Has anyone learnt the guitar later in life?

S

slavens_holgate_fence

Active member
I have been wanting to learn the guitar for years, always thought I was to old (approaching 40 now) but now I’ve bit the bullet and got one.
How long will it take to learn? What are the stages, I would be happy if I was playing some decent cords changes in 6 months, if you read the forums it takes years and years. I can give 1 hour per night at it.

has anyone else learnt later in life?
 
Good on yer, it is never too late to learn to play. I learned to play the drums when i was a teenager, and if i do say so myself, I was ok, Semi-decent, (imho) but, I gave up my dream to be the next cozy powell so i could try to devote myself to footy, where my height as a keeper became my real downfall :cry: My passion was lost for drumming, but I play a mean pan set these days. Just go for it and enjoy the experience, you will do well if you are energetic and keen
 
I tried for a bit & gave up, done the intro to James Bond & that was it

Would have load to have mastered it when I was younger, my late brother use to play the guitar, write his own music, he lost his arm when he was 22, in a works accident & had to sell a beautiful red & white electric guitar, I was 25 & Ive always regretted not buying it off him & learning back then, go for it
 
It's a lot easier than you might think as long as you don't set your targets too high too soon.

I've played for years and am still only scratching the surface. Others can play for six-months and join a band on lead guitar. As with any instrument you get out what you put in.

I'd second the reccommendation for JustinGuitar.

I'd also suggest picking a few songs you want to sing along to and just try to learn the basic chords (sites like Ultimate Guitar have different versions of songs for different levels) - you'd be surprised how many songs can be simplified into 3 or 4 (relatively) easy chords.

Expect it to be difficult in the first two weeks and try to do as much as possible - it's all muscle memory and getting your fingers to stretch the right way. Once you can move between a few chords it'll all start coming together.

Also, don't get bogged down in theory early on. You don't need to know how a C#add9/F is constructed when you're noodling around and find something that sounds good. Just remember where your fingers were.
 
Pick a song which is really easy to play and just keep playing it.

One thing I struggled with when I first started playing was rhythm and timing, but I remember learning 'Albion', which is one of my favourite songs and very easy to play, and it really gave me the confidence then to try other songs.

Knockin on heavens door is a good one to start with.......

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/bob-dylan/knockin-on-heavens-door-chords-66559

You'll get to a point soon enough where it will become second nature.
 
Its about practice, once you learn 3 chords and strumming patterns, scales its a progression all the time. Most give up too easily. Was in my 20s when I put my heart into it, there is many facets to enjoy and learn.
 
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I picked one up for the first time in my 30's and it's one of life's joys. I'm 56 now and still not very good technically but all I learned it for was to be able to write songs with, which I was able to do very quickly. I still hack away now and was out on the street playing for the neighbours after last night's applause.

Your fingertips will knack at first but once the skin's hardened you'll be fine. Enjoy! (y)
 
When you say not good technically, what does that mean as I hear that comment a lot.

Ok so your are no slash but surely you can change cords and pick really well?
I am sure you are a lot better than you make out.
It’s going to be a long road I’d just like to get some realistic targets, I will probably get lessons once this virus is over
 
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I play what people would call rhythm. Strictly acoustic. I'm fine within my own limits and can knock off a wide range of songs. I'm not a great picker. I do sometimes pick but to my own patterns and if you see someone who can do it properly there's a world of difference. Doesn't matter though, I'm good enough for what I want. :)
 
Break up routine by leaning scales and so doing bits of lead, learn the different tuning aspects or the concert EADGBE tuning and then know every note on the fretboard within 10 mins.
But for a time even when I didnt play it, i was sat with it and fingering chords.

You can buy song books that start with 2 chords progress to 3 and then a new chord every 5 or 6 songs, but strumming patterns help a lot too, little bits all add up too, stuff like Bruce Springsteens Fire has some easy chords and good strumming patterns same with Venus.

