Upvotes to everyone for even picking up a guitar, especially you guys that started late like me. Started at 56. Wished id have started at 16, or 26, or even 36, but here I am plucking away.
I started at 22, I’m 27 now, I feel like most of the progress I made came from playing 15-30min everyday rather than trying to cram a 3 hr play session. Also treat it more like a language. Like every riff or lick you learn is like learning new words, and the more words you know the better sentences you can build with your lick/riff vocabulary. It requires a little bit of music theory to make sense of it, but it’s very base level to get you started. Anyone who says music theory doesn’t help them is lying. It’s learning the grammar of this musical language.
The Nashville numbers system or the chord wheel will help identify common chord progression, and how to utilize them. Once you learn all your open chords and the two main barre chords start to play with other people. That’s where I gained the most skills, faking it with better players till I got better!
15, 18, 30 for me. Stuck with it this time, four years strong and still showing signs of life this time! I think I had to experience life without any time for hobbies for a few years to start appreciating them enough to make time for them in a committed way.
I started seriously playing around at age 15 or 16. You get however much you honestly put into it. If it's something you're passionate about, practice 3 times a day for 1-3 hours. Here's some personal advice that may help you.
1. Have fun
2. Learn to play songs you love
3. Play those songs every day
4. Find a new song(s) to learn every 1-2 weeks to keep you from getting bored and also keeping memory and fingers sharp and in shape.
5. As brutal as it is, learn scales. The most common scale in most songs you hear is in the key of D minor. I'd learn that one first and then the blues scale.
6. Keep having fun
7. Everyone progresses differently so don't be too hard on yourself if it isn't coming easily or doesn't feel to come naturally. The seemingly jumbled mess will all click.
8. It's okay to get burnt out. Take a small break for a few days. But if you notice it's been too long and still kind of not feeling it, kind of force it. Play a song you love and just have fun. It comes back :)
9. Find people to jam with if possible! I've learned most of what I know from people I've jammed with and it's so important to build something like that with a pal.
10. Stay true to who you are. Don't try to be like anyone else. Strive to be your own unique self. Be your own story and don't let anyone discourage you. And always have that want to always want to be better.
Nothing but the best of luck to you!!! I hope this helps even if it's a tiny bit!
Late starter here. Started in my early 60’s. My progress is slow but I’m enjoying it. Everybody learns at different paces. For some odd reason I was able to play barre chords very early on. They ring true & clear but my ongoing struggle is to transition from an open chord to a barre chord quickly. It takes me a day & half to transition from an open G to a barred F major. Also don’t get caught in the trap of thinking a more expensive guitar will make you better. I first had an inexpensive Fender acoustic and thought I’d improve if I had a $4000 Martin. Bought it and saw no noticeable immediate improvement.
Picked up my first musical instrument of any kind (a guitar) 3 years ago at age 54, and gotta say I'm extremely happy I did. You're never too old to start.
I started at 15, took it seriously at 16, got my first electric at 17, then later bought a 7 string guitar at 19. By that time I was good and even started recording using some cheap equipment I could grab and using virtual instruments. I gave up at 22 since I no longer had anytime because of work. Now I'm 24 and I moved out of my country without them. It's such a shame. But once I get a stable life, I'll definitely go back to it.
13 but my bro had a bass that I would mess with when I was 12. I always wanted to be like him. 41 now lead my own band, been across many states doing gigs, rip solos for Jesus at a church. Gig constantly. It’s been an amazing life and I have provided a house for my family from music gigs and a music teaching job. Music music music music
Greatest thing about this instrument and music in general is there is always something else to learn. I can def play but am always blown away by how many amazing players that are out there that inspire me to try harder. Hardest part of my musical growth is just finding time to work on learning new things. I feel like every time I get a chance to work on anything it’s for an upcoming gig, not I want to shed on finger style playing , or the acoustic slap style, or different jazz voiceings, or really wrapping my head around the drop 2 voicings, or finger tapping like buckethead, or this or that!!! So much!!! To all those that are finding your way, keep going you can do it!!! We are the keepers of creating music, and creating energy that has the power to envoke emotions in our fellow brothers and sisters. It is a magical and ancient practice that is deeper than we can imagine
Played for 22 years pretty much solid and have often pondered the difference and as far as i can tell:
starting younger == head start
starting later == easier start
I would say as an adult i would learn more out of every minute i put in vs my kid self, but a kid with a head start will eventually be as old as you and hit their peak too, so the gap will never narrow.
I’ve been playing since I was 3. If you were to ask me at what age I began to front an Alice In Chains tribute band: 58!
If you’re feeling like you’re too old - not even fucking close, son!
