Possible to become good at 40-plus?

Is it possible for someone in their 40s to become an intermediate-to-above player?

I realise that people can learn to play the guitar at any age, but I'm wondering as a 48-year-old person, who has been playing for around two years, whether the mountain to being more than passable is too steep to climb in your 40s.

I have improved over the past two years, but it's dispiriting to think that I might never be able to play a more complex song to a good standard.

Of course you can. What makes you think you can't? 40's is still young by many standards. It all comes down to one thing and I'm pretty sure you know what that is. Practice, Practice and yes more Practice. I know that work, family, home maintenance can get in the way with all that, but if it's that important to you keep doing what your doing and it will get there little by little.

The bigger question is if you don't become the guitar player you want to be, is that really such a problem? Look at it this way. How would you answer the following question to yourself 2 years ago.

Is it possible to learn guitar at 40-plus?

Well I think you know the answer already.

Enjoy your journey and don't focus too much on where it takes you.

Moe

Hi, Moe.

Thank you for your reply. It probably sounded like an odd question, but lots of discussions around this point limit themselves to "Yes, you can learn to *play* at any age". The question that's often left hanging is whether it's possible to get reasonably good: not a professional player, perhaps, but good enough to play well.

I get what your saying. You want to get to the point where you no longer consider yourself a "learner" but an actual "player".

Well, like I said earlier it still comes down to practice. It takes many years and perhaps a decade or two to reach the level you are inquiring about, but IT CAN be done no matter what age you start at. It's just gonna take a lot of sacrifice, time and devotion to it. I'm 58 now and if I had started at your age there is no telling where I could be right now, there was nothing physically limiting me to being an accomplished guitar play during those years but only if I had put the time and practice and the desire into it. If all I did was noodle around with it from time to time I wouldn't get very far.

The difference is I'm ok with where I'm at. You just have to figure out where you wanna be and what you want to accomplish with this.

Moe

Originally Posted by: guitar1916

Is it possible for someone in their 40s to become an intermediate-to-above player?

I realise that people can learn to play the guitar at any age, but I'm wondering as a 48-year-old person, who has been playing for around two years, whether the mountain to being more than passable is too steep to climb in your 40s.

I have improved over the past two years, but it's dispiriting to think that I might never be able to play a more complex song to a good standard.

I`ll pretty much echo mjgodin here and just add the following : There are a lot of awesome guitar players in their 20`s and 30`s. If they were able to get that good that early in life, why not , at least theoretically, someone who starts later in life be able to do the same ? I`m not saying any of us have any real chance at becoming the next EVH or SRV, but why put limits on what we could possible achieve ? That`s part of the excitement of learning; who knows where it could take us ? Enjoy the journey and dream. I`m 62 and I would like to ( hopefully) be good enough where I could join a local classic rock type band after I retire. It`s a bit of a "reach" goal but one that drives me to keep working at it and practicing. It`s like anything else; it depends on how much time and effort one is willing to put in. Good luck.

I'm Moe's age, and I hope to at least become an intermediate player. We have to keep those dreams alive!

Good luck

Originally Posted by: William MG

I'm Moe's age, and I hope to at least become an intermediate player. We have to keep those dreams alive!

Good luck

And we'll get there William. Someday you, me and moosehockey will form that classic rock band he talked about. Think of all the groupies we'll have at the senior center.

Originally Posted by: mjgodin

Originally Posted by: William MG

I'm Moe's age, and I hope to at least become an intermediate player. We have to keep those dreams alive!

Good luck

And we'll get there William. Someday you, me and moosehockey will form that classic rock band he talked about. Think of all the groupies we'll have at the senior center.

haha, I'm in!!

About 15 years ago I joined a rock and blues band with pretty heavy songs, not just the 3 chord songs and the rhythm guitar player in that band was then 65, he told me he only started learning 5 years ago at the age of 60 and look, after 5 years he could easily keep up with all the complicated rock songs like " stairway to heaven " and " sultans of swing " just to say a few, you are way younger so yes you should easily be able to even become a good lead guitar player but you are only 2 years in which isn't much in the live of a guitar player or any other sport.

Yes, it is possible. Go practice. ;-)

Originally Posted by: mjgodin

I get what your saying. You want to get to the point where you no longer consider yourself a "learner" but an actual "player".

Well, like I said earlier it still comes down to practice. It takes many years and perhaps a decade or two to reach the level you are inquiring about, but IT CAN be done no matter what age you start at. It's just gonna take a lot of sacrifice, time and devotion to it. I'm 58 now and if I had started at your age there is no telling where I could be right now, there was nothing physically limiting me to being an accomplished guitar play during those years but only if I had put the time and practice and the desire into it. If all I did was noodle around with it from time to time I wouldn't get very far.

The difference is I'm ok with where I'm at. You just have to figure out where you wanna be and what you want to accomplish with this.

Moe

Thanks again, Moe.

I'm going to have to aquire more of a Zen attitude about it, I think.

How long have you been playing for?

Originally Posted by: faith83

Yes, it is possible. Go practice. ;-)

Sage advice.

I think that I probably need to stop navel-gazing

Originally Posted by: moosehockey18 I`m 62 and I would like to ( hopefully) be good enough where I could join a local classic rock type band after I retire. It`s a bit of a "reach" goal but one that drives me to keep working at it and practicing. It`s like anything else; it depends on how much time and effort one is willing to put in. Good luck.

