I learned to play about 40 years ago. Today you have the Amazing Slowdowner and other programs that allow you to learn a song without the pitch changing. 40 years ago I would turn the record player down from 33 1/3 rpm to 16 rpm to learn songs. Then you had to deal with songs that had their pitch changed by the artist, tuning down a half step or even a whole tone. Proud Mary comes to mind. If you have patience you start to get it after a while. It's a good journey!

Boy, I am so glad this thread has started. The guitar has been a double edged sword fo me my entire life.i (at 62) I have picked it up and put it down, and picked it up and put it down my entire life. Back and forth. I am at a place now mentally, that I feel I can focus.I like some of the recommendations here as I have discovered the vast amount of tools we have at our disposal.

I had sold my guitars 15 years ago but am back in the saddle with a couple of additions. A 2006 Martin “Aura” and a Gretsch “Electromatic”.

https://imgur.com/a/zn09920

https://imgur.com/a/6bjc1Tz



I can see were guitars could be an addiction like guns..

I must say I am really enjoying this journey.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
you might also want to track down a piece of software called Amazing SlowDowner

it can take a song from your PC and slow it down to hear the individual notes but not altering the pitch

I find it extremely helpful when trying to figure out exactly what notes a guitarist is playing

I use this software, too. Highly recommended. While slowing down a fast passages is awesome, the best part is the ability to tune the song to your guitar instead of the guitar to the song. Makes me practice more not having to retune between songs.

Haha, I said that like I actually ever practice anymore.

Just bought a Yamaha acoustic and started taking lessons about a month ago on my 52nd birthday. Never played a musical instrument before in my life. Thanks for the link to Justin Guitar! Really helping me learn/reinforce what my instructor is teaching me!

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.9mm:
Just bought a Yamaha acoustic and started taking lessons about a month ago on my 52nd birthday. Never played a musical instrument before in my life. Thanks for the link to Justin Guitar! Really helping me learn/reinforce what my instructor is teaching me!

Like you, I took up guitar at 53.....7 years ago and haven't looked back! It's become a major part of my life and now play open mics every week.

+1 to everything said so far. I'll just add...

I self-taught myself guitar at 16. I'm now 67. I own 23 guitars ranging from nylon string classical to acoustic 12-string, Les Paul electrics, Fender Strats (and Teles), and some very oddball/rare instruments.

A year ago, I decided to take lessons. There is such a thing as not knowing what you you don't know. My instructor really helped open my eyes as well as correcting some bad habits.

But here's the thing: I make a point to play guitar (I never call it "practice") at least five minutes every day. Most days, that five minutes stretches out to 15, 30, etc. But not a day goes by that I don't pick up a guitar and play. Which brings me to my other point: Always make your guitar easily available. I have a carbon-fibre KLŌS guitar that is on or near my sofa. That means it requires little thought or effort to just (as Pete Townshend sang) "pick up my guitar and play."

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.9mm:
Just bought a Yamaha acoustic and started taking lessons about a month ago on my 52nd birthday. Never played a musical instrument before in my life. Thanks for the link to Justin Guitar! Really helping me learn/reinforce what my instructor is teaching me!

Like you, I took up guitar at 53.....7 years ago and haven't looked back! It's become a major part of my life and now play open mics every week.

Cool! I ran into another gentleman at the Guitar Center store who's in his 60s and just took it up three years ago. Maybe there's hope for me still. Just can't imagine playing in front of anyone yet

I strongly agree with playing every single day even if only 5 minutes.

Something I find really helps is playing the 5 major scale patterns. You do not need to worry about the notes, theory, roots, etc. That can come later. Focus on 1, maybe 2 patterns and add others in a week or two.

Think of them as 5 patterns that butt up against each other. They can be moved up and down the fretboard as a group and will not change the pattern.

Work on playing them slowly and cleaning, picking in an alternate directions to the beat. After a couple weeks, focus on minimizing how much you move your fingers. Also move the patterns up and down to different sets of frets. Playing on the first 4 frets feels way different than playing up the neck.

That is one of the best fret and picking hand exercises that will have added benefits later when you realize what it is you are actually playing.

