Trying this again at 52

Hello everyone, The name here is Jim and I can`t believe I am starting this over again at 52 years old. I began beginner lessons back in 2004 with a Martin Guitar kit that I built. My instructor was an old school buddy of mine who is a very good player, but unfortunately he wasn`t a good instructor. So I bailed on the lessons, sold my guitar and didn`t look back until now. But a week ago today I went to Sam Ash and bought me a new Tele 3 color sunburst MIM with the maple fretboard and a new Vibro-Champ XD amp. I am going to learn this time or die trying. Work is a little slow right now so I have more time to spend on it, and I am going to try to teach myself with the help of the internet since there are no good teachers around that aren`t real expensive and on a set schedule. I really love this Guitar, it has the 60th anniversary neck plate on it and the color and finish are excellent. The action is perfect for me. And the amp has a lot of great features and is only a small wattage so I won`t crank it and disturb the neighbors. So tell me how many of you are out there just starting or started at or near my age. It would really be cool to hear from some of you. And anyone that can give me some advise on learning on the internet, with such places like Jam Play or Guitar Tricks, or any other suggestions would be great. So thanks for having me here on the forum and I am really looking forward to hearing from fellow Tele owners. Jim

welcome

Well I'm 62 and have only been playing for six months.





Dobro, that is.

I've been playing guitar one way or another since 1959 and am self taught.

One thing about being 52 and not 9 like I was is you can avoid bad habits like the thumb wrap. And there are a whole lot of teaching materials available in book and DVD as well as the internet. I did two lessons from the Nick Lucas Method--he popularized "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" in the 1920's.

Welcome!

Welcome! I'm 59 and have been taking lessons for 3-4 years now. I can't play very well but I am making progress and having a lot of fun. There are a lot of good resources out there, but you just have to wade through them depending on what kind of music you are interested in. I find that I don't learn as fast as the younger folks, but that may be because I have no talent and not because of my age!

Welcome!

welcome it''s never to late to learn something you really enjoy ,patience and dedication

There are a lot of very good online guitar teaching sites, for various levels of player. I had played when I was young, but got serious again in my late 40's. It it a good time to learn something you really would like to learn. I found that it really helps to look on learning guitar as fun, rather than as work that must be done.

I wish you the best and I know you will enjoy it.

Now that I am retired, playing guitar and learning new songs helps keep me {relatively} sane.

mark

Welcome to the forum !!

Welcome, old-timer.

Checkout this thread here: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/band-wagon/323673-big-night-philly.html

Bruce started at your age, and look where it got him.

I recently re-started playing after a 15-year layoff for marriage, house, kids, and a lot of moving. It's never too late.

It's never to late to start. I started at 34 and I see people in their 60s start up lessons all the time. I play with some of them, too. We can learn relatively fast if we play with people who know what they are doing. I mean, we won't be Eddie Van Halen, but we can certainly learn to rock out with a band (and let others do the heavy lifting). Get with a group of people and play, you will accelerate your learning and enjoyment greatly.

There's good lessons at www.dolphinstreet.com and www.justinguitar.com

Welcome.

I've been playing for 40+ years and I start over everyday! That's what makes it fun, you never stop learning or improving.

I took a 40 year break from electric guitar guitar, and just started up again at age 55!

Welcome.

Hi Televisor

welcome!

I'm 57 and soon to retire. I played acoustic badly after starting at 13 - never progressed beyond the basic chords needed for folksongs. Over the last couple of years my husband got the bug and picked up one and then more electric guitars. I tried one out and thought - this is cool! He has been generous about letting me use any of his gear so I can change up the practice routine a bit. But I have my own tele and am practicing/playing almost every day - working on learning to read notation. It's slow but I love it - at this age I think I have more patience and ability to concentrate. The website I found most useful for learning is Guitar Noise, and we have picked up some books - I like the Hal Leonard Guitar Method books - but there are lots of other good ones to choose from.

The best advice I got from the store when I bought the tele was - when you get to a plateau you might want to take a few lessons. My personal goal is to be able to pick up an electric - next time I am accompanying our local Raging Grannies. ;-)

Welcome aboard! Lots of good advice here on all things guitar.

Welcome, Jim. It's never too late to get serious about playing.

