and site features / layout.

Daddyrabbit

Hi,
It takes a lot of practice to nimble up the fingers at any age, but it does take a bit longer as age increases. The accoustic - electric may be what you are looking for if you prefer the wider neck and electric response. They have some very nice ones reasonably priced at "sweetwater.com".
(Around $400).
Good luck and happy pickin"
Jim

This is a great thread, as others have said. I bought my 19 year old son a Les Paul for Christmas and realized that I might be more hooked than he is. So I went out and bought a beautiful cherry Epiphone Dot for me! I'm 53 and never played guitar. Had a little musical training with piano and clarinet while in grade school, but that was it.

Now my wife says she's a "guitar widow" because I've been playing a few hours every day when I get home from work. This site has been a great experience because I can take lessons at any hour, and for me that's usually 9pm to midnight. I can play along now on the Jam tracks for blues in E and A, I can make chord changes for the pretty basic open chords, can manage a blues shuffle, a few transitions, etc. It's really addicting now that I can do a few things that are possibly recognizable and don't scare away all of the pets and local wildlife.

Have got a lot of work to do on the barre chords, and as several have mentioned, the fingers just don't seem to speak that language, yet. I've just got to dedicate the time to it. Also continuing to work on the pentatonic scales in all the positions. Slow but steady growth on that.

One thing that really drives me nuts is when I'm traveling for several days and can't play. At least there's still the forum!

Bruce

Well my 37th birthday present is a subscription to a guitar tutorial site. Picked up the guitar in my late 20s and have been a 'Chronic Intermediate', (I love that term Lisa :) ), for at least the last 11 years. I keep picking it up and putting it down because I'm plateauing constantly. I feel like I just need some direction. I think it's time to do something different.

I'd like to one day have my wife say 'Hey that sounded really good'. My kids have said that, but given some of their musical tastes, I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult.

It's great to see so many 'old kids' here, and I'm sure glad I'm not the only one who still doesn't feel any different mentally to when I was 20, (I surely know physically I do though :( )

One of my favourite sayings is 'Growing old is mandatory, growing up is completely optional'

Originally Posted by: trinitro'Growing old is mandatory, growing up is completely optional'

Hear, hear!

Well, I`m 52 and been playing for about 35 years. I only got a computer 1 year ago so I know guitar better than computer. I got to say i`ve learned a hell of alot of guitar theory on scales modes, phrasing, and yes even the computer! Your never too old to learn. I think you appreciate it more when your older anyway. Have fun!. Thats what lifes all about.

Originally Posted by: ErnieeuHi I am a beginner at age 66, taking lessons and loving it. :)

If it's in your heart, it doesn't matter what age.

Sounds good to me Lisa. Recently started acoustic guitar as i had been learning harmonica since i semi-retired. Thought i might like to play guitar and harp together on some Dylan songs maybe. I then found my eldest sons guitar languishing in the attic and thought what the hell. Just finished fundamentals one and two and am now looking at strumming patterns and trying out a few simple songs as i go with the chords i have learned so far. Great to know there are more crinklies out there enjoying learning this fabulous instrument as i certainly am. I do find certain things difficult for example i can,t contort my fingers to play a B chord but using a capo has helped me a little with avoiding it. would really like eventually to perform a decent rendition of some Dylan classics and the Wrestler song by Bruce Springsteen. Lisa really enjoy your lessons which are easy to follow. Good luck to you and all the more " mature " learners out there. Best Wishes Tony R

Originally Posted by: LisaMcCHi all,

What a wonderful conversation. I've been teaching guitar for over 20 years, and my very favorite students to work with are adult beginners. (or in some cases, re-beginners, or chronic intermediates).

There's such courage and heart to engaging in the guitar learning process when you're not a kid anymore.

It sounds like we have a bit of a clan here - would any of you be interested in keeping this discussion going amongst other adult players with similar interests and issues?

If so, shoot me an email. I'll see if somehow we can set up our own little discussion corner.

Best wishes - Lisa

Good morning all,
Nice hearing from my peers...I'll be 68 on May 16th., and have been "playing at the guitar" for many years now, but have never had a lesson, just all self taught. Now, while I hope I have some time left, I want to really "learn" the guitar, not just play at it. It appears that I've come to the right place as I have heard nothing but good things here. It is almost hard to believe since so many people are just out to take your money and are willing to sell you just about anything or make any kind of promise re. learning the guitar. I am really excited about this site and am hoping that I will not be disappointed. I started out playing the accordion as a kid, and then moved on to the piano, the guitar, bass, 5-string banjo, and mandolin, but I've never gotten really good on any of them since it takes a lot of work, practice, and dedication, and I was also busy working full tiime and raising a family. Now I am hoping to retire in a couple of years and am looking forward to having some free time to pursue my hobbies and interests. I am looking forward to learning here with the rest of you, and making some new friends. Have a great day!!

Ray J.

Good morning Lisa. I like your idea about a group primarily for us old farts. I incude myself in that classification. You are the reason I have decided to sign up for for a regular membership here on Guitar Tricks. I checked out a couple of your free beginners lessons and I was really impressed with what I saw, so I want to learn more from you specifically. You really are a very good teacher, and that is a very big compliment because a lot of people can do, but not as many can teach. However, the other instructors I checked out were also very good in what they were teaching as well. But I guess each of us has our favorites. I plan on signing up today and look forward to learning from you and corresponding with the other seniors here. Take care and have a wonderful day.

Ray J.

Welcome Ray!

I'm delighted you are joining us. All the instructors on GT are quite good at what they do, but it's true that everyone has their own specialties and teaching styles.

Keep us posted on how it's going for you, and let me know how I can be of help.

Best wishes, Lisa

Mornin' chaps, new boy here and only 42!, just when i thought i was pretty late taking up the guitar i stumble across you lot (just what i like, a bunch of ol' duffers), been playing fretless electric bass for 25 years then 2 years ago along comes my mate and shoves a telecaster in my hands and the rest is history! Currently playing in a classic ska & trojan reggae cover band which has been my passion all my life, on rhythmn guitar which has taught me loads about playing in time and now looking to push on into the blues and maybe even try my hand at some solo stuff! (quick run for cover) although i dont have a clue where to start i look forward to some advice from yer goodselves, and just general chit chat of course.
Im using a Custom Telecaster and a beaten and battered old 80's Strat i paid £25 for off a neighbour i use as a back up, must admit i prefer the tele but the strat plays just as nice,havent found a use for it yet though! maybe you guys can inspire me.
cheers
Daz

Kudos to Christopher Schlegel. He is one terrific instructor. I'm 68 and have recently (two months ago) picked up the guitar again for the first time in 50 years. Having found Guitar tricks after an extensive search, I have to say the site is great but again, the instruction and instructors, especially Christopher are outstanding. Better than going for private lessons