Thank you for the reply. I guess we all have our moments of self-doubt. Like someone else on this thread has already said, I should just carry on practising and see where it takes me.

Thanks again, Moe.

I'm going to have to aquire more of a Zen attitude about it, I think.

How long have you been playing for?

I just started a year ago. I practice when I can, but get most of my progress on weekends as work has me pretty beat up by end of the day so it's whatever I can fit in then. I took lessons when I was in my twenties and played for a few years but like a lot of folks I hit a wall in my learning and never got beyond it so I gave up. It's been one of my biggest regrets and one I won't do again, but I know how hard it is to get to the next level so hang in there.

There is no critical period for learning music like there is with language. I highly recommend the book Guitar Zero by Gary Marcus. It's a scientific study on brain development by a professor who took up the guitar at 40. I found it so interesting. I've also learned from personal experience that age doesn't matter. I started playing the guitar at 45. I was taking lessons with my sons who were eight and 10 at the time. It's now three years later my boys will only practice about 15 minutes a day and that's not even every day of the week. I practice an hour or more every day and am much better than the kids. Age did not give them an advantage but practicing did give me one. They're still doing OK but they've got other interests sports, scouts etc. I just practice the guitar during their tennis lessons scout meetings and get more guitar time in. Don't lose hope just keep practicing!

Originally Posted by: susanostephan

There is no critical period for learning music like there is with language. I highly recommend the book Guitar Zero by Gary Marcus. It's a scientific study on brain development by a professor who took up the guitar at 40. I found it so interesting. I've also learned from personal experience that age doesn't matter. I started playing the guitar at 45. I was taking lessons with my sons, who were eight and 10 at the time. It's now three years later my boys will only practice about 15 minutes a day and that's not even every day of the week. I practice an hour or more every day and am much better than the kids. Age did not give them an advantage but practicing did give me one. They're still doing OK but they've got other interests sports, scouts etc. I just practice the guitar during their tennis lessons scout meetings and get more guitar time in. Don't lose hope just keep practicing!

Thank you for taking the time to reply. That's a great example

I do practise, so that's something. I'm also going through my grades at the moment: Grade 3 RGT on the acoustic and Grade 2 Rockschool on the electric guitar, which I've started more recently. I've found that the grades give me some focus on what I practise, but they can be a bit stifling as I can't always find a song or performance piece that I like.

LOL while I'm over here jumping for joy because I learned to play Ode to Joy lolol. Oh man I have a long way to go. 😂. [br][br]

I have a suggestion for you and I know I'm a newbie but why don't you go hang out at some open mic nights and maybe participate? Pick a few songs you do know well and play for others. It could link you with others and you could learn new things too. Don't get down on yourself. It's a marathon not a 5k. One goal at a time!

Originally Posted by: jadaldouglas

LOL while I'm over here jumping for joy because I learned to play Ode to Joy lolol. Oh man I have a long way to go. 😂. [br][br]

I have a suggestion for you and I know I'm a newbie but why don't you go hang out at some open mic nights and maybe participate? Pick a few songs you do know well and play for others. It could link you with others and you could learn new things too. Don't get down on yourself. It's a marathon not a 5k. One goal at a time!

Thank you for the advice. The grades aren't that bad at the early stages to be honest, but the difficulty does go up exponentially, which is why I'm proably at a bit of a low point

I'm having a terrible time with trying to learn Cissy Strut on the electric guitar. It's soooo fast (for me anyway).

Originally Posted by: guitar1916

Originally Posted by: jadaldouglas

LOL while I'm over here jumping for joy because I learned to play Ode to Joy lolol. Oh man I have a long way to go. 😂. [br][br]

I have a suggestion for you and I know I'm a newbie but why don't you go hang out at some open mic nights and maybe participate? Pick a few songs you do know well and play for others. It could link you with others and you could learn new things too. Don't get down on yourself. It's a marathon not a 5k. One goal at a time!

Thank you for the advice. The grades aren't that bad at the early stages to be honest, but the difficulty does go up exponentially, which is why I'm proably at a bit of a low point

I'm having a terrible time with trying to learn Cissy Strut on the electric guitar. It's soooo fast (for me anyway).

You can start playing guitar at any age but you're not going to be as good as someone who starts playing guitar at the age of 8. That's just fact. Think of it this way. At the age of 40+, you're not going to hit the Forehand and Backhand like Roger Federer no matter how hard you practice. An 8 years old "might" have the potential to hit both the FH or BH just like the GOAT Roger Federer.

Guitar is pretty much the same way. At 40+, your reaction time is much slower and your ability to process information will be much slower than a teenager. That's just the way life is. You just can't fight father time.

That being said, do not compare yourself against others, just enjoy playing guitar and if you practice everyday, you will become "good" in your own way. That's exactly what I am doing with my Taylor 814-BCE as seen here: https://postimg.cc/gallery/dDpsKrk

I feel the need to jump in here and say that it's a myth that adult brains learn more slowlly than teenage brains. That's been disproven many times over by now.

Don't let all this stuff keep you from your aspirations. Everyone who ever did anything worthwhile did it in the face of a whole bunch of people telling them why it couldn't be done.

So I renew my advice: don't ask for permission. Just practice, get amazing, and prove the naysayers wrong.