Age And Guitar Playing

If you began playing guitar in your late teens, 20s, 30s or later, you may believe that you are too old to learn to play guitar well.  There is a common belief that in order to become a great guitarist, one must have started playing at a very young age and those who began playing guitar later in life have little or no chance to become good musicians. 

Fortunately, the reality about the issue of age and guitar playing is totally different (and a lot more inspiring) than what conventional wisdom may lead you to believe. 

While it is true that people in their 30s, 40s or older typically have a somewhat harder time to learn guitar compared to teenagers or younger adults, the reasons for this are NOT due to these people being too old to learn to play guitar well.  The reality is that older people typically have greater responsibilities in life (such as providing for a family and/or dealing with a demanding work schedule), lack belief in their own potential to learn guitar or simply do not make guitar a high enough priority to practice it daily.  These distractions act like obstacles that stand in the way of you becoming the guitar player you want to be (and can become) and lead to perpetuation of the myth that age has a negative effect on guitar playing.  Many older people begin playing guitar (to fulfill the dream they had since childhood), but due to one of the reasons listed above, they very often leave the guitar behind and never even realize that they stood in their own way of learning to play music the way they want. 

In contrast, teenagers typically are a lot more driven and excited about playing guitar than adults and are freer from real life responsibilities (such as having to work and provide for a family) which helps them to have a lot more time to spend on practicing and improving their guitar playing. 

The good news is that although you cannot do anything about your age, you CAN easily and simply "choose" to make guitar a higher priority in your life to practice more, find a good guitar teacher to help you learn more effectively, start believing in your potential to become a great guitarist and become a better musician as a result. 

Ultimately, it is your choices that will determine whether or not you are too old to learn to play guitar well, NOT your “age” (which is nothing but a meaningless number).  If you are truly passionate about playing guitar and are really driven to become the best guitar player you can be, stop worrying about how old you are - go out and achieve your dream!

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