The Old Folks' Beginners Thread

Tales From The Crypt:

To all the "Older" folks that are just picking up guitar (I'm 51) just checking in to see how everyone is doing. I've gotten hung up a bit (last couple of days) trying to follow along with Lisa M and make melodies out of scales (open and grid). I practice the song a number of times and then I get all finger-tied when I try to play it along with Lisa and the Band.

How long should it take to learn 12 bars of 4/4 and be able to play them through twice "in time with the Band" at a 106 tempo without making any mistakes? I've spent about 3 hours of practice on the same lesson and I'm still only perfect on 10-20% of my attempts! Anyone else having issues with this?

Last night I used the JamTracks to practice for the first time - awesome. Also, found the "loop" function on the video lesson and figured out how to use that too - also awesome!! (Also found the little "?", which told me how to use the loop function!)

Lisa M - thank you again for being such a thoughtful and patient teacher!

Hi there. I am 55 and while I have fooled around with guitar off and on for many years, I never took up a structured lesson/practice plan until this year, so I am more or less a beginner. I have been at it for about three months.

One thing that I have found truer than anything else is that practice practice practice is the key. One of the songs I have chosen to learn is “Imagine” (made easy). I have been practicing/playing it for about 3 weeks and I still can’t make a reliably clean chord change from Dm to F, although it seems it should be pretty easy. Still, I do notice that I am getting better just by practicing it every day. It helps to focus on the one item you have trouble with, so I practice that chord change especially as opposed to the entire song every time.

One thing I have noticed is thatas I have “learned to learn”, new things come easier. The natural minor scales came easier than the major scales, I guess because my brain is now better at connecting the sound with the note pattern.

Some me days are terribly frustrating: “I thought I had that down!” But that is inevitably followed by days where I really do have it down. It can be difficult for us, the learners, to recognize the progress we are making because we hear every note we play. But if you stop and look back you can appreciate how far you have come, and that is very motivating.

Persistence, patience, practice. Keep up the good work!

I am also 55. I have been with GT for 2 1/2 years. I've completed Fundamentals 1 and 2, Rock 1, Blues 1, in the middle of Country 1, and learned about 15 songs. I was a total beginner but have learned a lot and had a blast the entire time.

Yes, there are things that are difficult to do. I don't think I ever got through a practice lession perfectly. Playing things over and over, especially slowed down, is the only way to learn. As you go along with the lessons, you will have those aha moments when your fingers/brain connect and you can all of the sudden do it. This happened to me with the song "I Get it Now". I struggled and struggled with that, playing it clean and keeping up with the lesson until one day, I got it.

Stay with it.

57 here!

It takes as long as it takes for you - just keep working on it and be patient.

For example, I've been working on American Girl by Tom Petty. The outro is not complex but it is fast - it's taken me about 3 months to get to the point where I can play along with Tom and the band! I pretty much spent a few minutes on it every night and played with the metronome - trying to speed it up a little each time.

Good advice from everyone on the thread here.

Thank you all! That is exactly the empathy and reassurance that I needed from folks that, it appears, are in the same place as me, though most of you seem just up ahead.

Spent the weekend trying to learn to strum a few songs - Country Roads, Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys and Every Rose Has Its Thorn. I felt pretty good at strumming all three (is it me, or do songs seem a lot longer when you first try learning how to strum them?).

I then attempted to sing along. LOL :-) and OMG, this is a LOT harder than "it at first appeared!" I can pass muster (not public viewing muster) with Country Roads and Mama, but I haven't been able to get through singing even the first two lines of Every Rose, I just can't get the timing right (yet). I was excited because I used my Capo for the first time and tried different settings until I found the key that worked with my voice; and then started to work on how to adjust my voice to fit the key of the song by singing "Do Re Mi" and "Joy To The World" along the major scale.

But then I was a little depressed because I tried to sing Country Roads and Mama with my kids and it didn't work out as well as I thought that it was going to work out. It now seems that it is going to take a really long time before I can get to a place where I can sing and strum in public. But you guys made me feel better.

My short term goal is to get a handful of "campfire songs" under my belt by mid-June (10 weeks) when we have our next summer campout. Any thoughts or suggestions? Is this too optimistic?