I was lucky as my mate was a former pro artist and came 2nd on New faces:), I used to play blues harmonica with him and he learnt me little lessons and the vitue of patience with myself.
 
Start off with 3 chords, D A and G, get used to strumming those chords individually then graduate to changing from one to another, stick with this for the first week, it may be boring but you’ll gradually get there. Once you’ve mastered chord changes, find some simple songs and gradually add more chords to your repertoire, you’ll be playing within 3 months and half decent within 6.
 
I’m sure it can definitely be done. The key is to remember that the more you practice, the less your fingers hurt, and the easier the chords get. That’s assuming you’re learning on an acoustic (which I would recommend), because unless you’re joining a band, an acoustic sounds much better on your own.

It’s cliche but start off with Wonderwall.
 
I started learning guitar whe I was about 32/33. It is a fairly difficult instrument to start with, in my opinion, It took me a couple of months to be able to play wonderful tonight and house of the rising sun, Admittedly they are not the easiest songs to learn as they are finger picked and arpeggiated respectively. Take the advice about learning 3 chords and learning 1 or 2 strum patterns. At the minute don't worry about playing in a key you can sing to. If you play a tune in E but your voice is pitched at A, just stick a capo on to move it to A.

One other tip I would give, to break the boredom of playing the same three chords is to play a scale on the top E string(bottom of the 6 strings as you hold the guitar). A major scale is tone - tone- semitone - tone - tone - tone - semitone. So play the E string open (not held down), then hold at the 2nd fret and play, then the 5th fret, 7th, 9th, 11th and 12th. That is an E Major scale (do ray me).

Over that scale you can pick the bottom E (bass) on any note of that scale (top string as you hold the guitar) and you will get a tune with a simple base line. It will break the boredom. You can also get away with using the base E and A strings to get a moving baseline over the E major scale.

Oh and yes forget the theory I have just given, remember the patterns. Theory can come later, or according to Clapton, not at all.
 
I taught myself when I was at college and started with the bass riff of come as you are and then moved on to Nirvana stuff with power chords, but after about a month I was trying to play the street spirit riff, by radiohead (seriously, don't do that). I probably could have been ok, if I had stuck with it, but haven't played for ages.

I found some of the major chords quite difficult, like F and B from memory, which hindered me for a while.
 
street spirit is not a beginners song icanfignger pick it but cant the speed or accuracy to play it with a pick. If you like radiohead warrenmusic has some great tutorials however they are definitely for the more advanced guitarist. Just learning travis picking at the moment almost there with landslide fleetwood mac. Its amazing with practice how things like picking patterns become 2nd nature. Go for it its not as hard as you think
 
Glover_elbow said:
street spirit is not a beginners song icanfignger pick it but cant the speed or accuracy to play it with a pick. If you like radiohead warrenmusic has some great tutorials however they are definitely for the more advanced guitarist. Just learning travis picking at the moment almost there with landslide fleetwood mac. Its amazing with practice how things like picking patterns become 2nd nature. Go for it its not as hard as you think
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Street Spirit is hard to nail perfectly as a beginner. Fake Plastic Trees much easier but even that has a couple of tricky chords.
 
Wev1 said:
I taught myself when I was at college and started with the bass riff of come as you are and then moved on to Nirvana stuff with power chords, but after about a month I was trying to play the street spirit riff, by radiohead (seriously, don't do that). I probably could have been ok, if I had stuck with it, but haven't played for ages.

I found some of the major chords quite difficult, like F and B from memory, which hindered me for a while.
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Wev they are barre chords and take a lot of finger strength. You are also using 4 fingers instead of 2 or 3, you can cheat on them a bit, but you have to ultimately develop the muscles in your hands. If I play sultans of swing, even after 20 odd years of playing, my hands still ache after it. 5 minutes of holding down barre chords.
 
Tried. Failed. Musically inept. I dream of playing Spanish classical guitar but it’s not going to happen. 😔
 
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