Learn Guitar At Any Age
By: Ricky Sharples | Posted: 18th May 2009
Many people think about being able to play the guitar but need reassurance concerning what to expect when they try to learn guitar at a late age in life. By late I mean forties or fifties but really the term can apply to any age past the teen years. A bonus for mature age guitar students is that if you learn guitar it can actually help keep your hands and mind alive and healthy. There's an additional benefit in that your friends and family will think you are a hero before you are even able to play.
Learning guitar late in life is open to anybody but the question is if it is easier to learn guitar as a young person, does that mean it is harder when you are older?
Older guitar students do tend to have some hassles learning music theory and note reading but it is worth the struggle and many guitar players use tab to learn material and tabs are available freely on the internet for any song or instrumental that a beginner could want to learn.
If you find yourself struggling with the more theoretical side of music, then you could make up for it by concentrating more on technique. You can learn a lot about the guitar just using your ear and a diagram of the notes on the fretboard, and remember that many guitarists who played all their lives never learnt to read music.
Changing chords is the first big hurdle for guitar players of any age, and can lead to a mental block for older students. So, just start with getting the chord shapes right and work on changing from one chord to the other slowly and carefully. If you are troubled by training your hands to do the chord shapes you might want to consider buying yourself a Gripmaster. This is a gadget that helps you strengthen your fingers and develop callouses on the fingertips. Also light gauge strings are a little easier for an older guitar student to practice on.
Something that is possibly a little more important for an older newbie guitar player is the need for daily practice. Make yourself a schedule and stick to it religiously. It might do some good to occasionally get a lesson from someone who is not your regular guitar teacher. Even from a friend who does not play in your style. The change can help keep you out of a rut.
Keep your guitar handy all the time. Sometimes if you have a bunch of family and professional commitments that keep you busy, you can do more playing by grabbing the guitar for a couple of minutes when you can, instead of trying to find a regular half hour a day. If this is the way you have to go to get your quota of practice, then so be it.
You will probably benefit from getting a decent guitar to learn on, whether electric or acoustic, and the general rule about acoustic guitars being kinder to the hands in the first couple of months of playing still applies.
Finally, you will possibly need to keep reminding yourself that the reason you started to learn guitar was basically to do with having fun. Don't get too bogged down in the idea of guitar practice being what you "have to" do. Not having your parents to cook and clean for you, will put you at a disadvantage compared to most young people so don't be surprised if younger students progress faster than you. The point is if you keep at it you will be playing any song you want within a couple of years.
Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.This article is free for republishing
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Tags: reassurance, teen years, forties, guitar player, young person, guitarists, guitar players, learning music, music theory, mature age, guitar student, learning guitar, guitar students