You will find your fingers are much more accurate when you try to play other things. It takes a few weeks to develop the muscle memory. This is what I consider a couch exercise while watching TV in the evening.


Find simple songs you enjoy to learn your basic chords. There are tons of them. Take your time trying to play them cleanly. Take breaks if needed. It takes a while but you will improve. By a while, I mean weeks and months.

Learn your Minor Pentatonic scales. I played in a bar band for years and other than the chords of the songs, and of course the right notes to the leads, etc., any improvising could be accomplished with just the minor and major Pentatonic scales. That's not all there is but it lets you get by without making any "wrong" notes. This is provided you are playing simple rock & roll!

great suggestions. thanks everyone. I ordered a cheap Hal Leonard Guitar Method off Ebay to have something on paper to refer to. Once you click on a Youtube video you start getting lots of recommendations. Learning ELP's From the Beginning is definitely on my list.

Not the best way to learn guitar

quote:

Learning ELP's From the Beginning

One of my favorite songs and I've been working on it for literally 7 years. Greg could flat pick! I've played it at open mics a few times and it doesn't come out half bad. Learning to sing it with the playing was a whole other level!

I downloaded the Ultimate Guitar app to my iPad. It became the only app I pay a subscription for. It provides a huge searchable database of tabs for artists and songs which you can save, print, listen to etc. It is endlessly entertaining and keeps the juices flowing.

quote:

Originally posted by SHOOTIN BLANKS:
I downloaded the Ultimate Guitar app to my iPad. It became the only app I pay a subscription for. It provides a huge searchable database of tabs for artists and songs which you can save, print, listen to etc. It is endlessly entertaining and keeps the juices flowing.

Once they offered lifetime subs. I forgot the price but it was worth it.

My newest addiction/addition, set up correctly and an intonation tweak and this is BLOWING MY MIND!! It ain’t bad on the eyes either!!

https://imgur.com/a/1GKGwW6

https://imgur.com/a/DM7VlRB

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
I strongly agree with playing every single day even if only 5 minutes.

I first started playing guitar back in the late 70s, basically only purchasing electrics. Like many, I go through spurts of activity and dry spells. But for the last 4 years, I have played perhaps 15 minutes, and actually haven't picked one up in nearly two years. Tried playing a couple of weeks ago and man, my fingers are rusty, sloppy, and sore after 10 minutes. Just purchased my very first acoustic this week, a Martin, and it is a great guitar, just a joy to pick up and play. But I need to get my hands and fingers back into shape. I figure if I can spend 10-15 min a night playing, my calluses will return and I'l start to get the hang of it.

Since Greg Lake was mentioned, here is a video of me playing another Lake song. Don't know how to embed, sorry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rGoyVgQGZs

You can do this!

^that was awesome. Another of my favorites. My guitar arrived today. It was an anniversary gift from work. I thought it would be a classical but instead it's a standard acoustic steel Yamaha F325D. I got Angus Young hands so let the stretching begin

I’m another one. I picked up a guitar and a chord book in 1962. I learned enough by the time I got to high school to play out in a band. A couple of years later I got disgusted with the characters I was playing with, so I quit playing altogether, and sold everything except my Stratocaster. Fast forward to 1996. I met a guy in my engineering group who encouraged me to play again. I doubled down to relearn, and concentrated on the blues genre. Then I started playing rock tunes from when I was younger (now classic rock). With some hard work I got to the level of playing out again. Now for the last 20 years I am having a ball again.

I have always thought that the guitar players that are “greats” do indeed have that special gift. The rest of us just have to work and work.

Grab a guitar and get to work. The new online stuff is something we could not have dreamed of. Great theory by great instructors, free lessons and tab; it can’t get any better. Yes.

I would urge folks to look at Jerry' Guitar Bar. It's a paid site (some songs are free), but he's a wonderful instructor.

Justin is good, but I just can't stand the guy for some reason.

Collecting guitars can be more expensive than collecting guns. Can you believe my wife knew the exact number, including the one buried in the closet, when someone asked?! I had to stop and think about it.