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Am I too Old???


george wooden

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For 50+ years I have been telling my kids "You are never too old to learn". A few years back I added, "Learn to play the guitar" to my bucket list. A moment of weakness came over me and now I am committed. I have always had a thing for Martin and Gibson guitars, I love both very much, did I make a good choice???

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Welcome George....

 

Great choice. J15 right?

 

Do yourself a favor, and take it to a shop and tell them you like the action nicer and easy and low. As a beginner, you will appreciate the easy playability, and want to play longer.

 

Great guitar, and again, welcome to the acoustic forum... There are noobs here, seasoned famous folk in hiding, and a whole mess of hacks in the middle (i raise my hand here).

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Good advice from Sal on the pro set up. Get yourself a nice capo and I suggest you mount it on the first or second fret and just leave it there. The string height should be super low now and much easier on the fingertips. That first position (first fret) off the nut is often the hardest to press. Don't forget the digital tuner and the nail clipper. Have fun and play often. I hear it only takes 10,000 hrs to master a skill. Another suggestion that some will disagree with...get a wall hanger or stand and keep your guitar where you can grab it without futzing with a case. Take at least a half hour/day. Learn chords. Most songs have only 3 or 4.

 

Here's some inspiration...

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Welcome George....

 

Great choice. J15 right?

 

Do yourself a favor, and take it to a shop and tell them you like the action nicer and easy and low. As a beginner, you will appreciate the easy playability, and want to play longer.

 

Great guitar, and again, welcome to the acoustic forum... There are noobs here, seasoned famous folk in hiding, and a whole mess of hacks in the middle (i raise my hand here).

 

Thank You, I appreciate the welcome, and yes, it is the J15. I could not get past the sound and outright beautiful wood on this guitar. I pray my physical limitations don't get in my way (I am dealing with tremors). This appears to be a great group of people on this forum, should make my remaining years fun and joyful indeed. I was going to attach a picture of the back but was not permitted to do so due to size limit

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.

Welcome.

 

Nope, you're not too old.

 

And you did fine - the J-15 is very nice slope with a nice price.

 

Congrats and great to have you on-board. . B)

 

 

.

 

Thank You, BigKahune. I wrestled for a while over the choice, finally decide, Gibson. Now the kids can fight over the guitar as well as all my camera gear.

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You are never to old to learn! If you have the drive, you will learn. There is no doubt about it!

 

A Gibson J-15 is, in my opinion, the single best choice for a determined beginner. Even if you spend $5000 on another guitar, there is no gurantee it will be any better than a J-15. It's a guitar you can keep for the long-run. The J-15 is constructed in a way that does not compromise on tone or playability.

 

The capo advice is good. I recommend the one in the top left here:

 

http://www.paigecapo.com/product_display

 

Best of luck, and keep us posted on the progress.

 

Lars

 

By the way, I found that fingering chord positions, and practicing chord changes (chording hand only, not actually playing) while watching TV was a good way to learn without even thinking about it.

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For 50+ years I have been telling my kids "You are never too old to learn". A few years back I added, "Learn to play the guitar" to my bucket list. A moment of weakness came over me and now I am committed. I have always had a thing for Martin and Gibson guitars, I love both very much, did I make a good choice???

 

 

You're never to old to start something new, and you're never to old to learn.

 

I'm 70, and still learning guitar. At least I think I am...

 

Just remember: progress comes with practice, but progress is not necessarily linear.

 

Lars makes a good point, by the way. I sometimes sit in front of the TV listening to music in my head and fretting the guitar while barely touching the strings with my picking hand, so as not to bother my wife. Then a commercial comes on, and I start playing and REALLY bother her.

 

This helps you get used to forming chords, and incidentally helps develop or maintain your fretting-finger calluses.

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Thank you, Rabs, I enjoyed the two videos greatly. I have to learn to walk before I attempt to run. if nothing else, I am determined.

Well good luck with it..

 

When ever new players ask me about learning.. What I say is that there IS a hump you have to get past... Just training your fingers to move a certain way and hold the strings down firmly enough.. And all I can do is assure you, if you are determined and its something you want you WILL succeed. Getting past that hump is the hardest bit, the rest is more fun :)

 

My brother in law started when he was 40, by the time he was 42 he had learned most of the chords and strumming patterns and then started on stuff like scales.. Hes now 45 and I would say he can play a guitar.. He has even gone as far as to perform in public with a group... So yeah.. NEVER too late...

