West Ham Online

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

How do you know when your drummer is at the door?

As a drummer the best advice I could give you is to stop.

Billy yes I have had a lesson and am.hoping to have some more when finances permit

Darlo I took up the guitar earlier this year after 4 or 5 years playing Ukulele... I've treated myself to a guitar teacher and started with an electric rather than accoustic. It's worth learning some of the theory around the fretboard.. a bit of an eye-opener when you realise how barre chords work up and down the fretboard.

Collyrob abso-fucking-lutely not . Tbh I sm.surprised it took.that long for some on here to come up.with such filth :-)

Best of luck Debs. Give it a year and you'll be knocking out bubbles.

Theres no magic to it. Basically play scales and chord changes over and over and over again. In a few years if you do this every day you'll be decent.

Bungo 1:44 Mon Sep 18 Another vote for these. I have a Pacifica fat strat and picked it up for less than a hundred quid second hand and it is decent quality and very playable. Depending on what guiitar you are after Fender Squiers are a pretty good as is Epiphone if you'd prefer a Gibson on the cheap. Both can be bought seconf hand for not a lot and they are great value for what you get.

Another Tip is to avoid hitting the top string unless you’re playing an E or a G. It sounds awful!

collyrob 2:18 Mon Sep 18 hahahaha

https://youtu.be/hdzmz-Ew3Mc?si=blf2jYHnhFgOKaUi Here you go‚Ķ ?üòÅ

Any videos of you strumming it Debs?

"Darlo Debs 9:48 Mon Sep 18 The Yamaha Pacifica has long been regarded as an excellent choice as a first electric. https://hub.europe.yamaha.com/ssdb23-product/112v-pacifica?utm_campaign=ssdb23&utm_source=google&utm_medium=uk&utm_content=gtr&utm_term=112v&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw6p-oBhAYEiwAgg2Pgopt9SL8EOsgl7sHAkNyE_DBB9Xe3PURWVK3uwEoY8MHZwm9Kf7ypxoCjsYQAvD_BwE Personally I would buy second-hand from eBay or Reverb as there are many available out there at frankly unbelievably good prices, but buying new from a shop will give you a lot more chances to ask lots of questions, both at the time of purchase and later on as they inevitably crop up. Do you have a guitar hero or genre that you wish to head towards? This will also help inform other choices along the way."

"Debs try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ePA_CClorE#:~:text=so%20the%20chords%20would%20be,d%20major%20and%20e%20minor."

I used to play mainly bass guitar and some 6 string up until my late 20s. I sort of picked things up again when my boys hit around 8-10 and went to Saturday band sessions. I got my eldest a second hand Fender for 400 quid. As mentioned cheap guitars are harder to play. Their fret boards are are crudley cut and the strings will be higher from the board so you will need a lot of pressure hold down a chord. So a lot depends on budget. A Yamaha will be OK but personally I'd go to a shop that sells 2nd hand ones and ask their advice. You may get a bargin like I did. I can whomail their name but it's in Chelsea.

Hi all ..thanks for the tips. Blindman I was recommended to get a yamaha which I might get after Xmas... Ray I.like that tip.about learning to play my favourite song..... Eerie....see you can be nice to me .

"Hiya Debs. Been playing classical guitar for 50 years. Have only ever owned one guitar - a Yamaha that was second-hand when I bought it. That one Eerie recommended looks like a good starter but I'm sure you'd pick up something decent second-hand for 50 quid. Just make sure the neck is straight and the action isn't too high. Don't be put off by the unnatural stretch you have to make for some of the chords. It will come. Use your little finger for the top E (i.e. bottom string)when you play a G chord - it makes transitioning to 'C' much easier. Bottom E, i.e. top string, use ring finger and A string, use middle finger. As soon as you've mastered half a dozen chords, start learning some simple picks - it will open up a whole new world. Lastly, pick up the guitar at least once a day, if only for 10 minutes or so. Good luck!"

Eerie has blown a good few 6 to 12 inch instruments and wind over the years

"When I first picked up a guitar (when I was 25) the best advice I had was to pick my favourite song, find out the chords and learn to play them, your familiarity with song will make it easier to take in. Mine was The River by Springsteen, by learning just those few chords opened up many other songs for me. Try not to practice more than about 20 minutes a day, not only will it be less boring but your fingers will get sore until you build up some callouses. BTW, if your favourite song is American Pie, pick something with less chords. ?üòÅ"

"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"

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.

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.

"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.."

Cheers Bungo.... much appreciated

"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!"