Hey kids,

48 here and just picked up a guitar about a month ago. I'm "stuck" on getting the fingers in the right place cleanly without futzing another string. Good to know it's normal-- pushing through. Thanks for the encouragement!

Originally Posted by: sbokash

Hey kids,

48 here and just picked up a guitar about a month ago. I'm "stuck" on getting the fingers in the right place cleanly without futzing another string. Good to know it's normal-- pushing through. Thanks for the encouragement!

I'm 45 and just started playing. I'm in the same boat with getting my fingers in place. I tend to mute other strings too when playing chords. At first I thought it might be easier with a wider neck, I'm playing a 1 11/16, but I figure it is just me not know how to tweak my fingers to get the chords right. It's odd being older and not being able to do something easily. I signed up for lessons with a local teach too so I have somebody to look at my technique to makes sure I do not develop bad habits. I can honesty say the website is a better tool for learning, but I like having the back up for half hour a week.

Good luck my fellow old guys (or girls).

Originally Posted by: mntano01 I'm in the same boat with getting my fingers in place. I tend to mute other strings too when playing chords. At first I thought it might be easier with a wider neck, I'm playing a 1 11/16...

I can relate to this and can say that it does get better. We have a number of guitars at home some with wider necks, some with smaller necks, but after a while our fingers just sort of figure it out. I still buzz from time to time but its not near as bad as when I started.

Awesome thread, this is the community we need (though I'm not sure that 45 is old enough to be on the Old Folks thread - LOL) to keep ourselves motivated with sufficient empathy and resassurance!

I ventured off-site and found the chords to the Irish Folk Song "Black Velvet Band" (I have a soft spot for Irish Folk music, but I love Country, Blues and Rock n Roll as well). Anywho, only three chords and a constant pattern. Thanks to GT (I am half-way into Fundamentals 2), I was able to listen to the song (about 50 times) and discern that 3/4 time would give me the right "beat" (3 quarter notes per measure). So I put together a little arrangement for myself where I finger-pick the high and low notes together as the first note and then the high note and then the low note in each chord (3 quarter notes) for each measure on the verses. Alternativey, for the Chorus, I pick the bass note of the chord and strum the rest of the full open chord for two notes (3 quarter notes total) for each measure. I am so incredibly impressed with myself. I still have trouble keeping up with the final quick transitions on the last line of each verse and chorus (F, G7, C for one measure each), but getting there and my wife says that it sounds great (and the dogs stopped howling at me when I play).

Trying my hand(s) at Imagine, ran through it at .5 speed (funny) and made most transitions okay. Tried it at .75 and was not quite as good, but going to practice. This is a great introductory song to start practicing the "F" Barre Chord !

Yup, turning 55 in 2 days time. Been learning for about 2 years. Don't really practice enough, short span of attention.

Funny thing I've noticed. I try a new tune, can't seem to get my fingers to obey, start thinking I'll never get it. Go to bed, next day my fingers are starting to get there, not 100% but better than the 0% of the day before. It's as if my brain is re-programming my hands to follow the pattern as I sleep. I swear, it's happened multiple times.

Anyway, good luck to all of the "senior starters" out there. There's certainly worse things we could do with ourselves!!!!

A.L.F

Hey gang ~ I'll be 61 in May. I've had my nylon-string guitar (Sebastian) since 1973. Took lessons a few times when I was younger, but was too intimidated by the teachers. Six years ago I decided I was either going to learn to play or sell my beloved guitar. I started teaching myself from a book, practiced every day for 15 to 30 minutes, and made progress. A few years later I discovered Guitar Tricks, which was just non-threatening enough for me to use. I loved the Basics course (Lisa) and the Celtic tunes I found here. I really started making progress when I realized it was okay to play just for my own pleasure, with no expectations about performing for other people. (Horrible stage fright). [br][br]Now, I'm confident enough to play along with my husband and family when they get a jam session together. (The looping and jam tracks really helped with that.) My background is classical, but I love to try Celtic tunes, old pop songs, and even a little bit of Blues. I'm working on learning Travis Picking right now. [br][br]So glad I finally learned to play!

Blukat - "A few years later I discovered Guitar Tricks, which was just non-threatening enough for me to use. I loved the Basics course (Lisa) and the Celtic tunes I found here."

Where are the Celtic tunes? I would love to check them out.

