Started playing at age 40 or older & still playing 10 years later?

[jethrocephus]

Played a couple months after getting a classical guitar for Christmas in 1969, when spring arrived, I was outside and that was that.

Really started playing at 44, am now 56 and still playing, mostly fingerstyle, singing along these last couple years, just for my own enjoyment. Well, me and the dog, Bo, who seems to like it as he comes in the room and lies at my feet when I play.

I believe I'll play as long as I'm able.

[FrankS]

Yep, Started at 50. Never touched a stringed instrument before that. It has only been 7 years but I still play. Only when I am motivated to do so but it is usually 2 to 4 times a week for up to an hour. I would consider myself a decent player although others that know have suggested that I am much better than that. I like complex or fast finger style classical and contemporary pieces as well as simple slow pieces that require much expression to make it interesting.

I am not new to music though. Learned accordion at around 6 and was soloing moderately difficult pieces by 4th grade. Music is relaxation, concentration, expression, something new to learn, and is always ready when I am in the mood. Nice little hobby for me.

Frank Sanns

[Danabout]

I bought my first guitar at 35 but didn't get into it until I hit 50. My brother in law has been a big inspiration, as he drags his old Epiphone to all the family functions. I finally thought " Why does he get to have all the fun "

[stevie ray]

I too had a cheap guitar back in the seventies and learned the basic open chords and then just gave up.
Got the urge when I cleaned out the basement and found the old beater complete with lifted bridge and rusted strings. So I made a trip to G.C. and a Taylor 110 followed me home. This was two years ago and I can play open chords without looking and barre chords are starting to come around.
Then I made the mistake of going back to to that bad store again and a GS Mini hog top made its way home too!. So I'm more apt to buy another guitar rather than give up. Turn sixty in five months. Stevie

[Irish Pennant]

When I turned 50 it was either a red sports car and a toupee or a guitar. I chose the guitar and have no regrets. I haven't made the 10 year anniversary yet. My first couple of years I just played around with it and then I slowly became enchanted with it. I know because of my late start that I'll never be as good as someone that started young, I except that. When I play out at open mics, those longer playing musician have been very supportive and I thank them for it.

[Broadus]

Originally Posted by rick413

When I was 25 I took 4 guitar lessons and quit. At 65 a friend loaned me a cheap guitar to fool around with. I have now been fooling around for a year. I play for several hour a day watching a lot of lessons on the internet. I just bought my third guitar (taylor 614ce) and I seem to be obsessed. I play with a friend that I was in Vietnam in the Marine Corps with who has been playing all of his life. I can play all of the campfire songs and oldies but I seem to be hitting a wall getting better. Thinking about a teacher but the internet has so much and is so convenient. I can take a lesson in the middle of the night if I want. I guess I am in too much of a hurry to progress. What to do?? Rick

Well, thanks, Rick, for resurrecting this old thread. The new stories are fun to read and inspirational to boot.

Bill

[Thorby Bislam]

From one Bill to another, Yeah, this is my story too. I always loved music and wanted to learn guitar but as a kid I knew no one who played. School offered no music lessons at all and back then, instruments - even s/h ones - were prohibitively expensive. So I forgot about it and got on with life. Decades later, in my mid 40s, I happened to notice that local adult education was offering beginner guitar lessons. So I bought a cheap guitar and signed up. Second best thing I have ever done.

I always used to say that if that was my mid-life crisis, it was a bum deal but re-appraising it, it's the exact opposite. If I'd gone down the sports car, medallion and bimbo route I'd have ended up indebted and divorced. As it is, I have an interest that will give me great pleasure for the rest of my life.

About 8 years ago I started going out to a local folk club just as a spectator. Eventually I began joining in. The smoking ban helped enormously too. Now It's a pleasure to go out and I find I'm playing out 2 or 3 times a week. Jam nights, open mic etc. Recently joined a newly formed Ukelele club. Two days ago we did our first gig. So that's another avenue to persue.

I've got some nerve damage in my fingers so I'll never be a great player. fingerpicking is out of the question for instance. A strummer only. For me, the real joy of music is not making it. It's sharing it. I make the best of what I've got and I'm having a whale of a time. If I reach a point where I can't plat stringed instrument any more, I'll buy a Bodhran or a Harmonica because I'm not giving up, ever.

[Silly Moustache]

Hi, all the following is about my experience in the UK.
I was a drummer for many years, and was not interested in playing guitar, although the guys in the bands had showed me some basic chords on their electrics.