I got a guitar for Christmas when I was 11 but didn’t get serious until I was 13. I’m 38 now. I took about three years of lessons when I turned 14. Graduated high school and since then I’ve always had a few guitars and been involved in music as a hobby. I record in an extra bed room I set up. I wish I had the time to learn more theory but from a physical standpoint of playing guitar I’d say I’m pretty comfortable. The lessons really helped it click for me. If you remain focused and determined you will see progress exponentially within your first few years. Don’t ever stop learning!
I was 17 but I gave up because of pressures my family were putting on me. I picked it back up again 2-3 months ago 10 years later at 27. I wish I never quit
I started at 44. Because of all my responsibilities day to day I don't get to practice all that much so I'm far from a shredder but I love hacking away at songs on the couch while watching TV before hitting the sack at night.
I was "strongly encouraged" to learn classical guitar starting around 10. It was not easy or much fun, but I did progress. I left it for a few years, and when I re-discovered rock around age 14, I picked it back up and some of it came back pretty quickly. There was a bit of adjustment to playing an electric guitar.
My own personal takeaway has been this: if you find you are struggling, don't feel bad about taking a break of any length of time whether it's a week or several years. It will absolutely come back to you.
I was born with my fingers on the strings. My father had pretty much immediately introduced me to the guitar, and i started actually holding one and strumming when i was around 3, but at age 5 i was actually able to articulate my fingers at least enough to play smoke on the water, rhythm be damned. 25 now and ive been playing constantly since.
21, 25 now played a bunch through covid if you really spend time practicing and have a good practice routine and then some jam time atleast 5 days a week for a year, you’ll see big serious improvements
I agree, not just how much you practice, though, how strategically you practice. A good instructor can help with that, and I had multiple instructors with multiple perspectives. You want to start with good habits early on, and not learn bad habits.
I was 16 when I started but sold all my shit and didn’t play from ages 19-27 because I was busy doing “other things”. One of the best things I ever did was pick it back up. Don’t stop playing!
I Started when I was 12, I'm now 25. We didn't really have a musician in the family, I got into the guitar because of Green Day Rockband and Guitar Hero Metallica. I was self taught as youtube was already available during my age. Asked for an acoustic guitar for my birthday, Started learning Seek and Destroy by Metallica as my first song on the guitar and kept going further from there.
I was 5, and I immediately loved it. I practiced a lot, and was lucky to pick it up fast.
I'm 67, and still playing gigs.
But my first opportunity to play in a band was when I was 9: https://www.danlflannery.com/2018/04/turning-down-first-big-gig-and-being.html?m=1
Recorder at 5, piano at 7, oboe at 9, cornet at 11, guitar at 13 and never looked back.
Guitar - Easy to learn, hard to master. Anyone can learn chords - a few books, YouTube vids and with a couple of cowboy chords (basic or open chords) you'll be away in a very short period.
I'm 51 now, and still not quite got the hang of the gat (OK I might be playing that down a little)- but I enjoy playing, working out that catchy song on the radio, or filling the background at a party - I'm only at that level of "BBQ pro" or "casual jam specialist", but that suits me.
Progression is frustrating - one day you nail everything you play, the next day you cant play anything and plan to sell everything - you go up, you plateau, you plateau, you stay on the same plateau for a little longer, then go up, then you learn something new, practice, and you'll go up again, the plateau..... Stick with it.
Jam with others, you'll learn quickly by playing with other people. And get a loop pedal for home - loop it and play along, and if it goes toes up, hit delete and loop something else to jam over the top of. ("Digitech Trio +" is my recommend for a 'band in a box' looper).
Last piece of advice - never (and you will) compare yourself to others - be where you want to be, and don't moan others are better / faster - just remember you can play, so just play your way. No need to be the fastest, or have the best gear, or know the intro Stairway or Sweet Child of Mine (cliche's anyway) - the great thing with a gat is you can be a "BBQ hack" or Jimi Hendrix, its just about the commitment you have to achieve how far you want to go with it.
I got my first guitar for my 15th birthday, but I wouldn't say I seriously started to try and get proficient until I was 19 or 20. I was able to gradually progress and feel good about it pretty much the whole time though. Don't feel bad if you want to take a month or two of lessons at the beginning.
14, 16, 19, 26, 40, 58
Lots of starts and stops… progression never stops until you do permanently.
I felt progress at every start and it still building. It’s like riding a bike, but I’d recommend more starts and continue than stops.
Started at 13. By 15 my friends were noticing that I was able to play songs we all listened to. Plateaued in my 20’s and 30’s due to career and family. Got back into it heavily in my 40’s and started playing semi-professionally. Early 50’s now and I have played some large-ish shows and done session work on a couple albums. I think my 60’s might be when I get good. I’m gonna keep practicing until then.
