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Learn Guitar At Any Age
by Ricky Sharples
Many people think bout being able to play the guitar but need reassurance about what to expect when they try tolearn guitar at a late age in life. By late I mean forties or fifties but really it the term can apply to any age past theteen years. A bonus for mature age guitar students is that if you learn guitar it can actually help keep your handsand mind alive and healthy. There's an additional benefit in that your friends and family will think you are a hero before you even are able to play.Learning guitar late in life is open to anybody but the question is if it is easier to learn guitar as a young person,does that mean it is harder when you are older? Let's say you are able to do one lesson per week with about ahalf hour a day's practice?You will probably benefit from getting a decent guitar to learn on, whether electric or acoustic, and the generalrule about acoustic guitars being kinder to the hands in the first couple of months of playing still applies.Older guitar students so tend to have some hassles learning music theory and note reading but it is worth thestruggle and many guitar players use tab to learn material and tabs are available freely on the internet for anysong or instrumental that a beginner could want to learn.If you find yourself struggling with the more theoretical side of music, then you could make up for it byconcentrating more on technique. You can learn a lot about the guitar just using your ear and a diagram of thenotes on the fretboard, and remember that many guitarists who played all their lives never learnt to read music.Changing chords is the first big hurdle for guitar players of any age, and can lead to a mental block for older students. So, just start with getting the chord shapes right and work on changing from one chord to the other slowly and carefully. If you are troubled by training your hands to do the chord shapes you might want toconsider buying yourself a Gripmaster that helps you strengthen your fingers and develop callouses on thefingertips. Light gauge strings are a little easier for an older guitar student to practice on.Something that is possibly a little more important for an older newbie guitar player is the need for daily practice.Make yourself a schedule and stick to it religiously. It might do some good to occasionally get a lesson fromsomeone who is not your regular guitar teacher. Even from a friend who does not play in your style. The changecan help keep you out of a rut.Another tip for the mature guitar newbie is to keep your guitar handy all the time. Sometimes if you have a bunch of family and professional commitments that keep you busy, you can do more playing by grabbing theguitar for a couple of minutes when you can instead of trying to find a regular half hour a day. If this is the wayyou have to go to get your quota of practice, then so be it.Finally, you will possibly need to keep reminding yourself that the reason you started to learn guitar was basically to do with fun. Don't get too bogged down in the idea of guitar practice being what you "have to" do. Not having your parents to cook and clean for you, will put you at a disadvantage compared to most young people so don't be surprised if younger students progress faster than you. The point is if you keep at it you will be playing any song you want within a couple of years.
Ricky Sharples has many more tips for guitar players of all levels at his blogLearn How To Play A Guitar For Free, a continuously updated directory of free guitar lessons, videos, chord charts and lots of useful guitar stuff.
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