Old beginner starting over

[Sam Brown]

Hello all...

I found this forum doing a google search asking , "Am I too old to become a professional jazz guitarist....

Well here's the situation. I am 50 years old, yes 50. I was given and old cheap strat imitation when I was 8 years old back in the 60"s. It was heavy and my dad had wound it with stiff Black Diamond strings that had about an inch of action from the neck! It was a bear to play. I "played at it" off and on until I was a teenager and soon gave up. I could play the A, C, D, G and F chords and move around in them fairly well, but that was about it. Every other effort above this was daunting. I thought all guitars were this hard.

I had joined my middle school stage band only to be relagated to the back, last chair to play acoustic rythum while the better players played leads and solos. I was horrible. Most everyone either laughed at me or just ignored me. I stopped playing all together for over 30 years.

At age 48 while at a church conference, I was inspired by some pretty good sounding novices to pick up the guitar again. My son had an old Samick acoustic and started strumming again (hey it was better than my 1st guitar as a kid). A new and different passion began to stir inside of me to play again. The people that I had heard at the confernce were good, but I know that I could do the same thing did only better. The difference was they tried and practiced and had instruments that were easier to play. I went down to the pawn shop and picked up an Carlo Robelli which had a better sound and very comfortable action. I had become a church pastor and I began to write and compose praise music. I played the basic chords I had learned as a child and ventured into nicer bar chord versions of the same chords and some octave progressions.

It's been 2 years and I have written and registered 10 songs. My skill level is no more than intermediate at best, but passion for playing and skill is consuming me and growing daily. I viewed some earlier posts, some of which brought back down to earth that I'm probably too old to become a professional jazz guitarist. However 2 posts from a dude called Franco and Herb Baker gave me a lot of courage.

Look, I know the chances of me becoming a paid, recognized professional is farfetched. But I have Pro Tools software and Abelton Live and I've put together some stuff that people I know kinda' like. So whether of not I'm ever recognized outside of my circles is irrelevant, I can go where I want with this in the churches I attend and the people I hang around who respect and like my stuff. Some of the comments on the posts taut getting serious as a child or a least a teenager to ever have a chance to be a professional. The problem is some of us just don't get it when we are young, not taking the right things seriously. With age comes maturity, focus and a single-minded commitment to things suited for our talent, drive and fate.

Yes, when we are young there any generally less distractions. Generally.... but for me I was more distracted because I WANTED TO DO EVERYTHING in life when I was 15-30 years old. When you try to do everything you usually don't do one thing particularly well. Now at 50 I'm laid-off from my career and semi-retired. Kids are grown. Now I can make a committment and I have the time (usually). For me the only advantage in youth is the longevity of seeing the fruit of early committment if you are aware of what's important when you are young.

Ok, so I won't have the longevity that youth could have granted me, but I sincerely believe that a passion from deep within, gives life purpose and can cause our remaing years to me extended and enriched.

So is it too late at 17, 20, 35, 50 70 or any age? Whatever, man! I'm jumping into this thing with both feet (I mean, hands). However the outcome, I will better a better musician than I was when I quit 30 years ago.

I'm glad I found this forum and looking forward chattin' and learning from all of you....

Peace,

Sam

[MikeJ]

Hi Sam
Never to old to try..
You have a good seven or eight years advantage on me
Being semi retired I am also working hard at learning, having fun and maybe someday someone will pay me a dime or two to play for them.
Its a great time in life when we can start to relive the dreams of our youth and with a bit of luck, dedication and patentiance who know what may happen
Good luck with it all and welcome to the group

Cheers

Mike

[guitarhedgehog]

Crumbs, you're young yet! I dabbled in guitar all my life and went along for lessons at the first time at around your age thinking I knew quite a bit....but of course "Streets of London" and "House of the Rising Sun" wasn't really enough, especially since I couldn't even play a major scale!

But here I am now, in my early sixties, still with a lot to learn, but playing regularly with friends made at those evening classes, and with others I've met along the way. I'm "gigging" with a 10-piece jazz band and sometimes smaller groups - we don't make any money (£15 for the last gig I did to cover expenses was pretty good!) - but the main thing is, I'm having fun and playing with others is a fast track to improvement for me.

I've accepted that I'm never going to play blisteringly fast solos, or get anywhere near the level that people on here have achieved, but I enjoy learning from what they say to improve my understanding - and I'm still going to those evening classes.

I'd imagine writing your own material is also a geat way to learn? Anyway, much too long a reply to say keep on keeping on and not to get overawed by the pros - in my view, the good ones always support anybody who's interested in learning.

Dave

[whatswisdom]

Originally Posted by Sam Brown

So is it too late at 17, 20, 35, 50 70 or any age?

No!

Join up with the William Leavitt Modern Method For Guitar Vol 1. study group. (Look for the Thread on this forum.) It's growing by the day. Make it your 2012 resolution. By year's end you'll be playing at Birdland, mate.

[Sam Brown]

Thanks guys. Looks like fun ahead!

Hey whatswisdom....... I hate capos too, what a cop out (lololol)!!!

[brwnhornet59]

Welcome aboard. There are lots of us middle age guys in here. Follow your dream, but keep it real.

[mississippi]

Originally Posted by whatswisdom

No!

Join up with the William Leavitt Modern Method For Guitar Vol 1. study group. (Look for the Thread on this forum.) It's growing by the day. Make it your 2012 resolution. By year's end you'll be playing at Birdland, mate.

can you tell me more about this

interested

[PirateNigel]

Originally Posted by mississippi

can you tell me more about this

interested

This thread here.

There's the thread he was referencing. It may have been one of the other threads he was referring to but this one is the beginning of the study group.

[charlesrodewald]

I started playing before you were a twinkle. Jazz was my first love but I rolled off course and I've messed with lots of other things over the year. Now I'm working on jazz stuff to become a better backup player for my fiddle player wife. Just got a new archtop to add to the stable ( a D-18 and a J-45). Getting ready to celebrate another zero birthday and it ain't a 6 in front. Practice, Practice,Practice!!

Charlie R

[brwnhornet59]

Charles, work on your drop 2 & 3 chords. Great stuff for accompaniment.

[AmundLauritzen]

It is never too late to reconsider your priorities. Now, you have to be realistic by considering your situation. Do you have a wife and/or children that take up a lot of your time? I'd assume you still have a day job at age 50.
The less practice time you have, the more effective you have to be.
You should design a practice schedule that distributes your time evenly to all areas of playing according to your goals. If you want to become a good soloist and accompanist, then devote your time to that and make sure you become a well rounded player. Do you want to be a one man band just playing solo guitar, then spend more time on that.
If you want to have it all, then you'll need a lot of practice time, or the patience to look forward and realize that it will take a lot of time.

But most important of all: enjoy the process. Find a way of practicing that makes you return to the guitar again and again. The mental part is the hard one, and motivation can drop fast if you practice inefficiently.
But that depends on your personality. Some people need to have rewards in short intervals to persevere.

On that note I want to welcome you to the forums and wish you the best in your musical journey. This is(for the most part) a positive minded community.

Keep us posted on your progress.

[zipidachimp]

50? haven't seen that in 18 years! took all kinds of lessons as a kid and 40-ish, none of them ever took for one reason or other, guitar, mandolin whatever. now have way too much time on my hands, so thought I'd do something productive besides listening to music. ha! we'll see.
scouring all the sites for info and a jazzbox at a low price, epi or ibanez.
was looking at an LP, but that probably isn't such a good choice.
spending way to much time on the web !

ps: global warming can't come to soon for me, too damn cold here.