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February 2003
Posts: 299
Location: Netherlands | My guitar teacher told me his oldest pupil is 70 years old and has just begun to play a while ago. Someone close to him died and when cleaning out the attic he found an old Fender acoustic guitar. He strummed a little and decided it would be fun to learn how to play. So now he's taking lessons at age '70! I hope i'll be so curious to learn when (if?) i'm that age.
I had to think of it, because some time ago we had a thread on learning to play at age 40 or 50.
Martin |
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September 2003
Posts: 171
Location: Indiana | Boy, I sure feel better. I'm 43, divorced, bored and lonely at times. I work a lot and don't own a TV but I love music. A few months ago, a couple of old friends from high school started playing their acoustics on friday nights at my local bar and I've really enjoyed watching/hearing them....live music is the best! I was invited to a get-together at my friend's home and got to see a great local player whom I had not seen play since we were once neighbors about 10 yrs ago. He was playing his 1988 Ovation collectors series and he just blew me away. I don't know when I have enjoyed myself as much as I did that night. It was truly an inspiration.
I found this site while trying to find info on my 1996 collectors series which I bought 3 yrs ago. I was planning on selling it and giving up on the dream of playing. I thought I was getting too old for such things but I love the music and feel a burning not just to listen to it...but to create it. I just didn't know where or how to start. I had become frustrated over the years the few times I had. That all changed when I found Jamie Andreas and guitarprinciples.com. I highly recommend his book and website. Most teachers and materials discuss "what" to practice. But Jamie focuses on the "how" first...creating a solid foundation of proper mechanics, economy of motion, fluid movement (chord changes), avoiding tension, etc. His teaching style struck a chord in me so to speak. It is helping me overcome some obstacles and gain confidence. In short, I no longer feel TOO OLD ;)
Between my friends (whom I hope to one day play with), boards like this one that discuss the instruments I love and the tools of the trade...and finding a good teacher, I have no doubt that on my 50th birthday I'll be looking back at this post with a huge smile on my face and a great deal of satisfaction as I play my guitar.
I once read a story about a lady who was a paralegal but wanted to become an attorney. She was in her 40's and felt she was too old for it. She told a wise old attorney friend "I'd be 50 before I'd get my degree and become an attorney". The wise old attorney smiled and said something like "You are going to turn 50 either way...what will you be then if you don't go for it?" She became an attorney. My stepmom got her masters degree in nursing at 53 and is now a nursing practioner. I admire people like the 70 yr old guitar student. I hope I'm picking up something new at that age....feeding that curiousity that keeps us young.
peace,
mark |
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6192
Location: Phoenix AZ | Mark, That's a great story. Thanks for sharing with us. I too admire people who just go for it, despite sterotypes, percieved age limitations, or popular sentiment. Keep on playing, my friend. About 2 years ago I started taking violin lessons (at the age of 44). It was just something I always wanted to do. I still stink, but have fun. My teacher has 50 students and has a Polaroid photo of eachone of us on her studio wall. 49 Asian kids under the age of 8 - and ME. We had a group recital and believe it or not I got a big standing ovation (hence, my user name). The young kids just thought it was soooo cool that an "old guy" would do something like that. BTW, I played "Stairway To Heaven" but I sensed that none of the kids had any idea what the song was (or maybe my playing was that bad).
Dave
PS - I also hope to pick up something new when I'm 70. Hopefully something closer to 30. |
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September 2003
Posts: 36
Location: South Eastern Arizona | My father took keyboard lessons when he was in his 70s. He is now 85 and still plays his ukulele (a Martin that he has owned for 40+ years).
I started taking guitar lessons at age 60 eventhough I started playing in the early 1960s. Taking lessons (classical guitar) at this age is very frustrating, but at the same time, very rewarding. |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Tom
Pickin' is one of the things we can do when nobody thinks we can do anything, Glen Campbell is pushing 70 and plays as good as ever, and even looks good after all that decadence. At my age (68), I am not distracted by that hot little thing in the front row who is after my body because of the way I play my mandolin, no way that I would be distracted by anything like that, did somebody say I just missed 3 chord changes and my break, sorry boys, must be old age, (I still think she wants my body).
Bailey :cool: |
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December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | My aunt took up violin when she was in her sixties. I don't know if she ever learned she would never play for me. she was a very good vocalist all her life. I guess I didn't get that side of my family's genes. |
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August 2003
Posts: 888
Location: Louisville, OH 44641 | What a great string. I'm 44 and I just started guitar last year...and I still stink (as someone earlire put it). Am I having fun...you bet. It feels good to be in your mid 40's and be as excited as a kid about something. I have more guitars than I can play songs. Also for Mark, as awesome as it is to listen to live music, I'm finding it far better to play.