I have been a working drummer since the late 60's (still am), and always dabbled in guitar for fun. I'd go to an occasional blues jam, or play with friends, sit in with bands, etc. About four years ago I finally decided to get serious about guitar and start my own band. It was tough at first. I had a full blown panic attack on my first guitar gig, made a lot of mistakes and screwed up onstage, but I stuck with it, practiced, played as many gigs as I could, and over time, have improved to the point where I can go out now and do well and only make what I call "little clams" that are usually not noticeable by the bar crowds. I decided to be a jack of all trades; I play standard electric six string, electric 12 string, slide, open G tuning, lap steel and occasional rudimentary mandolin on the gigs. It shows versatility, I think. I'm never going to give Jeff Beck any competition, but I can more than hold my own on rhythm and lead guitar.

As far as Internet lessons, I have seen some free ones on YouTube that are pretty good, but I think other members here might have better advice than I. It goes without saying that the better lessons are most likely ones you have to pay for, but perhaps that's not always true.

I'd also recommend playing along with your favorite CDs when you feel advanced enough to do so. Finding your own niche is important. I have always said, you take a a few licks from this guy, a few from the next guy and so forth, mix them together, put your own spin on them, and that's how you start to forge your own style. Eventually, it will come together if you stick with it.

The most important advice I can give is, have fun playing guitar. Enjoy the "a-ha" moments. They'll happen. Good luck.

Welcome!

Good free lessons on the internet

www.justinguitar.com

50's?. You're just a kid but welcome anyway.

Ok so I am a little younger at 44....

I have built quite a few guitars, and like the building, but never did get the playing down right. Finally I decided that I needed to either play or get rid of all of these guitars.

You need a good teacher. The internet and or cheap isn't going to cut it.. But the teacher needs to be GOOD. I had some teachers earlier in my life that were not good, and that is why it didn't take..

A good teacher in my area is about $1.00 a minute, about $50.00 a week. There is more in a 50 minute weekly lesson than I can completely absorb, and that is the way it should be.

The First lesson my teacher had me playing WITH him. It was the most amazing thing I had done musically to that point.

Commit to 90 days of daily practice. An hour if you can swing it, but at least 5 minutes a day every day! (It takes that long to be able to stand listening to yourself in my opinion).

Also commit to 90 days of weekly lessons with a GOOD teacher. That is a $400 to $500 commitment. However it is worth the investment.

Someone once told me that playing music with other people was either the first or second biggest kick in life. I have to agree that there are times that it is better than sex. (I didn't believe my teacher when he told me this! I do now.)

Find a GOOD teacher.

Guy
:-)

http://tomhess.net/articles/choosingateacher.aspx

I am not crazy about Tom's playing, as it is not at all my style, but this article does tell you how to start to evaluate a teacher.

If you want to chat with someone that is just barely ahead of you, then feel free to pm me. I would be happy to call you to talk or to email back and forth.

Guy
:-)

I want to thank everyone for the warm welcome and all of the good advise. Makes me feel welcome, and that helps. I checked out justinguitar and it is a really good site, and so far it has been a big help. Thanks again for the advise, and now it is time to rock on fellow Tele players. See you in another thread soon. Jim

There's good lessons at www.dolphinstreet.com and www.justinguitar.com

I'll +1 to the Justinguitar link :cool:

He has some good stuff on there. Take your time and learn the chords and be able to switch between them. You'll be playing songs in a few months. yes it is normal for your fingers to hurt :wink:

Welcome! I just started playing, myself, at the age of 38 and, as you can see from my post count - JUST joined this forum.

Sometimes I think starting older is an advantage...you're a lot more inclined to listen to people.

Welcome ,good luck

Welcome, and enjoy the forums!

As mentioned by others, there's great online resources like Marty Schwartz. Now, Learn the notes on the neck, and start practicing some of the easier songs that you grew up with as you progress. Do this while playing along with CD's and/or MP3's, and you'll begin learning through recognizing, and correcting mistakes along the way.

One thing about being 52 and not 9 like I was is you can avoid bad habits like the thumb wrap.

I'm sure glad Hendrix didn't avoid that "bad habit"

Welcome to the forum. Check out Marty Schwartz on YouTube he does some great lessons.

I'm sure glad Hendrix didn't avoid that "bad habit"

Welcome to the forum. Check out Marty Schwartz on YouTube he does some great lessons.

ya Marty is another good one so +1 to him also.

A tip is to listen to a lot of music that you like and try to replicate the licks or riffs you like. Oh and don't focus too much on little details( like the thumb hanging over mentioned earlier) hendrix, Clapton they both hung their thumbs, for a classical guitarist maybe it matters but for us, it's no prob. Just focus on playing how it feels good to you, it will make practicing fun, not a chore.

Welcome.