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Darlo Debs 3:10 Sun Sep 17
Anyone on here.....

Learned to.play an instrument in.later life.?

I am.learning the guitar....
Mostly with the help.of YouTube videos. If anyone on here can pass in any handy hints and tips it'd be most appreciated.

I.know 4 chords but am.really struggling with reaching some if the chords. C major is a real.bastard.

Cheers in.advanxe

El Scorchio 3:18 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

Depends. If you have small hands and you’re Learning on a thick or wide necked guitar like a nylon strung acoustic then it will be a big stretch at first. You have to get your fingers used to being in an un-natural and stressed position.

Also it’s not helpful if you’ve a guitar with a high action which means you’ll have to press harder on the strings which always makes it more difficult. Paradox that a cheap guitar is often harder to play as a learner than a good one when you’re better…

mallard 3:27 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

Practice simple chord changes like C to Am where you only have to change one finger

Mike Oxsaw 3:33 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

I've been a gnat's breath away from buying a synthesizer on several occasions. Can't play the piano, so I guess lessons would be in order.

The only reason was that I built one as a school project when I was about 13/14 (when transistors had legs) and it actually got used (once, before it burnt out) in a school concert.

I just love what they can do with sounds - nailed on I'd never actually get anything resembling music out of the thing, though.

Darlo Debs 3:49 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

Scorch I did buy a cheap guitar as I wasn't sure if I'd take to.it. I had a wobble and stopped practicing for a while but have taken it back.up.again.

On The Ball 4:22 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

I'd love to learn the steel guitar. Watching one on ebay but I just know it'd end up collecting dust.

Darlo Debs 4:26 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

I a..trying to.jist lean a dozen songs so.i can do.music therapy sessions with the residents at work.

El Scorchio 4:27 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

Debs- that’s the annoying paradox with guitars for sure! You’d be mad to drop lots on one as a beginner but because they are obviously made more cheaply made they are usually somewhat harder to play. It’s usually the distance of the strings from the fretboard so you have to use far more pressure to fret a string. No real fix for it either especially if it’s an acoustic. Hopefully yours isn’t too bad in that respect.

I totally second what mallard said. And going from A minor to C is great advice. Am is pretty easy to hold and then you’ll get loads of practice stretching your third finger. Loads of it is muscle memory as well as to where the fingers must go, after a while. Unfortunately you just have to plug away at it. There aren’t any shortcuts!

Darlo Debs 4:51 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

Yeah I am.learning Three Little Birds and there are lots of Am.to C changes and one E to.C as well. Hopefully it'll.help.

BRANDED 4:54 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

I am both classically trained and self taught on different instruments. Started at the age of 7. Made a living out of it amongst other things. I only have one piece of advice for all musicians. Make it sound like something ypu would like to listen to. Too many students focus on technique and not on the beaty of sound.

Eastside surge 5:22 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

I played the triangle in a reggae band for a number of years, I just used to stand there and ting!

WHU(Exeter) 5:32 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

I taught myself harmonica. Painful on the neighbours, as a wrong note on a harmonica sounds VERY wrong.

Did the cliched Dirty Old Town to death, until getting to the point of being able to play along to Neil Young stuff fairly well. Ditto Nikki Sudden’s stuff, where the harmonica on that is quite different.

Played at a festival once and only once, for a mates band, and my legs were shaking like a good ‘un. Improvised to songs I’d not even heard before and didn’t get booed off, which I was pretty chuffed about.

Darlo Debs 6:06 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

Whu don't fancy playing any instrument I have to.blow

yngwies Cat 9:47 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

Played guitar for many a year, but always fancied the piano.

Enrolling on a course next week to learn

Looking forward to it.

Good for the brain

Darlo Debs 10:12 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

YC it feels like the musical.equivalent of trying to rub my head whilst letting my belly.

Darlo Debs 10:13 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

*.patting

Bungo 10:33 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

One thing I found in the early stages, was that my progress wasn't linear but occurred in a series of steps, with a flat section in between. This is important as you may have stages where you feel you are practicing but not necessarily making much progress.

What I found was that if I kept on trying, sooner or later there would be a noticeable jump in what I was able to do. Sometimes this was a few months.

Lots of people I knew became discouraged by this apparent lack of progress, but you just had to be patient and wait for the next upstep in ability.

One other point is learn on the best possible instrument. Cheap ones are almost always harder to play and make progress harder.

Good luck and keep at it!

Darlo Debs 10:37 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

Cheers Bungo.... much appreciated

zebthecat 10:56 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

Depends on what you want to play Debs.
Acoustic or electric?
One thing to remember is that most acoustics are far less less forgiving instruments to play.
I learned to play rock on and electric and all you need is 2 chords - E barre and A barre. Just move them around the neck and bingo.
I learned playing along to Ramones records and it helped that I was a very decent bass player to start with.
Anyway, my advice is to practice a lot. It takes longer to get things into your muscle memory as you get older. Getting to the stage where you play without thinking about it is the goal..

Wils 10:57 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

I took up the piano in my 40s. Started learning alongside my son. We are both currently at grade 6 (out of the 8). He is 15 this year and I just turned 50.

I had the same anxiety as you about starting in later life so I read Alan Rusbridger's Play It Again. His book is about returning to the piano in his 50s rather than starting out afresh but he speaks to lots of people including neuroscientists about what the brain is capable of in later life and I found it all reassuring that I wasn't wasting my time. Although members of my household who listen to me practice may disagree. There is brief video where he talks about the book https://www.theguardian.com/music/video/2013/jan/11/alan-rusbridger-chopin-video

What I would say is learning alongside someone much younger you do notice how much more effort you need to put in to progress. My son learns new pieces so much faster and with much less practice than I do. Also we have been away from the piano for a couple of months and have just returned to it. I noticed my pieces were very rusty and I had to relearn sections to get back to where I was. He sat down and played them first time without too many mistakes. So although there is nothing stopping someone from learning in later life you have to accept your brain is not as malleable as it once was so progress takes more effort.

Eerie Descent 11:25 Sun Sep 17
Re: Anyone on here.....

Practice, practice, and loads more practice. Absolutely no easy route, at your age and wanting to learn quick you just have to do the boring hard yards of repeating 3 chords over and over again for as long as your patience runs out, then change up the 3 chords. Eventually, it'll just click, but it'll take a lot of time.

Buy this, the best, easiest to play most beautiful little guitar for not a lot of dough. You will thank me later.

https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/gretsch-g9500-jim-dandy-flat-top-in-2-tone-sunburst

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