[RESOLVED] Learning the Guitar - too late for me?

[wossname]

I'm nearly 29. I want to learn to play the guitar, but am I too old now? Has all the dexterity of my youthfulness evaporated like so many spilled bottles of Cuervo?

I want to learn to play because I'm sick of not hearing anything when I air-guitar along to Led Zep songs.

Also I want to have yet another stick to beat timeshifter with.

Advice pls.

kktangsinadvancs!1!1bai

[capsulecorpjx]

I'm nearly 29. I want to learn to play the guitar, but am I too old now? Has all the dexterity of my youthfulness evaporated like so many spilled bottles of Cuervo?

I want to learn to play because I'm sick of not hearing anything when I air-guitar along to Led Zep songs.

Also I want to have yet another stick to beat timeshifter with.

Advice pls.

kktangsinadvancs!1!1bai

I want to learn Guitar too at 26. I'm a big Hendrix fan, though god knows I'll never be able to play his music.

Do Community Colleges have guitar classes?

Do Middle and High Schools have guitar classes by now? It's a very neglected instrument for the amount of popularity it has.

[FunkyDexter]

It's never too late. Finding the time can be tricky as you get older, though, and be prepared for the fact that it's quite diss-spiriting at first.

My advice is to buy a tablature book of your favourite bands songs and learn a couple. If you're favourite band happen to be Megadeth or Steve Vai you might want to consider your second favourite band. Oh, and don't bother trying to learn the solos yet. Also, make sure it's tablature, that'll save you haveing to get your head around manuscript.

Some good contemporary beginners songs that I used to teach to my beginners class included:-
Walk of Life (Dire Straits)
Anything by the kinks, particularly Lola
Any blues songs (there's only about 3 - they just change the lyrics)
It stoned me (Van Morisson)
Losing my Religion (REM)
Great Song of Indifference (Bob Geldoff)
Most of the Doors catalogue although there's a few that are absolutely demonic.

Just '1,2,3,4' strum them and get the chords right at first. Once you're getting comfortable with your left hand (which will take a while) start adding some up strokes with your right hand and thinking about rythmn.

Once you've learned a couple of songs, see if you can learn a scale or two. You'll want the pentatonic first (there's only 5 notes in it), then the blues scale (same as the pentatonic with a couple of transitional notes added), then minor then major. As you learn scales you'll find you can start improvising a bit.


Don't bother with formal lessons. Most teachers will try and teach you manuscript (which is pointless for a guitarist) and scales straight from the off and you'll be so bored and frustrated that you'll give up before you've learned a single song.

I'm a big Hendrix fan, though god knows I'll never be able to play his music

You'd be surprised. His sol work was extraordinary but the chord progressions are actually pretty basic.

Do Community Colleges have guitar classes?

Very often and that's where I taught my classes (beginners and intermediate). It's really a case of getting in touch and asking them as they tend not to be very good at advertising.


edit: one last thought, get a bronze/steel strung acoustic guitar to start with. It's alot cheaper than buying an electric and easier on your fingers than nylon strings (which are also really only good for classical forms of music).

[wossname]

I like Dire Straights, REM and the Doors. Tablature eh? Hmm.

OK I'll give it a look. Thanks mate.

I'll have to dig up my acoustic guitar and see what it's made of.

[Atheist]

Go for it!

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'll have to dig up my acoustic guitar and see what it's made of.

Pasta?
Tinker Toys?
Plastic?

[wossname]

It's made from the ground-up bones of my fallen enemies.

[FunkyDexter]

That should help the sustain.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I always think it is best to build things from the ground up.

[JPnyc]

Nah, not too late. I didn't start until age 13 or so and I did it professionally 3 yrs later, and for another 24 yrs after that.

[wossname]

29 > 13.


It's one of the things I know.

[dclamp]

You're wrong.

[Hack]

When you are in your 50's 13 and 29 are pretty much the same thing.

[GaryMazzone]

If you're asking if its to late it probably is

[wossname]

Is it too late to cash in this £40m lottery ticket?

[dclamp]

Is it too late to cash in this £40m lottery ticket?

Yes. give it to me, i will dispose of it.

[JPnyc]

29 > 13.


It's one of the things I know.

The point is it took only three years to reach a level where I could get paid for it, and he probably isn't even looking to do that, so 29 is definitely not too old to start. You can reach a reasonable level of proficiency in a few years, depending on effort and natural ability of course.

[Campion]

Not the guitar, but I've been learning the cello for a few years now. In general, learning an instrument is not the easiest thing in the world. Learning a new instrument family from scratch just makes it absolutely infuriating. Lessons help, though. I highly recommend them, no matter the instrument.

[ServerMojo]

Its never too late.. just takes dedication, even if just for a few minutes every day. Make sure you keep it fun though so you don't lose interest after a few weeks.