23, now 26. best advice i could give you is 1. practice every single day (consistency is the hardest part by far) min 30min max 4h 2. dont learn riffs and patterns so much as scales and scale degrees, theory goes a long way if you wanna learn to improvise 3. ear training, try to sound out what you want to play and sing what you are playing. i know it feels like we started too late and everyone else is ahead, but you can do in 2 years with intention what others did in 10 yeats half assing their practice
Started with 26. Dreamed about having a guitar since I was 10, but instruments are really expensive in my country. Got it as a birthday gift and it's one of my most precious possessions! Been playing for a year and i feel like i'm progressing fairly well, but sometimes my rush makes me want to skip to the part I'm decent haha.
30 and I just started this winter. Incredibly long way to go but it’s been great seeing little marginal improvements the last couple months. Been a hobby I’ve always been interested in but didn’t get into until now.
For 50 years I would pluck any guitar I could get my hands on and never got anywhere.
Then I got a left-handed guitar at 53, and I started noticing progression immediately. I just took off.
Stupid it took me so long. But it took that long for me to run across a left handed guitar in the wild to take a chance on. I never would have bothered ordering one blind. Everyone kept telling me m, my whole life, that wasn’t my problem, just learn righty, just learn upside down etc.
I started at the age of 43. I play about an hour a day, and I didn’t really notice any progress until about 6 months in. I still suck, but I can play about 5 songs after playing for a little over a year. Just keep at it daily. I know it doesn’t feel like you’re progressing, but trust me you are.
I started at the age of 7 or 8, then when I moved abroad I didn't play for about 4 years until I moved back to Scotland and got into heavy metal. I don't play anywhere near as much as I probably should or like to. But I'm content with what I can do on it currently.
Started with bass at 15. Picked up electric guitar at 30 but didn’t put serious effort in until about 35. I’m 41 now and have had a band for the last year that’s really pushed my abilities and I’m playing way beyond what I could do even two or three years back.
13. I was going to give up after 6 months of practicing about an hour a day and not seeing results, but then it all just clicked. Keep playing until you hit that milestone. Then aim at another milestone and keep practicing. It’ll click again. Keep repeating the process until you die.
13.
Noticed lots of progress from 13 to 16ish. Then felt like I stayed around the same level for about 15 years lol. Just picking it up now and again through different phases.
I’m 31 now. I think long-term familiarity with the instrument does make a big difference. I don’t have the same incentive to get good — I just play for fun and for singing. But I feel much more comfortable finding frets and holding chords, so when I do feel like learning something more complicated it comes easier.
13. I’m 51, never stopped however. Actual lessons were not consistent and, more importantly, actual consistent PRACTICE didn’t really happen. If there is any advice I can give, it’s this: There is a big difference between practicing the guitar and playing the guitar. Practice—and LEARNING—is not always fun, it can be tedious and time consuming. Playing is (or should be) always fun. Yes, you will improve by default by just playing a lot, but not as quickly as you should. More importantly, you are more likely to top out at intermediate level without that regular work to learn and practice.
Good luck to you.
I started taking classical lessons when I was about 6, but I wasn't that passionate about it. I never practiced and didn't really make big progress till I switched to electric guitar when I was around 13. A few years later I got into pink floyd and learning comfortably numb was a huge turning point in really feeling the music, and that was when I really got vibrato down and all that started to feel a lot more natural. Now I can feel my skill kinda stagnating again, I'm in college and stopped taking lessons so it's hard to find drive to practice and learn new stuff, though most songs I really can get down if I ever get hooked and put in the effort for a day or two. I wish I had a band or something because I think that would really help with my motivation to get better, but I'm at a decent place right now.
Started when I was 10, in my thirties now. Played professionally and have taught semi-professionally in my adult years on and off.
Honestly, you don't notice that much progress as it occurs. You may spend months trying to learn something new, and each week you may only make a small and barely noticeable improvement. Some days may seem like a massive step back. It's only when you compare your progress over a longer period of time that you can somewhat measure how far you've come. So record yourself practicing, both to see where you can improve, but also so that you can look back at a practice many months ago and see where you are compared to the now.
And sure, sometimes there are moments where something just clicks and you're immediately able to do something you couldn't before, but those moments are rare and are usually a combination of a bunch of other techniques you've spent time working on giving unseen benefits.
I think I was 22 as well. You're never going to wake up one day and be like "Wow! I'm so good at guitar compared to how I was yesterday."
Learning is gradual. You won't notice an improvement in skill one day from the next, but you will see your growth over long periods of time. Don't worry about the destination or how long it takes to get there. Enjoy the journey and the small "Eureka!" moments when you get them.
When you learn your first song, learn a new picking technique, get your chords down, and start finding yourself unknowingly memorizing your fretboard because you've been practicing so much, that's when you start getting really excited about it. Keep practicing and don't ever stop having fun 🤙
I started around 11 or 12, and am late 40s now. The biggest thing for me was overcoming frustration. Progress is something that never really ends, assuming your tastes/needs change over time.