I live in a small Ohio town and I soon realized that playing in my bedroom every night was not going to be enough for me. And yet, I don't really want to start a band (especially as bad as I am)so I started a Guitar Club. It's a forum that allows people that love guitar to get together monthly to learn from each other. The 1st half of our 2 hr meetings is a learning session and the second is more or less a jam session. We do some "open mike" type of things and also partner up a couple people to play for the group. Most of our instruments are O's because they sound so good and provide flexibility to our sessions.
Middle aged and still having fun playing guitar...what could be better? Maybe being young and having sex but that's for another time. |
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July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | I'll be 50 tomorrow....I came back to guitar playing this last summer after seeing a classic rock show. I self-taught myself to play in high school on a Silvertone(DanElectro) electric, but the lack of a better player to learn from, learning material and money for lessons kept me from getting beyond a certain point. I traded my Silvertone to my best friend for a lousy(even he admits it) acoustic, and I almost quit. After I graduated from college, I bought the Applause of my moniker, but it didn't succeed in reigniting my desire to play beyond a few months.
It has been slow going, sometimes I have "ah-ha!" nights, sometimes I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere. But I play the best I ever have and am getting better by the day..... |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Great posts! It's all about just playing and enjoying it. Forget about being good, just do it!
Of course you'll get better and then want to play more and get another guitar and you'll get even better and then need a 12 string to do Hotel California and a nylon string for those fingerpicking pieces and a shallow for the stage and another deep bowl as a back up and an Adamas for the open tunings and an elite cutaway for slide and.................. |
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March 2002
Posts: 15654
Location: SoCal | Bill:
My wife knows the truth of what you posted from first hand observation. |
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November 2002
Posts: 3603
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | 51, left-handed, carry tunes in leaky buckets (don't sing), marginal rhythm & timing (bought a metronome), no right-hand fingernails (makes less noise when I screw up), mild carpal tunnel (can't torture the Labrador too long), BUT major enthusiasm! It's a challenge, not a crisis. If you send positive energy out, it will find its way back. Somebody's starting a bluegrass jam this weekend; don't know if I'm ready quite yet. Ah hell, no guts, no glory..... |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Right on all
Seesquare, if it's bluegrass go for it, you will have more fun than regrets. Bluegrass jamming is like peanuts, you'll never be satisfied with just one, and they get better all the time.
Bailey |
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September 2003
Posts: 782
Location: Waurika OK | I am glad this topic came back up. Like most of the rest of the replies, I am older, 60, and have renewed my interest in guitar. I am not much of a "picker" always played chords and sang. My first guitar was a Montgomery Ward f hole arch top, bought by my parents when I was 13. The last year and a half, I have been trying to figure out what I want to play. Bought an Ibanez nylon string A/E, Mexican strat, traded for a Calif. series strat, traded that for a reissue Jaguar, already had a nice alvarez acoustic and electric bass. Decided to go back to acoustic only and that's when I got the Legend. Its acoustic for me!
But I am having a great time learning new things, even though I feel like I know absolutely nothing about playing.
Found a new Ultrasound amp on eBay and won the bidding at a good price, at least compared to dealer asking prices. So now I am set. Well, yes, I am beginning to check out the 12 strings, must have one of those, and it probably would be better to have a second 6 string to have for those open tunings, and I can see that a shallow bowl would be better for playing out in front of people.
So many needs, so little money!
Noel |
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March 2002
Posts: 15654
Location: SoCal | Noel:
When I go into a guitar store, my mantra is "So many guitars, so little money, and even less talent". Yet I keep playing away! |
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October 2002
Posts: 26
Location: Western PA | I started playing guitar four years ago at age 44. I had always thought about playing guitar but nothing beyond the thinking stage until I attended an IBM event in Nashville. The door prize was a Fender Tele and I found that I REALLY wanted to win that guitar. As is typical with my luck at games of chance, I didn't win. But I decided that if I was still interested in guitar when my wife asked the annual question: "What do you want for Christmas?" I would answer a guitar. I was, I did and my present was a Martin D-1R (I grew up 20 miles from Nazareth). My "playing" leaves a bit to be desired but playing guitar is something I can do the rest of my life and I find it fun, rewarding, challenging and entertaining.
I still have the Martin and it has been joined by a trio of Ovations. That is a story for another day.
Mike Stull |
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May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Mike
I guess western PA and eastern OH aren't too far apart. I grew up around Conneaut, OH but I have relatives in PA so Conneaut Lake was a favorite. I travelled all over that area in the 50's.
Bailey |
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Cool story
