Anybody start playing the guitar later in life?

Hendrix took up the guitar within a few years of the end of his life. So did Randy Rhoads.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Hendrix took up the guitar within a few years of the end of his life. So did Randy Rhoads.

Incorrect. Hendrix started playing guitar at 15. He died at 27.

Love this thread.

Here's a great site for beginners and intermediates:

http://www.chordbook.com/

I'm learning scales and this is the best resource I've seen. It's loaded with chords, tunings and more in addition.

I played casually for 30 years. At age 51, I'd moved to Oaxaca, Mexico and was drafted by a motley crew of expats who jammed Thursdays. The lesson here, if you can hook up with a bunch of like minded folks to play on a regular basis, you are going to learn fast. Just like running, you put in some hours, but improvement comes in a hurry when you are pushed by your peers.

"The Bodega Boys" welcomed me with open arms and I was standing & playing with some pretty hot strummers & pickers in just a few weeks.

It was, and is, the most fun I've had in some time! I've gone on to play the Oaxaca area with a couple different rock or country punk ensembles, and even make some pocket money.

Anybody reading this who makes it to Oaxaca, bring your guitar and look up Steve Lafler (that's me) online. You'll land on one of my sites (I'm a professional cartoonist by day), zip me an email and come out and jam with us!

Thanks Carl, yes that is one of the exercises that my instructor has suggested. My ring and little finger have trouble stetching far enough into the next fret currently but, I am working on it. Plus I have trimmed my nails as short as possible as I found they were interfering with getting a "clean" sound from some of the strings. I appreciate the tips and support.

He also used to play a custom made 5 string guitar which dropped the normal low E string...it was black with a skull and a dagger on the front.

After 2 weeks my family asked for a performance - I played and sang a 3 chord version of Sloop John B - what a thrill that was - I have never performed anything anything in public - not a school play, not a school chorus. I was totally wired.

I didn't nail it, but I got through it - really fun. I'm working on Dead Flowers now - I've always loved that song.

C is bloody hard tho - struggling with going from G to C with more than 1/3 accuracy.

I've practiced 13 of 14 days now.

jello striper wrote:

C is bloody hard tho - struggling with going from G to C with more than 1/3 accuracy.

I've practiced 13 of 14 days now.

C will become second nature soon. Just keep working on it.

Which fingering are you using for G? If you have pinky on the high E string, ring finger on the low E string, and middle finger on the A string, that is the easiest to switch between C & G. In fact, C to G is my fastest chord change.

If you thing C is hard wait until you get to F!

I'm still convinced the best time to start guitar is when you are 14. Lock yourself in your bedroom for five years and you'll become a rock star. Problem is those are very important years in your social development -- which explains rock stars.

I think it's the other way around. The guitar is a continual lesson in music theory. It is a polyphonic instrument -- notes and scales can be duplicated and repeated all over the fretboard, which lends itself to patterns and "boxes". Scales can be easily committed into memory. Note intervals are easily visualized. Why do power chords sound so right? Easy, perfect 5th and a perfect 4th (octave from the root) on top of it. Also, chord inversions can be learned simply by tinkering with alterative fretting. Nils Lofgren even teaches G major by simply pressing one note -- the G on the high E string and strumming strings 1-4. If you look at singers playing rhythm they are always using inversions to make chord changes easier.

Seagull are killer guitars. When I bought a Les Paul Supreme people were telling me about how the action would feel so much better than my acoustic. No so, they are nearly identical.

My inspiration for learning the guitar was Courtney Love. I figured that if that whacked-out psycho bitch from hell could play guitar then anyone could.

Now my inspiration is this chick:

Not that far off of the master himself

that girl is cute as a bug.

for gnr and hair band fans - this is some of the best 55 minutes of live late 80s rock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoSFhHAh-vw

good inspiration tho malmo -

one more thing:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cdn-www.i-am-bored.com/media/keith-richard-fingers.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id%3D74660&h=470&w=679&sz=158&tbnid=cTP7eKhluYSaqM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=130&zoom=1&usg=__yXo85yv9XeY0TyUAm5n4Otwq2ho=&docid=b0AGospuIe2DYM&sa=X&ei=DLkjUdSvO_DDyQHDrYHYBQ&ved=0CDgQ9QEwAQ&dur=383

50+ yrs of guitar playing and your hands turn into implements. amazing.

Also wrong for Randy Rhoads

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Rhoads

so I am around 3 months into my self teaching program - I am just learning to play songs I like and learning new chords as I need them. Working on F and A now - two challenges.

Best songs: Wagon Wheel (old crow medicine show) and Sounds of Silence.

Creedence songs are good too - but require fast hands - still working on them. who'll stop the rain is pretty easy.

Can anyone recommend any songs like those I can learn?

really enjoying the process - my fingers still hurt too much for me to play every day, but almost. I have these pads forming on my fingertips - wild.

They also have a mobile application.

this may seem like strange advice, but check out axis of awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I

for a variety of four chord songs from a variety of decades.

or, stick with buddy holly, dylan, tom petty, neil young, much of u2, van morrison, springsteen (esp. nebraska album) and you'll find a lot that you can both play and sing...

I started messing with guitars when I was 14. I got my first guitar on my 15th birthday which was also the first time I ever placed in a race (3rd in 800m 2:24 ugh!). I went on to become a very good runner. Unfortunately the guitar did not go so well when I was a kid. Having a good teacher is essential. My teacher then was a great player but not a great teacher. I could not take lessons because the music store closed at 5 and track practice ended at about the same time.

Fast forward many years, I started playing again 2 years ago at 40, taking lessons weekly from a very good teacher. I practice about an hour a day and I am still making great progress all the time.

I thought I could play some songs a year ago, but I have found that the better I get, the less I think I am actually "playing" songs since I keep gaining an understanding of how poor I sound compared to what a really good player sounds like. Similar to running, it seems the more I improve, the farther away from truly great I feel.

One piece of advice I would give is to play slowly and cleanly, always trying to perfect your tone. The more you practice, the faster you will be able to play but you don't want to be fast and sloppy.

Here is a great free lesson from Steve Vai, that covers very well the progression from the very beginning (deciding to play guitar) to the quite advanced (developng your own style). Gives you a good outline on how to progress from A to Z.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7pJ6jeXTT4

My teacher uses pretty much the same philosophy so I think this is a good overview for anyone interested in learning to play.

Oops, I meant I could not take lessons from the pros at the music store (took them from a player in my high school).

so I've been playing my acoustic for a year now and been pretty diligent.

I'm really close to buying an electric - I'm a child of rock and roll and the distorted electric guitar is the sound of music to me.

And even after a year my fingers hurt too much to play for more than 20 minutes on my acoustic - I want to play more but it hurts too much. I must have soft fingers.

anyway, I'm this close to buying a Gibson SG 61 Reissue. I've listened to a bunch of guitars on you tube and that is the one I love. It growls just right - I love the tone. And it is apparently usable for most kinds of music.

lot of bleedin' money tho - it'll be $2000 all in, with an amp.

but they really hold their value - I could probably play for 10 years and then sell the instrument and amp for 1500.

"I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!"

A lot of great info here, although far more advanced than I can understand. I'd love to start as a total beginner, but when I read guys say that after a year they can play four chords and one song, I'm wondering if it's worth the effort. I may be completely naive but do you need to practice for years before you can play a few songs?