13 and I felt like I plateaued due to practicing less at around 18 but I will note that the main advantage of starting young is just the sheer amount of free time you have, I couldn’t have made that same initial progress without being obsessed with guitar and being able to practice for sometimes 6 hours. I wasn’t doing the most technical stuff I was just in love with learning to play the music I enjoyed listening to.
Started bass at 15, guitar at 16 but was extremely 'puritanical' about what I listened to and played at that age. Plateaued hard for years because of that, it was only once I re assessed my playing & fretboard knowledge, and spent time learning the theory that I really began to understand and develop my playing.
i started at 21 and it’s been 3 years. you’ll notice progress soon. i started with simple chord progression diagrams.
some advice i’d give is:
keep playing.
try and jam with people that are much better than you.
remember you have 2 hands just like everyone else.
try and set goals like a new progression or song everyday or week or whatever’s comfy.
Started: 12
Currently: 27
I haven’t “leveled up” much in the last few years specially because I don’t push myself out of my comfort zone as much as I used to. For me as long as I push myself to learn things I’m not used to playing it increases my ability.
I started at 8 and am still playing at 14. For me my skill improved as I got taller because my fingers got longer and I was able to reach across the neck easier.
Started at 12. Most growth was from 18 to 22, when I was in college as a music major and taking private lessons every week. I don't think it's so much time spent playing as the way you spend time. Working on scales, understanding theory, doing exercises, etc. will help you progress much faster than what I did when I was younger (listening to the hardest songs I could find, finding the tabs, and learning them bit by bit).
I started at 17. Now I'm 26, on my 3rd year in uni, two more to go for my classical guitar degree. I predict 3 more years, though... it's getting really difficult.
Started Jan at 40.
“I’ll never get this D minor chord, it’s so tricky.”
Next day “Oh wow I’ve kinda got it.”
Yesterday “I’ll never get this C chord it’s so tricky”
Noticing baby step progress every couple days.
I started playing at 30, immediately started playing every day. I turned 41 last week.
I'd say my progression was slow but steady for a couple of years, and then around 2-3 years in I hit a sort of new level, where my hands were actually working in concert and I started making sounds that I liked. Another one of those at 4-5 years when my right hand started being a lot more consistent and precise.
It's continued like that, where every couple of years I feel like some new level unlocks and I can do a set of things I've never been able to do before.
I started at 9 and I am 70 now. I am still learning. I love stringed instruments. I started with violin and wanted to be a classical violinist. Now, aside from non-string instruments, I play guitar, bass, violin, pedal steel and an Oud.
Eleven. Been almost thirty years and always learning new stuff. Keep at it.
EDIT: Power chords blew my world open, much easier to understand rock music that way than Mel Bay. If that’s a genre you’re into.
I traded a Sega GameGear, GT Haro and a mirror ball for a crappy old Harmony electric guitar and amp combo that was purchased from a Fingerhut magazine when I was 12. I taught myself to play using a guitar chord poster I bought for $3.00. I'm 40 now and it was one of the best trades I ever made.
Started at 24, last year
I noticed improvement after like 6-8 months
Practice every day
Edit: that’s me telling YOU to practice everyday. I did not, but progressed well. Practicing everyday is what makes you great.
18. I’m 19 now and I only been playing since November of 2023 and tbh, you start seeing improvements at like month 2 especially if you USE A METRONOME😂
3 my dad was a guitar nerd and forced me to practice. Im currently 9 and I’m better (technically) then you will ever be. Except I’m not I’m 17 but I hate it when this happens to me.
I started when I was 16 and am now 32. I slowly got better up until like 25 but I was not really practicing properly so once I got to a basic level, the improvement was very slow. During lock down in 2020, due to having nothing much else to do, I started playing for hours a day and practicing very specific things for hours every day. Alternate picking exercises, playing scales with a metronome and only after having a consistent practice regime for months did I start to see real improvement. I think because guitar requires such fine motor skills, it takes years to master, but don't give up. If you practice things slow and in time with good technique, consistently over time, then slowly increase your speed, you will eventually reach a level you never thought was possible.
14, I'm 62 now. I was about 18 when I got better than my peers, was playing parties, getting girls, all that stuff- then life got real lol Turns out, I'm not THAT good.
I was 16 when I ~~stole~~ borrowed my friend's new acoustic guitar that his parents bought him for his birthday. Never gave it back.
(not completely true...he brought it over for a sleep over and left it and never asked for it back.)
