New Life Adventure

Hi all! So here I am, at age 47, embarking on the new adventure of learning to play guitar. I grew up playing woodwinds, saxophone, and violin, but all I really wanted to do was rock out with a guitar or some drums! Bought my first acoustic yesterday and am diving right in! Any advice on how much to tackle lesson-wise each day is appreciated! I am not great at having patience with myself. I picked up band instruments very easily, but this seems like it could be much harder. Got inspired by visiting Sun Studios a month ago, and have really enjoyed listening to that era of music! I bought a Seagull Performer CW Flame Maple, and it sounds beautiful (well it did when the guy at the store played it). Cheers to all of you adults taking this plunge with me!!!

Hi there, glad to meet you and the others out there doing what we are trying to do. It's really brand new to at 60yrs young last week That is one of the reasons I'm here, like yourself "a new life adventure challange" along with loving the sond of guitar. My entire family plays something to differnt skill levels, but I never could seem to find time ( a patients problem also) Now here I am and in just a few days I can say it feels right and and loving every minute, have imeaditly experinced progress and thats a wonderful feeling. Hopefully we can encourage each other as we embark on a new satifying journey. I would love to hear from others on this journey.

Happy learning
Best Regards

AlliJoe

Hi JeepChik and AlliJoe...
Welcome to GuitarTricks.. You may have a step up on those that have zero back ground in music. JeepChic with music knowledge and AlliJoe with musicians to play with.
Getting past the callous growing pain may be about the hardest part.
Need any help, just give the forum a shout.
Good luck..and keep on practicing..

For how much to tackle lesson-wise each day, you shouldn't push trying to go too fast. First, your finger tips will hurt until you build up callouses, then your fingers will not cooperate with your brain until you get strength and coordination and muscle memory. These are the big hurdles in the beginning. I personally preferred beginning with an electric guitar because the string gage is smaller than acoustic and easier on the fingers. Some people argue that starting on acoustic is better because it builds more finger strength...but some people can get discouraged by the difficulty at first.
Go to the core learning system and start with guitar level 1 fundamentals and slowly work you way from there. It is easier having a music background so you can probably skip all the parts that cover whole note, half notes, etc. Find some easy songs that you can start learning. Break it down measure by measure. It may take a beginner a few weeks to play through a simple song at half speed. Speed comes with practice and experience so don't force going faster.

ALL YOUR FEEDBACK IS NOT ONLY ENCIURAGING TO BUT I SEE IT SO VALUABLE ALSO, nEW
EXPERIENCES WITH NEW FRIENDS OF LIKE INTEREST. THATS JUST GREAT STUFF MAN

Originally Posted by: allijoeALL YOUR FEEDBACK IS NOT ONLY ENCIURAGING TO BUT I SEE IT SO VALUABLE ALSO, nEW
EXPERIENCES WITH NEW FRIENDS OF LIKE INTEREST. THATS JUST GREAT STUFF MAN

I know that guitar. Very nice. That was a first important step. Buying a good playing/sounding guitar will do wonders for your enthusiasm for playing. As others have said, it may take a while to build up your strength/calluses but stick with it. It'll get much easier. I'd recommend light gauge strings too. This will help you get "broken in" and they still sound good.

Best of luck.

Hi JeepChik,

Sun Studios, must have been a fun tour! In case you're interested Hunter Perrin did a series on the Sun Studio Rockabilly sound:
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1623