old guy wanting to play...

45 year old, tried to learn years ago, trying again. Half way through fundamentals-2 so far.... need to get more out of my practice sessions...

It is hard to teach old dog, new tricks.... sigh....

Funny, I just introduced myself as an old guy a couple of days ago and was quickly notified that at 47 I was still a couple of years behind some of the seniors on this site.

Welcome and it's great to know that there's plenty of people our age that are getting into guitar!

since when is 45 old?! :o

i was going to say, 45 aint old, im 50 and im learning just fine :-)

I'm the same, tried to play in my teens and now I'm 41. It does seem harder to learn as you get older.

But... I did get inspiration from this recent post

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34857 :eek:

I'm 61 and just picked up guitar about 4 months ago. Have no real musical experience--tried clarinet, which sucked, when I was in elementary school. I love practicing and learning, though I'm not progressing as fast as I "should" or want to. Just trying to enjoy the process. Trying to decide if paying for GuitarTricks is a viable way to learn.

Well at 50 i wanted to do something new to keep things fresh (you get a bit panicky when you hit 50) so i thought, i know, id be a rock god before i die.. teehee... so been playing roughly 12 weeks or so now taking all the lessons i could from G.T, things like string bends and expression, and so on. Hanspeter is somebody i follow a lot he's been a fantastic teacher in the way i want to play. well worth the money.
Here is an example of what G.T has done for me, please bare in mind im only a learner so i dont play fast its all about expression for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRBwbJvpGPc

Good job Wingman23.. I'll play it again tomorrow when I can crank up the volume..

Originally Posted by: stonefingerzI'm 61 and just picked up guitar about 4 months ago. Have no real musical experience--tried clarinet, which sucked, when I was in elementary school. I love practicing and learning, though I'm not progressing as fast as I "should" or want to. Just trying to enjoy the process. Trying to decide if paying for GuitarTricks is a viable way to learn.

Hi Stonefingers..
You can try it for a month, well worth the price. You're not locked in to any kind of contract.. You don't have any time frame or schedule.. It's also good physical and mental theropy..
good luck
Gordon

Originally Posted by: wingman23
Here is an example of what G.T has done for me, please bare in mind im only a learner so i dont play fast its all about expression for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRBwbJvpGPc

I need to practice... that is awesome !

Originally Posted by: wingman23Well at 50 i wanted to do something new to keep things fresh (you get a bit panicky when you hit 50) so i thought, i know, id be a rock god before i die.. teehee... so been playing roughly 12 weeks or so now taking all the lessons i could from G.T, things like string bends and expression, and so on. Hanspeter is somebody i follow a lot he's been a fantastic teacher in the way i want to play. well worth the money.
Here is an example of what G.T has done for me, please bare in mind im only a learner so i dont play fast its all about expression for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRBwbJvpGPc

Nicely done wingman. I promise I won't bitch about my age anymore! How about bitching about the weather though? :p

Buncha babies! I didn't touch a guitar till I was 53. I'm now 55 and play in a band and we're having our third gig tonight. Quit whining like a bunch of "old" 40-something school girls and get in the game , boys!

ahahaaha! Hey Bruce, your comment was really the best.. thanks! I just turned 36 and sometimetime still complaining about it. I joined guitartricks about 6 months ago and since then I can say I made many progresses and learnt a lot of things, there is so much stuff here to keep me busy learning.

Put some videos of your gigs in here so we enjoy!

Originally Posted by: Bruce JBuncha babies! I didn't touch a guitar till I was 53. I'm now 55 and play in a band and we're having our third gig tonight. Quit whining like a bunch of "old" 40-something school girls and get in the game , boys!

Awesome, thank you from the bottom of my 47 year old heart! :)

Originally Posted by: Bruce JBuncha babies! I didn't touch a guitar till I was 53. I'm now 55 and play in a band and we're having our third gig tonight. Quit whining like a bunch of "old" 40-something school girls and get in the game , boys!

I like your style :) !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gives me a confidence boost - Thanks ;)

Originally Posted by: Bruce JBuncha babies! I didn't touch a guitar till I was 53. I'm now 55 and play in a band and we're having our third gig tonight. Quit whining like a bunch of "old" 40-something school girls and get in the game , boys!

haha! Thanks Bruce, that was great. You rock!

I always say, in twenty years we'll wish we were this age again, so enjoy it whatever it is. ;)

Hello,
I'm turning 60 next month. I've been playing, 75% of the time professionally, since I was 9 years old. I was in the Army and am an Army brat. Traveling all over the world staying in Europe for several years etc. has opened my eyes to all possibilities. Many groups around the world that play traditional music are around my age. My traditional music has always been Rock and Roll. It's also going to be part of my retirement plan...another group to put together and try, again, to recoup expenses in equipment, (for the wife's sake), and get on stage again.
Regards,
Steven

Hi Steven,

well thats good. I m 36 now I hope to be good enough in few years to play in band.. even after I ll be 50 or something. I think the good thing of the music is that it doesnt have age

I'm glad you guys are back in check. Now get back to practice!

We had our third gig last night and it was a lot of fun. We played two one-hour sets, 28 songs. I couldn't have imagined this was possible just one year ago, so that's something else to fire you up.

I highly recommend finding some buddies to jam with, even if you don't plan to perform publicly. You get the added peer pressure of holding up your end of the deal, which to me makes the learning more fun and gives you real objectives. For this last gig I had to learn the solo to It's All Over Now by the Stones in about one day when our lead singer challenged me with it. It's not a particularly complicated solo, but the original version is way too fast for me. But I was able to dumb it down enough to make a passable effort of it during the show. No possible chance I would have tried to do that or advanced as much without the added encouragement and challenge of being part of a team.

Bruce,

it s amazing that you did all this in 2 years. I have question, what do you do when you re learning a new song, do you stick with it till you re able to play perfectly? or you rather practice different things at the same time?