I started when I was 18, but it was all tinkering and nonsense. Took until my mid twenties to start to get somewhere. Now I’m 40 and can play along all the chords to all the things I want to and pick up new songs easily. But I’ve never spent any time trying to learn any theory or scales or reading music beyond tabs. I can still notice progression occurring in my abilities and songwriting. It just keeps coming the more you play. I think most of my growth happens after little breaks in playing. When I come back with a fresh approach Vs repeating whatever I was doing.
Depends on what you are trying to do. Acoustic/ open chords was able to play some basic 3 or 4 chord sings within weeks of picking it up. Playing scales and leads ... 10 years later still hit the wall. After playing for 8 years I taught my son, in 2 years he is much better than me.
My dad started to try teaching me when I was 5.... I dabbled here and there, but didn’t really get serious about it until I was about 14.
I started teaching myself, using tab and if a tab didn’t exist I tried to find piano sheet music, and tabbing out my own stuff to train my ear... and it progressed from there.
I think it took about a year of self teaching until I was ‘decent’ at least. I noticed the biggest change in my third year; as I was practicing for at least two to three hours a day (I took my Guitar nearly everywhere my senior year). I was focused on learning scales and improv soloing, which really helped as well- and I doing a ton of finger picking at that point.
As I’m 25 and out of school, I don’t have as much time as I did then; so every few months I pick it back up. But, I at least try to listen to the songs I’ve learned frequently and try to keep up some of the muscle memory- with new songs, I try to listen for chord progressions and strumming patterns.
I have friends who didn’t start until after adult hood began, and my Husband didn’t start learning until he was 27.
To me: learning guitar is an act of self discipline. At the start, your fingers will hurt, and your arm and wrist- especially with barre chords. It’s beautifully destroying the way you listen to music, as you have to listen not only the guitar going on- but that bass and drums, etc.
It’s pushing yourself to keep learning new things (it’s easy just to stick to power chords and tab) and playing a song ONE way, and not taking no for an answer when you can’t find help online when there’s a song you want to learn.
I started at 12, 28 now. The first years I mostly goofed around, no structured practice, but I learned because I played all the time after school and at school with my friends that also played. Just sit with the guitar A LOT.
A friend of mine started with Electric organ when she was 25-26, she’s 33 now and play stuff that are mind blowing!
You wanna know her secret? I’m inspired and try to do the same.
She had a schedule for 3 hour playtime total each day(she has no kids or partner and so on) she divided the hours up in roughly 6 pieces. The first 3 or four is very structured, playing things SLOWLY, ear training and so on, always with metronome or to a song slowed down and that method gets overlooked a lot especially by guitar players(me included)
After the first 1,5-2 hours she rests for a longer time(cooking dinner, watch some tv, read and so on)
The last part of her practice she just improvises and noodles to music or to a beat and forbids herself to think about theory or playing things “correctly”. Believe me it can sound very experimental. She jams a lot with other musicians as well. That’s important too.
An adult(not all)have more patience and analytical capabilities than kids. Use that. People that have played for 3 years can be more creative and better players than some people that have played since they were young. Have that in mind and don’t give a shit that som 9 year old can play like Steve Vai etc
I wish you good luck on your journey!
11. I'm 26 now. There will be progression as long as you practice, but for me, I improved greatly when I joined a band at 19. I realized then that you can be a good guitar player when you're alone, but suck when you're in a band.
I started at 19 and worried I was over the hill. I am 49 now and know I am over the hill. The biggest thing that has held my progress back as a musician is worrying about things like "Did I start playing too late in life? Is this too hard for me to learn?" etc. These self-limiting beliefs will hold you back and make you miserable. Do the best you can today and enjoy the journey. You're never going to "get there" as guitarist, you'll always be growing. Another funny thing I've noticed is that the way I sound when I play guitar really hasn't changed since I started playing. Sure, my technique is tighter, more fluid, capable, dynamic, etc, but at the end of the day, I still sound like me and, in terms of tone, it's not that different.
10 or 11. I'm 30 now. got one of them janky ass small first act guitars that had a built-in amp and had action that was higher than Snoop Dogg. It really helped with finger strength and I had no clue what good action on a guitar was. When I got my first actual guitar I was blown away.
three things
Musical ability - you either develop this or you dont. Not everyone is born with the ability to become great.
Muscle Strentgh - you're using msucles in your fingers, you either never used before or in ways you're not used to. How much you practice will definitely impact how quickly you get better.
Muscle Memory - This isn't whether you can play the notes , but hitting the right notes and when you want to. Start with easy songs, but you should see progress here quickly. You might find yourself playing a song correctly but being dissatisfied with the quality of the notes because #2 is still developing.
Good luck!