There's loads of great tutorials on youtube to get you started such as this guy who has lessons for beginners and up..

http://www.youtube.com/user/geetar01

Just grab a guitar and go for it.

[KTech]

If you are musically inclined and can carry a beat or a rhythm then its never too late. If, however, you are musically challenged like myself then it is never a good time to start. This has not stopped me from learning the guitar and harmonica but it just takes me a lot longer and never does quite sound that good. It is rewarding and fun though otherwise I wouldn't bother with any of it.

[kleinma]

wossy, im nearly 29 myself, and ive been playing guitar since about 11 or 12. I don't have a ton of time to dedicate too it, so even though i started at that age, I still only really consider myself intermediate at playing.

If you just want to learn how to play some songs and don't really care about the mechanics of the guitar, you can get moving pretty quickly and there are tons of youtube videos and other sites that have instructional content and "how to play" for specific songs.

However if you actually want to be able to really play the guitar, you need to learn some stuff about music in general, you will need to learn all the notes on the guitar neck, what notes form what chords, scales, etc...

If you are going to look to buy one, get an entry level electric and get a small amp with some distortion effects. This allows you to suck really bad, but still almost make it sound like actual music versus getting something like an acoustic where every bad strum and pluck is very well heard.

I know you have xbox 360, and while guitar hero is in no way the same thing as playing a real guitar, it actually does really help a few key areas, which are finger movement, its a good hand workout to play guitar hero. Also it helps hand eye coordination and sheetmusic reading (traditional or tablature), since you have to watch the notes as they go by and not look at your hand. Finally it helps timing a lot which is a key thing to have if you want to play music.

Practice with both hands equally, most people tend to think it is just the hand that plays on the neck that is important, but a good musician once said something along the lines to me that the hand up on the neck is only responsible for WHICH sound comes up, the hand that strums is the hand that actually makes the sound. They are equally important to be any good.

[wossname]

I've not had much chance to follow this up since I first posted. The insane heatwave in the UK has reduced me to a gibbering, lethargic slob.

*waits for smartarse remarks...*

Anyway, I'll get right on it at the weekend when it's supposed to be cooling down a bit. I have at my immediate disposal an old acoustic and a small ovoid piece of plastic which is apparently for hitting the wires with.

[kleinma]

you should be able to play stairway to heaven by monday

[KTech]

I think the hardest thing is getting the timing right. I have tried to turn my computer into a metronome but apparently my computer has no natural rhythm either.

[kleinma]

http://www.metronomeonline.com/

[wossname]

Ok thanks guys. I can now play the guitar. Resolved.

[kleinma]

where are the MP3 uploads?

[wossname]

On the left.

[kleinma]

of course.. why was I looking to the right...

[wossname]

I was taking it to the bridge.

Whammy.

[cyrilthomas]

I'm nearly 29. I want to learn to play the guitar, but am I too old now? Has all the dexterity of my youthfulness evaporated like so many spilled bottles of Cuervo?

I want to learn to play because I'm sick of not hearing anything when I air-guitar along to Led Zep songs.

Also I want to have yet another stick to beat timeshifter with.

Advice pls.

kktangsinadvancs!1!1bai

Hi Friend,
I think you can learn guitar online. You can access answer to question related to guitar learining form {link removed} and I think you will soon be able to play guitar like experts.

[FunkyDexter]

Adopt the attack position.

[mendhak]

Obvious self-promotional-link is obvious.

[kregg]

I love the fact he especially joined, just to post that link, and then in the end, only to have it removed :P

Coincidently wossname, I learnt how to play the guitar from www.epicguitarlessons.co.uk. Really good stuff.

[baja_yu]

There's only one bad thing about instructional videos and online tutorials... They can't tell you when you're doing it wrong.

This is a good piece of software for keeping tabs on tabs (pun intended) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Pro

EDIT: But, unfortunatelly, it's too late for you. You're too old. So stick with what you know... whatever that is... whoever you are.

EDIT2: Just kidding. About not knowing who you are, not about being too old.

[defoebryan01]

For learning anything new, age is not a factor. I started playing guitar when I was around 22-25, and I felt like I started way too late but but I was wrong because it took only a year and I become a master guitarist. All you need to learn guitar is a commitment to practice, your willingness to learn and some first-class guitar instruction.(you tube is a good tutorial).

[Shaggy Hiker]

That's cause you're a young'un. Wossy is ancient. He's like 84, or so, and all arthritic.

[Spyle]

Just wait for Rock Band 3. It incorporates a real guitar into the game, along with many bad habits on playing a guitar.

[dclamp]

Dead Thread is not dead?

[AsmIscool]

Doesn't every guitarist start by learning "Smoke on the water"? Every pianist starts with "Elanor Rigby"