Anybody else learning in their later years

[BradArmpitt]

i will be 57 on the 28th. I got back into guitar I think three years ago. I took my severance and bought my dream fender.

I used part of my severance to buy my PRS Custom 24. lol

[RoloZ]

I guess 42 is not later years (and I still feel young), but seeing so many young guitar players around YouTube, I'd say I started (well, returned to) playing guitar quite late.

[dan52]

65 here. started playin 3 years ago. sold my cat for my geetar

[Monie21]

Hi
I'm 37 and have only started about six months ago and love it i took it up as i have been diagnosed with systemic lupus and i am no longer to partake in my sports or any outside activities i needed something that was going to keep me mentally active as i was used to being a high functioning person so the guitar and learning music has become so imperitave on so many levels. I have learnt a few songs and am now working on singing and playing and i never knew i could sing until i started playing my guitar well

[BetThisNameAintTaken]

I am 61 which all by itself slows my learning abilities. On top of that I have arthritis setting in on my fingers. I got into this when I was 60 with some background in playing. I find it mentally challenging and rewarding. I find that when stressed about something I can lose myself in my guitar and feel so much better. Another thing I find challengingly rewarding is playing chess. But playing chess does not give me the creative outlet that playing my guitar does.

[BootSQ]

32 pages of older beginner players, perhaps Jam Play can get some songs that an older audience can relate to and appreciate.
Sorry at 52 I'm gonna pass on the level 4-5 difficulty Metal and Rock songs. It would be nice to have some easier songs for us older folks.
As this tread is titled "Anyone Else LEARNING in their later years". Jam Play is gonna lose an older audience if its geared towards kids,
funny thing is us older folks are the ones with the credit cards.

[MoparRules]

32 pages of older beginner players, perhaps Jam Play can get some songs that an older audience can relate to and appreciate.
Sorry at 52 I'm gonna pass on the level 4-5 difficulty Metal and Rock songs. It would be nice to have some easier songs for us older folks.
As this tread is titled "Anyone Else LEARNING in their later years". Jam Play is gonna lose an older audience if its geared towards kids,
funny thing is us older folks are the ones with the credit cards.

Hey Shawn, I typed "Country" in the search field on the JamPlay member webpage and it yielded lots of country style links.
Check it out: http://members.jamplay.com/search-re...h_text=country

[arpegadream]

I am 61 (and a half, every day counts at this point!).

I also played as a teen, and was a star pupil in HS with my music teacher (I think she just cared about me though). I've owned some good guitars and played very very infequently over the years, but after my gear (valuable things I got with my own money as a kid) I kind of got disalusioned and gave up. I never thought I could be serious beyond the bands I was in. I was also in a great deal of misfortune over the years, mostly for being an honest person.

My family and friends got on me about the idea that I was a potential prodigy as a kid and should have never stopped. For whatever reason, now that I am in my 60's and I've done the science and tech and many other jobs trick, I really really want to do something with what seems like some ability I have.

I'm realizing that I am approaching a point where I have to learn other people's music before going further but honestly I want to beat my own drum eventually.

[nwhy]

I'm realizing that I am approaching a point where I have to learn other people's music before going further but honestly I want to beat my own drum eventually.

Playing other's music and playing your own are two different things, two different directions.

If you read the stories of our older stars, many learned guitar by listening to 45s or LPs and trying to play the songs they liked. That was long before YouTube and the Internet. It's a hard way to learn, but it is also an excellent way to learn for those with enough patience to spend enough time on it.
Those guys not only learned how to play guitar, they also learned how to listen. They learned how to play what they hear.

There is a huge difference between playing what you hear and playing what you see on paper or playing by memorizing where to put your fingers.
If you want to play your own music you have to learn to play what you hear in your head.

As a general rule, the more you learn to play somebody else's music, the less able you are to improvise your own. That's not a hard and fast rule for everyone, but if you want to go your own way, don't put it off, start now. There's nothing wrong with either way. Find the combination which works best for you.