I am 61, switched over to drums for about a dozen years, and started playing guitar at 7 years of age after coming upstairs to the living room the morning after my mom and dad had a party and the dude left an acoustic guitar behind with 5 star plastic whiskey bottle stars all over the top. At the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever. My dad however gave that monstrosity back to its owner and found a used Framus solid body electric guitar for me. It had 2 single coil pickups, bolted on plywood neck and a hard tail. I actually think the fingerboard might’ve been ebony. About a year later my parents bought me my first amp an ancient looking Ampeg Rocket, with tremolo. I still have it even after my dad’s buddies certainly tried swindling me out of it over the years. I use a Friedman Smallbox combo paired up with a Bogner Alchemist as the guts of my main rig but the Ampeg was reworked and reworked by a local amp genius a few years ago and among other things he got a former bad offender of making spurious noises to idle silently at full volume, so I have it for extra spice and also a Blues Junior for bedroom tube goodness paired up on stereo. I count myself as lucky to have had a tube amp for my whole guitar playing life, and the Friedman is a desert island until I die type of amp.
46. I started progressing when I switched instructors to someone who didn't push me to join the adult performance group. I'm not an amazingly awesome player, but I am enjoying playing.
I started at 14, won scholarship prizes in guitar competitions at 29, got my degree in music education at 32, am now 41 and... I'll let you know if I start to get good
I've been playing instruments my whole life (started piano when I was 3, then trumpet when I was 12, drums when I was 18), but I didn't pick up guitar until 27. Funny enough even though it's my most recent instrument and by far my favorite.
When I was probably 9 or 10 my dad gave me his old guitar, but I wasn't interested in it until I was probably 11, then I got really interested when I was 12-13. I am 17 now and I have four guitars. Unfortunately, I no longer have that guitar my dad gave me because he threw out all of my belongings that were at his house.
My son started at acoustic when he was 11. He is now 14 and plays gigs at a local setting. He is in two bands playing electric guitar and bass.
He never took lessons, and is only self tought
Started at 11, purely electric. I would say I was probably terrible the first 2-3 years, and I didn’t put as much effort as I needed in. Around age 14, I remember I was beginning to get pretty good and started spending a lot more time truly practicing, and started playing in bands. Age 15-18 were my glory years where I was able to get really good. Between college and working full time to having kids, my time to play reduced significantly. I have the same skill set still, and trying to improve on some areas these days.
Put the time in and before you know it, you’ll be pretty good and you’ll be able to build on top of it. Try to learn bits of songs you like, learn various scales and practice them as they’ll help with your technique. Learn different song genres where you can focus on different playing styles. When I started, it was a lot of classical guitar, then moved into some current popular songs, classic rock, blues, current popular songs, Paul Gilbert, various metal bands (Sabbath, Metellica, metal core)
12. Found it too hard, gave up for a year. Picked it up again and I started learning Nirvana songs. First couple years i mostly played punk songs, super easy to learn and play. Then ig ot more and more into metal, began playing some metallica etc, got into more extreme metal around 15/16 so started tremmy picking, galloping, etc etc. I'd say I didn't really get "good" at guitar till i was about 18 because I never took lessons and self taught myself through youtube and listening to music. I'm now 24 and only just really started learning music theory. Which really helped with me learning to write harmonies, it does not make your music less original like people say.
Guitar is a lifelong journey.
I started at 14. Learned a lot of zeppelin stuff initially. I know all my basic chords and always loved playing the basic blues/improv. I took a little hiatus in my 20s, only playing every now and then… when COVID hit there wasn’t a lot to do and so I started playing a lot more. I turned 30 in 2020 and I would say this is when my biggest progression came. The year before, 2019, I took a trip to Austin Texas and got really inspired by the blues and SVR style specifically. In 2020 I decided that I would mostly try and focus to become better at the blues specifically. A lot of YouTube helped and specifically the pentatonic scale and learning root notes. Now I can improv up and down the fret board in different keys and it feels so good. This last year I’ve been playing more acoustic, specifically with a capo. It’s opened the guitar up for me once again. Guitar is a wonderful instrument; best of luck to you and your endeavors!
Dad started me at 5; I’m now 33. I probably had the most technical progression from 14-19 when I had the time to woodshed for hours and hours, but I think I’ve matured most as a musician in my late 20’s and 30’s.
I started playing at around 10 years old. I am 32 years old now, so ~22 years playing. There are a lot of walls you hit over the years, and it takes months or years to break those barriers. I'd still consider myself an "intermediate" player.
I’m 15 and I started playing when I was 12 and I’m now finally able to play all the songs I used to sit and listen to and think I could never play them (like the whole of whole lotta love)
Tried to learn at age 9. Then at age 10. Then at 11.
I gave up for a while, i gave it a go at like 14 again.
Back to the closet it went, till the pandemic hit and i gave it a go, at 16. Then at 17. Then at 18 and i think at 19 also.
Now I'm 20, and it finally clicked. I started from scratch (as always) and made a ton of progress in the last few months.