In about 1968, a girlfriend asked me to take her to a "folk Festival" (Ugh!) but I did and we saw a guy called Tom Rush who impressed me greatly, and I started thinking about acoustic guitar.

In '69 or '70 I got my first £16 guitar and started firtling about with it trying to play a little blues here and there. In about 1974, a flat mate was playing some weird music and I went up to his room to ask what it was ...."bluegrass!" - I liked that and started another path to try to flat-pick.

A job move sent me to another part of the country, where, I discovered there was a lot of bluegrass activity, and I found myself in two bands pretty quickly, and had to pick up mandolin and Dobro as well.

Another job move in 1979 sent me down to the south coast, where, again, I "fell" into a local bluegrass band which did quite well.

January 1st - 1983. - I awoke paralysed from the neck down. After about a month, I got some movements back but everything on my body that was supposed to move or bend was acutely painful.

This lasted for about ten years, and my Martin D35, my Vanden F-5 mandolin and my Dobro went into the attic.

In September 1993, (I was 45) I was returning from giving a talk when I passed a club that I used to play at - I stopped to have a look and found that it was full to bursting and looked great fun.

I picked up a leaflet and drove home to tell my wife that I was going to learn to play again. "You'd better hurry up as the club is closing on Christmas eve!"

Well, long story short, I DID do a floor spot before the club was scheduled to close, although I think I must have been awful! Some time later, I had formed a trio and we ran the club for a couple of years.

I'm 66 now and whilst I have a lot of joint pain (with repeated cortisone injections) I'm still playing - in two trios, and a bluegrass band, and run my own acoustic music club.

Playing guitar is not like riding a bike - you need to remember the chords, scales etc., but also the muscle memory had disappeared.

I've just returned home from doing a guest spot in the next town west, and my left hand hurts a fair amount, but I reckon that now and for the past ten years or so, I play better than I ever did.

How long will it last ?????? Who knows - but I now appreciate the value of playing and entertaining so I'll do it until something stops me ....again.

[Broadus]

Great stories. Thanks for sharing.

[Zankou]

Originally Posted by Thorby Bislam

From one Bill to another, Yeah, this is my story too. I always loved music and wanted to learn guitar but as a kid I knew no one who played. School offered no music lessons at all and back then, instruments - even s/h ones - were prohibitively expensive. So I forgot about it and got on with life. Decades later, in my mid 40s, I happened to notice that local adult education was offering beginner guitar lessons. So I bought a cheap guitar and signed up. Second best thing I have ever done.

I always used to say that if that was my mid-life crisis, it was a bum deal but re-appraising it, it's the exact opposite. If I'd gone down the sports car, medallion and bimbo route I'd have ended up indebted and divorced. As it is, I have an interest that will give me great pleasure for the rest of my life.

About 8 years ago I started going out to a local folk club just as a spectator. Eventually I began joining in. The smoking ban helped enormously too. Now It's a pleasure to go out and I find I'm playing out 2 or 3 times a week. Jam nights, open mic etc. Recently joined a newly formed Ukelele club. Two days ago we did our first gig. So that's another avenue to persue.

I've got some nerve damage in my fingers so I'll never be a great player. fingerpicking is out of the question for instance. A strummer only. For me, the real joy of music is not making it. It's sharing it. I make the best of what I've got and I'm having a whale of a time. If I reach a point where I can't plat stringed instrument any more, I'll buy a Bodhran or a Harmonica because I'm not giving up, ever.

So what was the best thing you've ever done? You can't leave that statement just hanging!

[hardydog]

My wife has always been musical, singing, playing the clarinet, piano and also strumming a guitar. For her 50th birthday I took her to a guitar shopto buy her the best guitar I could. She picked a Crafter parlour guitar at about £400 or $600.
She convinced me to also try a guitar ,so for the first time since I played a recorder in primary schoolI picked up a musical instrument. We left with her Crafter and a Garrison for me. That was six years ago. I am self taught from books, I have bought a few nice guitars along the way. My Garrison went to a young nephew for him to learn on. I play nearly everyday and go along to an acoustic guitar group once a week. I'm just a strummer who enjoys playing the old 60's and 70's music of my youth. I will never be a 'good guitarist' but I will always enjoy my time with a guitar in my hand

[Thorby Bislam]

Originally Posted by Zankou

So what was the best thing you've ever done? You can't leave that statement just hanging!

Marrying my wife.

[Broadus]

Originally Posted by Thorby Bislam

Marrying my wife.

Bill