 

Best advice... Play things at a speed you can play them with no mistakes... Then once you get it slowly increase the speed you play it at. [thumbup]

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Good advice from Sal on the pro set up. Get yourself a nice capo and I suggest you mount it on the first or second fret and just leave it there. The string height should be super low now and much easier on the fingertips. That first position (first fret) off the nut is often the hardest to press. Don't forget the digital tuner and the nail clipper. Have fun and play often. I hear it only takes 10,000 hrs to master a skill. Another suggestion that some will disagree with...get a wall hanger or stand and keep your guitar where you can grab it without futzing with a case. Take at least a half hour/day. Learn chords. Most songs have only 3 or 4.

 

Here's some inspiration...

 

Thank you, Jedzep. I am receiving a lot of great advice already, and it is all things I would not have known starting on my own. I am righteously impressed with the welcome I have received thus far.

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Welcome here! As others have said you are never too old. There are a lot of success stories of people starting later in life or coming back to playing after a long hiatus. With all of the available tools today (tuners, online lessons, YouTube videos etc.) It's a great time to start. It looks like you nailed the big tool! The J 15 is a great guitar and beautiful to look at. It shows your sincere commitment to the task.

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You are never to old to learn! If you have the drive, you will learn. There is no doubt about it!

 

A Gibson J-15 is, in my opinion, the single best choice for a determined beginner. Even if you spend $5000 on another guitar, there is no gurantee it will be any better than a J-15. It's a guitar you can keep for the long-run. The J-15 is constructed in a way that does not compromise on tone or playability.

 

The capo advice is good. I recommend the one in the top left here:

 

http://www.paigecapo.com/product_display

 

Best of luck, and keep us posted on the progress.

 

Lars

 

By the way, I found that fingering chord positions, and practicing chord changes (chording hand only, not actually playing) while watching TV was a good way to learn without even thinking about it.

 

Thank you, Lars. A capo will be one on my next purchases. I really appreciate all the excellent advice I am receiving, Y'all are great folks.

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You're never to old to start something new, and you're never to old to learn.

 

I'm 70, and still learning guitar. At least I think I am...

 

Just remember: progress comes with practice, but progress is not necessarily linear.

 

Lars makes a good point, by the way. I sometimes sit in front of the TV listening to music in my head and fretting the guitar while barely touching the strings with my picking hand, so as not to bother my wife. Then a commercial comes on, and I start playing and REALLY bother her.

 

This helps you get used to forming chords, and incidentally helps develop or maintain your fretting-finger calluses.

 

Thank you, j45nick. I like the idea y'all brought forth regarding fretting the guitar while watching the tube. That really has merit. I will get my practice in this evening after church.

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Welcome George! You made an excellent choice. The only thing I may contribute, unless I missed something , is to read the "care and maintenance" part well. High end guitars need a lot more attention than lower end ones. Especially the proper humidification and finish maintenance.I'm a big stickler on that, cause these babies are not cheap.I always appreciate stories like yours! Again, welcome !

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Welcome here! As others have said you are never too old. There are a lot of success stories of people starting later in life or coming back to playing after a long hiatus. With all of the available tools today (tuners, online lessons, YouTube videos etc.) It's a great time to start. It looks like you nailed the big tool! The J 15 is a great guitar and beautiful to look at. It shows your sincere commitment to the task.

 

Thanks, aliasphobias, Y'all are awesome encouragers. I am very happy with my decision to go with the J15 rather than the martin 000-15 LE for about $500 more. I could not hear that much more in tone, to me the tone of the Martin was restrained in overall range, and the looks were no contest.

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Welcome aboard sir! The J-15 is a wonderful choice you made, have fun. [thumbup]

 

Thank you, kwalker201, I am planning on having fun, I just had to realign my thinking a bit. What I used to do for fun my body refuses to permit these days. The mind says, hell yes but the body jumps up and says not a chance fool. I had to realize I was no longer bullet proof. The guitar fits in real well now so I said OK.

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