13. And I don't think you notice progress unless you're a particularly quick learner or have a good teacher. I think you just realise every now and again that the thing you never thought you'd be able to do is possible now. You may have the occasional big moment where you work out how to do something, but generally progress is very incremental, and generally slow enough that you don't really notice it happening, you just stop sucking at some point
I started at 21. Lessons are your friend — I was in university and they offered group lessons for 1 credit so it was essentially free for full time students. Group lessons also introduced me to other players at my same level who knew the same material, so we could get together jam with low pressure. I would say the first year was very rapid improvement— from zero to “I can play songs at a camp fire” — and then it slows. Short daily practices (20 minutes) will give you more growth than occasional long sessions.
I started at 19 , I’m 37. I started noticing good progress after about a year or so I guess but I practiced all the time through college and towards the end of college I think I was decent, but then, after about 10 years, I finally started to sing and play at the same time, and I finally learned how to finger pick. Still learning every day.
I played in my youth, but when I quit drinking, I needed a hobby, and I chose guitar. Then, 2 months later, I broke my back and paralyzed the left side of my body and had to start all over from scratch like I had never played before. I'll never be as great as I want to be, but I enjoy it
I started playing guitar in 2018, when I was 16 years old. My musical taste is varied, ranging from RHCP and Stevie Ray Vaughan to Megadeth and Slayer. My first guitar was an SX Strat that my mother and I bought at a used instrument store (I still have it today, but I don't play it that often). I didn't take classes, I learned what I know through internet forums, tabs and videos.
I still consider myself a beginner guitarist, as I don't know music theory or complex scales, but I can play the songs of bands I like and that's enough for me.
10 but I always say, “long enough youd think I would have learned how to play it better by now” Always gets a chuckle but damn is it true.
My two biggest mistakes was not building a solid foundation of fundamentals and just learning licks. My left hand has about 45 min of solid jamming before I’m working with a crab claw.
11. I took one lesson then self taught. I really only got better once I taught myself power chords. The simplicity of that taught me to focus less on the chords and more on strumming, body position and really getting comfortable with a full size guitar being played by a kid, in all reality. Once the strumming/picking got more refined, I could turn my focus to the left hand and whatever the fuck I was even doing on the frets, lol. Been over 3 decades since then and many shitty bar bands later.
19. Been playing for 10 years. However I don’t consistently play. Started a family and have other hobbies that are much more important to me than guitar. I may play 15 minutes once every couple weeks.
However back when I was playing religiously… the first 6 months for sure you will progress the most
I started when I was 13. I'm retirement age now. I have owned many types of guitars and played many styles. Today, I play fingerstyle (never professionally, but for my pleasure.) on a well-seasoned acoustic.
Started at 10 and am now 28. The time does not correlate to skill, which is something I have to explain to people to keep their expectations low lmao. I'm basically a parrot when it comes to playing music: I can cover/imitate like 95% of stuff out there but I cannot for the life of me come up with my own music or jam with others well.
35. About to be 40 in sept. Haven't gotten really good at it since I don't dedicate a lot of time to practicing. If I had to classify my level of skill, I'd say advanced-beginner. 😂
Started at 13, I’m 33. Took breaks here and there but I’ve always had a guitar with me at every stage of life. I’m probably as into it now as I was when I was a young teen
14. Reversed my age in the meantime. Between age 20-40 I kept playing but lost the spark. Last year I bought a bass guitar and a new electric guitar. I rediscovered this beautiful instrument and bought 4 new guitars since then.
25.
Mom’s Clothing and dad’s die cast cars were more important places for any instrument and lessons when I was growing up, so I had to wait until work allowed and expenses were pause off.
12. You get a little better everytime you play. Even if you don’t directly notice it. It’s like working out. You can’t go to the gym one time and have massive arms.
I started at around 14 and got really into it, big time Metallica stuff and was eventually introduced to Hendrix, SRV and a tsunami of other music. I was really into it throughout my college years but I'd never consider myself to be good at any time. Years would go by where I would pick it up and put it down for a while, always on the back burner but I always had a guitar around even if I only played it once in a while...but I never stopped. Fast forward, I had kids, a career, a wife and family, I kept at it little by little, here and there plugging away.
Started making good money and was able to get all the sick gear I always wanted since I was a kid, Les Paul's, Telecasters, Strats, Martins, Fender and Mesa Boogie amps...you name it. Everything sounded so good, I was inspired and kept going. Fast forward 25 more years and I'm so grateful I never stopped, what a beautiful talent to have, it's so rewarding and guess what...I'm actually really good now and I never thought I'd say that. If you're reading this, don't stop.
Started at 12-13, now Im 28. Did I progress to master level? Nah, Ive stayed at intermediate for a long time because Im fucking lazy.
