
Ask HN: am I too old to learn the guitar/music?  - callmeed
Sorry if this isn't very hacker-related. I know there are a good amount of musicians here, so I thought I'd ask.<p>I'm 34. Quit 5th grade music (teacher was a jerk) and haven't really touched an instrument since. But I've always wanted to learn some guitar.<p>Is it too late?<p>My wife is a decent musician so we have a few guitars and keyboards in the house. Always been good with math and languages–not sure if that helps or determines how I should try and learn.<p>Anyway, any suggestions from musicians is much appreciated. Should I take some lessons? Watch some videos?
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route66
No limits. Before I switched to software development I paid my bills as a Jazz
guitar -player and -teacher. Observation: the "too old" only applies
indirectly when you're "grown up" schedule is already very full with everyday
activities. Even then I watched people with no time to spare but with lots of
enthusiasm and determination making progress. Some physical learning gets
slower with age, but the speed of learning is not important at all IMO/E.

I line up with others here in recommending private lessons, at least for the
beginning. Getting quick feedback in what you are doing is essential,
especially for the motoric part.

I picked up viola da gamba with 39 and might have lacked some physical
abilities to do the bowing well from the beginning but thanks to my teachers I
got smoothly over these problems.

Another thing: start playing with others early. It's like chatting away in a
new language. You learn best/have the most fun when you _have_ to make
sentences and express yourself.

Get yourself an axe and enjoy!

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shaunxcode
hell no you're not! And if you are a programmer/math inclined you will
probably actually do really well once you get a few fundamentals down and
start to see the patterns/logic in the tuning. (learn to play a power chord
and then realize that the same finger pattern applies all the way down the
fret board for the first two top strings and you're on your way to writing
some ramones-esque songs!)

For the record I am a drummer but I understand guitar well enough to write
songs that other people can then play better haha.

~~~
callmeed
Ok, thanks. So how would you recommend I learn the fundamentals?

~~~
shaunxcode
Well one very HN approach would be to upload one of your favorite (ideally
relatively simple/slower) songs to <http://chords.fm/online/web/> and start
from there!

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plinkplonk
You aren't too old to learn.

It is hard (though probably not impossible, given sufficient motivation and
practice) to get good enough to play professionally with a late start), but if
you plan to learn for the joy of music and playing songs at parties and so on
it is _very_ doable. If you practice (guitar) for 20 -30 minutes _daily_ for a
year, you should be good enough to play some popular songs at parties and so
on, ideally with people playing other instruments.

The key is to regularity (don't miss practice) and focus (be aware of what you
are doing when you practice) and not so much short bursts of intense practice.

As mentioned above if you can get _good_ private lessons , go for it. You
_can_ teach yourself with books and an electronic tuner and so on, but it is
way harder than getting a good teacher. Since your wife is a musician she (or
her friends) should be able to find you a good teacher.

Good Luck!

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CyberFonic
Never too old! If your wife is a decent muso, then why won't she give you
shove in the right direction. I play many instruments, and with your
background, I'd suggest learning to read music and playing a keyboard would be
an easier start. Guitar is harder than it looks. Assuming that you type
reasonably well, then you already have the finger dexterity to play a keyboard
reasonably well.

Once you can play some bass lines, the two of you should be able to jam. That
in turn speeds up your learning and increases the motivation.

Good Luck!

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patrickryan
There is no age limit to learning. In fact, I bought a guitar at the age of 19
and began teaching myself chords, strumming, and scales with no previous
experience. I am 23 now, wrote and recorded a full length music album 2 years
ago, have played numerous live shows as a solo artist, and continue to learn
guitar everyday. My suggestions for learning guitar: Find a tab for a song you
enjoy on <http://ultimate-guitar.com>, and practice it daily.

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babycakes
Sounds just like our situation.

I've been playing guitar for 15 years now. My 30 year-old wife just picked up
the guitar. She's doing quite well. I spend about 15 minutes per day helping
her with her technique and giving her a new exercise to try.

When we picked out her guitar, they offered us a month of free group lessons.
Maybe you can swing the same deal? Guitar is not a difficult instrument,
relative to piano, trombone, or violin. A little spousal assistance is
probably good enough if you can't wrangle a professional.

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alanthonyc
My grandfather started learning how to play the violin in his 70s.

I don't think you have much of an excuse.

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JCThoughtscream
There is no such thing as "too old for music." Rather, picking up something
new helps keep your brain nimble. You have no reason at all NOT to do it -
and, hey, you even have a free tutor!

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surgesg
There's no replacement for good private lessons.

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dasil003
No.

That's the template response for questions of the form:

/^Am I too old to learn .*\?$/i

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dnsworks
My 62 year old father just took up Piano and is loving it.

