Can you be great at guitar late in life (age 33 and total noob)

Go Neofist, Go!

yeah that was fucking sweet! I'm trying to learn too.

at our age we realize the music is far more important than the ass most of the time.

The music is successful when the emotion generated THROUGH you reaches the earth (and other people) and returns to fuel the next note.
Regardless of the instrument the notes are generated within before the beginning, Loss of self leads to great improv.

Never practice,only play.

this is a fucking kid...so if you cant do anything you are def a nooob

I recall reading that Ben Franklin was quite a violinist, and when asked when and how he had learned, he replied that he had started young, at age fifty-six, and practiced while waiting for clients who were late for their appointments.

I first picked up a guitar at age twenty-four, which I thought was a pretty late start back then. Music is and should be about enjoyment. If you are not enjoying it you won't practice or play.

I love the Ben Franklin story. I frankly (puns suck) thought I would get more flaming or no response at all this way shocking and encouraging. I also like the Marty video. It kind of brought back some old stuff from back in the day when I played this bass.

Holee crap!! That was friggin awesome!! Such talent and love of the music evident. Must listen all the way,the kid is just experimenting with half steps on a piece he already mastered.

I am a 32 year old guitar player so I will try to add some perspectives.. I agree with some replies, with a few I don't.. If you want gigs learn bass.. I suggest electric bass as standup is more blugrass and jazz.. Depends on what you want to do, as you get older you might need to get more hours in then someone younger, so you might need to play 300 hours to be where a younger kid might get by 270 hours, but it is all personnel too. If you have experience with other instruments, big plus.. Eventually you will have more than enough technique, the rest is all knowledge (songs, scales, being able to hear and recognize progressions in your head...) Another words, auditory visualization.. I play jazz amongst other musics so in 20 years of playing I've had years that had me play 5 hours a day, have had 2 month spurts of 12 hours a day, and getting some 12 hour days in each month with atleast 2-5 hours each day is pretty essential to a musican (performing..) many of my heroes play 8 hours a day everyday, no vacation or breaks.. Now if you just want to play some songs and have fun, I suggest 2 hours a day, but at least one hour every day with a metronome, Also pract, ice variety, some scales, some chords, some rhythm, some stretches that hurt after a few minutes... make goals.. 2 hours a day is not enough to ever become a master, but enough to learn and do well enough to play rock, country, blues tunes and even jam with a shredder who will do all the complex stuff.. Listening is the most important skill.. Some cats have mad chops and don't know what to play when, if you only play single notes but always play the perfect note, you would still be the better jammer.. So outside of all the physical stuff, it is the mental understanding and visualization that will give you the most... As much as I practice, I had faster scales at 21 then now at 32, but I can play complex ideas now that I could have never done at 21, because then it was all stamina and fire, now it is refinement and knowledge.. let me restate that, I could play fast forever back then, now I get tired if I play 64th notes for an hour straight, but I never need to in a musical setting, and can skip across ideas and have focus and development which I was lacking at 21.. so it is all mental after you get the physical down.. Also, guitar or piano are best suited if you want to play songs by yourself, after that mandolin.. Don't pick up a brass instrument unless you expect to be playing with people a lot, monotonal instruments are great, and I love sax players, but the sax players I listen to are monsters who can always get gig with a bassist and piano... If you are only playing an hour a day, guitar can make chords etc... Violin, Sax, Trumpet are great instruments if you play with someone else, or you are a master.. but then it will take 10 hours a day for a long time before you can entertain (and blow away) people by playing sax by yourself... And the masters like Sonny Rollins will out play even Eddie Van Halen solo, sax vs guitar... but if you are a enthused amatuer.. stick to guitar..

Name one great guitar player who started playing after 30.

The real "talents" in the guitar world are usually born with musical talent, and they use the guitar as one of their favorite instruments. Could you learn to play adequately? Yes. Even very well. But will you ever be a concert quality classical guitarist (or it's rock music equivalent)?? I doubt it. That should not dissuade you from learning. You may find you have far more talent and affinity for it than you ever knew. There are cases of people who did not have the chance to learn music as kids and as adults find out they are in fact super-talented.

All great advice. I would add to the sax thing that if you can find one cheap this is one of the easiest instruments to learn to play to entertain a crowd. In my experience a harmonica is a more troublesome critter.

Even if you have no talent I would still reccommend you play. Its all about the love of music. You should be able to play in a group within 2 years if you want to share music with a couple of players. Just enjoy the ride, enjoy the peace it gives you and just start.

before I even can see if I can think of anyone, only musicians who switched instruments come to mind, there have been some great piano players who switched late in life but had played another instrument intensively till then.. No matter, I think we have established that this cat wants to learn to play and not be one of the "greats.." The main reason is to be great, 10 hours a day for 5 years, or 5 hours a day for 10 years.... If this cat is 33, and he already doesn't have a practice lifestyle, to be great by 43 is already straining (5 hours a day) his job, marriage, kids... That is why it is easier when you are wrong, you can avoid those responisbilities and practice hard... And relastionships, while the partner will sometimes be annoyed at a musicians life style they already accept it as normal and enjoy the payoff of having a creative musician, getting to have thier partner know many people and having good music around the house... I doubt a partner will be as willing to deal one month in of 5 hours a day (and the cat syill can't play and is noisy..) and patient with the response.. "But Honey! 10 more years of this and I'll be great!!!" 1o hours a day however, go ahead and file for divorce..,. But to play some popular rock and blues, .. 2 hours a day.. you can play some Dylan tunes, enertain family and friends at a bonfire.. Enjoy your current life.. But Great? Great comes at a huge sacrafice.. And many Great musicians have died poor and destitute known for their greatness only by other musicians... It's the old joke.. Does anyone listen to jazz who is not a musician? Yes, but they are all ex musicans... lol

I meant Young instead of Wrong.. sorry for they typo... Point being.. To be great in the sense of enertaining and having fun, totally doable... to be great as in cats are astounded and are transcribing your solos... Whelp.. As I said, musical great... being that great.. most non musicians don't even listen too.. I mean.. Stanley Jordan, Pat Metheny, George Benson, Kurt Rosenwinkel..

glad you love it...

Wow, that was huge. Thanks for the advice, very thorough.

Wayne, your Marauder MK2 is no match for my Nova Cat. If you don't believe me, I challenge you to a dual.

Last Edited by Shpong on 01/12/2011 11:57 AM

Answer: Yes.

Yes, of course. But since when is 33 "late in life"?!?!?!?! You're barely out of diapers, kid.

why not? not like you have to be the next hendrix,but you can still jam out some tunes til the day you die.