Originally Posted by: William MG

Originally Posted by: mntano01 I'm in the same boat with getting my fingers in place. I tend to mute other strings too when playing chords. At first I thought it might be easier with a wider neck, I'm playing a 1 11/16...

I can relate to this and can say that it does get better. We have a number of guitars at home some with wider necks, some with smaller necks, but after a while our fingers just sort of figure it out. I still buzz from time to time but its not near as bad as when I started.

I have trouble with patience...I've been working on finding the right place for my fingers, but there is no way in hell that is happening when I am switching cords at this point in time. Just got to keep at it.

You kids better hustle up- I'm 64

Hi Folks.

My son inherited his uncle's classical guitar, then left it here while traveling in India and Nepal. I figured, what the "hey", let's learn how to play the guitar; see if I can get good enough to jam with him by the time he returns.

I've attempted many times throughout my life to learn guitar, but could never get down a single chord. For my 60th birthday, I was laid off, so am in unofficial sabbatical mode. I'm doing some research and writing while I have some time, and figured I'd try a different approach to learning the guitar by applying a couple of concepts I use while teaching adults:

First, the brain is malleable, as long as we're alive we can learn; the inverse is also true, the day we stop learning is the day our brains start to die. A key to creative longevity is to push our brains through challenge and stress; keep learning, growing, problem-solving, calculating, socializing, developing new skills. Here's a good article on that:

"Best years ahead for the adult brain" http://donnach.com/index.php/en/explorations/learning/adult-development/161-best-years-ahead-for-the-adult-brain

Second, Fischer's Dynamic Skills theory, which provides a framework for learning complex tasks one chunk at a time, and accelerating learning by integrating new skills with existing skills. With guitar, that meant I would not attempt to master chords and songs until I had learned the notes, strings, and theory. Yes, arduous and maybe boring, but I labor through one note at a time, one string at a time, then connect the chunks together until I can play a picture.

Scanning the beginner books at Guitar Center and scouring programs on the Internet, most take the same approach that I had failed many times before. Start with playing chords and songs. To me, that's like trying to run before I can sit up.

I finally found a "Play Guitar Today!" book by Proline that seemed to take the approach I was looking for: one note at a time, one string at a time, with the underlying theory to help me understand the "why" of what I was doing.

Without killing you harshly with details, about a month into it I'm working on the Level 3 books. Nothing is smooth, but that will come with persistence, patience, and practice. Although I can be a driven, self-directed learner, I also understand the importance of social dimensions to accelerate and enhance learning. So, I signed up for guitar lessons at Guitar Center. That's mostly to give me more focus and a check to make sure I don't develop bad habits. Only one lesson so far, an introduction to pentatonic scales and the 12-bar blues in A7.

An important discovery while working on Pentatonic scales, the body of the classical guitar comes all the way up to the 12th fret. I used that barrier as an excuse to buy my own acoustic guitar, a Taylor 210e DLX. I'll probably just end up giving it to my son; but, meanwhile, it's a sweet box.

Feeling comfortable with the basics and working beyond the "blistah's in mah fingahs" stage, I decided to look again at the online training resources and decided to invest in Guitartricks.com. Glad to see others are on a similar journey. Just a month ago, these resources were useless to me because GT took the same "fly before you can walk" approach as others. With the basics in my fingers, I can derive good value from the lessons. But, I'm thinking GT might consider that many prospective customers might have different learning styles that require a more strictly scaffolded approach that builds skills one note at a time.

Glad to see other adult learners are taking the challenge to keep their minds growing by developing a new skill. In addition to enriching our lives, pushing ourselves through challenge builds and strengthens neural networks and protects our brains. Here's a good article on that:

Especially enriching: music that I had long ago put aside as old and tired is suddenly new because I'm hearing different dimensions. Opening my old tunes is like welcoming home long lost friends.

Although I will always have an audience of only one, this is a skill I plan to foster.

Thanks for sharing your stories. I look forward to hearing more about what you're doing and how you're growing.

Regards,

Brent

Wow, Brent, you're pretty excited by the guitar lessons - awesome! I tried the books with one string at a time and one note at a time and could never stay interested; it just seemed that I would never get beyond Mary had a Little Lamb. In person lessons didn't work for my schedule and I felt they were a waste of time and money, but maybe someday when I am semi-retired and can actually go on a set schedule. GT was perfect for me, but I agree with you that everyone needs to figure out what works best for them.

Montana - go slow, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat . . . (need I say more? LOL)

I am having 2 main issues right now:

- speed of chord transitions in the practice songs in Fundamentals 2 (just about to start Barre Chords sections, but holding up while I try to get my speed up to match Lisa McC's in the most recent lessons - in particular, the 7th Avenue something or other, cool tune with a half-bar transition between C7, A7, F, B7 that sounds really cool and 'ragtimy' but not quite able to do it in time (yet).

- strumming - I can do the patterns, but when I play longer songs, I can't hold on to the pick, or it gets out of position on the strings. Much harder than what I originally thought.

48 here. I’ve struggled off and on to get good at guitar for years now. I broke my finger when I was 15 and it didn’t heal well. This makes guitar that much more difficult (it’s my left index finger). It has pushed me to give up on guitar and try bass in the past.

I’ve been on GT for about 9 months or so now and have improved. That being said it seems like the easier thing for me all things considered would be to pick the bass back up. Like a lot of you, I’m busy as hell and don’t have more than 30 minutes or so a day for guitar. That combined with a wonky finger that doesn’t bend or straighten all the way can get a bit discouraging. In contrast, I can play basslines with no issues other than lack of talent :)

Feel free to chime in. I’d love to hear what you guys would do if in my same boat.

Hi guys ; I'm 50 this year, bought my first guitar yesterday and subscribed to GT yesterday also ; i'm already addicted :)

SIMON !! Shout out Dude. Welcome to the Old Folks' Begginners Club!! The OFBC? Or MLG? Mid-Life Guitar.

What kind of Guitar did you get? Electric, Acoustic? anything interesting? How did you choose a guitar?

I'm headed over to Guitar Center to see if they have Gorilla Snot, read about it online yesterday as I have been struggling to keep a good grip on my pick during intense strumming.

Stick with it, practice, practice, practice . . .

Re: excited about lessons.

[br]

Only had one lesson. Everything else is self-taught. I plan on taking four lessons at Guitar Center for a couple of reasons: First, overtly, to make sure I'm not developing bad habits that can inhibit progress; Second, covertly, for the discounts and the guitar lesson books. The price cut I got on a Taylor Guitar was about twice what the four lessons cost, and the three volumes of their curriculum are gold.

[br]RE: Mary had a little lamb.

[br]I hear you about "Mary had a little lamb." Haven't run into that in any of the books I'm using, but that would annoy me too. The Guitar Center Curriculum starts with well-known riffs for practice, and an eclectic assortment of classic and modern songs for instruction. Main ones I'm working on now are "Good Riddance" from Green Day and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dillan. The goal at the end: to finger pick "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. Easy enough to strum; but, the picking is a few weeks away.

[br]The Proline "Play Guitar Today!" books were the best starters for me because they took the approach to teach one note at a time, one string at a time, while providing the underlying theory; building blocks for building chords. With that barrier broken, the other resources have more value and fun.

[br]RE: Chord transitions.

[br]I'm working through Lisa McCormick's Guitar Fundamentals videos; These are a sound reinforcement of what I've already learned. The best value at this point is how she shows strategies for smoother chord transition. Even though I've already learned the chords she covers, her strategies are helping play them together rather than one at a time. A problem I'm having with it is that I like to follow along by reading the music, but the music is usually more than four screens long. Kind of hard to stop strumming so I can scroll. Lisa says to print it, but Guitartricks generates this message when I attempt to print: "This is a licensed song, and we're not able to offer notation printing."

[br]RE: holding on to the pick.

[br]

I've tossed a few myself; they often seem to land inside the guitar. Maybe there should be a lesson about safely extracting a pick from inside a guitar. My approach involves some bouncing to get the pick into the center of the body where I can see it through the strings, then flip the guitar over quickly so the centrifugal force can allow it to drop onto the floor. Now that I have a real guitar, I'm a little more careful to clear the area, so I don't bang it into furniture. One of the mistakes I was making was to grip the pick in a fist. I have to relax my hand and lightly grip the pick and relax my other fingers so they can help me fell my way around the strings and the body while I strum. Also, I bought a pack of a dozen picks and keep them close. Something I learned is that losing a pick isn't necessarily a problem. Strumming with the back of my fingertips generates a quite intriguing and almost mechanical sound.