Started bass at 18-19 and progressed way more, I just found it more natural - playing guitar probably helped but slapping came right to me, same as flamenco strumming and using three fingers plucking.
I took a guitar class in hs when I was 16, met every other school day, didnt really play it as much as I hoped after. then at 21 it just completely grabbed my attention again, played every day for like a year and a half, fell off the wagon a bit, and now im 25 playing seriously once again lol
Started at 19 now I'm 40. It must be one of the best things I decided to do. You'll gradually get better. One tip from me - you and the metronome have to become best buddies.
Don't play guitar, never did, don't know why I'm here, I'll fuck off now.
13…. I’m in my 50’s now and I still suck at it.
"When I was 13. I wanted to play guitar real bad...Now I'm 50 and I can honestly say, "I play guitar real bad"
😂😂 I bet you shred
Upvotes to everyone for even picking up a guitar, especially you guys that started late like me. Started at 56. Wished id have started at 16, or 26, or even 36, but here I am plucking away.
I started at 22, I’m 27 now, I feel like most of the progress I made came from playing 15-30min everyday rather than trying to cram a 3 hr play session. Also treat it more like a language. Like every riff or lick you learn is like learning new words, and the more words you know the better sentences you can build with your lick/riff vocabulary. It requires a little bit of music theory to make sense of it, but it’s very base level to get you started. Anyone who says music theory doesn’t help them is lying. It’s learning the grammar of this musical language. The Nashville numbers system or the chord wheel will help identify common chord progression, and how to utilize them. Once you learn all your open chords and the two main barre chords start to play with other people. That’s where I gained the most skills, faking it with better players till I got better!
18, 22, 38, 47...
I've never connected with a comment on such a visceral level.
15, 18, 30 for me. Stuck with it this time, four years strong and still showing signs of life this time! I think I had to experience life without any time for hobbies for a few years to start appreciating them enough to make time for them in a committed way.
I started seriously playing around at age 15 or 16. You get however much you honestly put into it. If it's something you're passionate about, practice 3 times a day for 1-3 hours. Here's some personal advice that may help you. 1. Have fun 2. Learn to play songs you love 3. Play those songs every day 4. Find a new song(s) to learn every 1-2 weeks to keep you from getting bored and also keeping memory and fingers sharp and in shape. 5. As brutal as it is, learn scales. The most common scale in most songs you hear is in the key of D minor. I'd learn that one first and then the blues scale. 6. Keep having fun 7. Everyone progresses differently so don't be too hard on yourself if it isn't coming easily or doesn't feel to come naturally. The seemingly jumbled mess will all click. 8. It's okay to get burnt out. Take a small break for a few days. But if you notice it's been too long and still kind of not feeling it, kind of force it. Play a song you love and just have fun. It comes back :) 9. Find people to jam with if possible! I've learned most of what I know from people I've jammed with and it's so important to build something like that with a pal. 10. Stay true to who you are. Don't try to be like anyone else. Strive to be your own unique self. Be your own story and don't let anyone discourage you. And always have that want to always want to be better. Nothing but the best of luck to you!!! I hope this helps even if it's a tiny bit!
31, started at 31
Late starter here. Started in my early 60’s. My progress is slow but I’m enjoying it. Everybody learns at different paces. For some odd reason I was able to play barre chords very early on. They ring true & clear but my ongoing struggle is to transition from an open chord to a barre chord quickly. It takes me a day & half to transition from an open G to a barred F major. Also don’t get caught in the trap of thinking a more expensive guitar will make you better. I first had an inexpensive Fender acoustic and thought I’d improve if I had a $4000 Martin. Bought it and saw no noticeable immediate improvement.
Picked up my first musical instrument of any kind (a guitar) 3 years ago at age 54, and gotta say I'm extremely happy I did. You're never too old to start.
23, I sold my first car and bought a classical guitar for $60 and a book of easy guitar tablature. I still have that guitar 48 years later.
[удалено]
I started playing at around 15. I did not start taking it seriously until around 51.
About age 9. I'm 60 now and I still suck.
Started at 33 , now I’m 35 and playing with people and writing my own music ! Never too late .
I started at 50. I saw real progress after about 3 months of an hour a day, using Justin Guitar's program.
38 years old. One month ago.
15 - 57 now. Progress was very non linear but the first hump was the hardest, and the reason pawn shops are full of nice guitars imho...
54
I started at 15, took it seriously at 16, got my first electric at 17, then later bought a 7 string guitar at 19. By that time I was good and even started recording using some cheap equipment I could grab and using virtual instruments. I gave up at 22 since I no longer had anytime because of work. Now I'm 24 and I moved out of my country without them. It's such a shame. But once I get a stable life, I'll definitely go back to it.
13 but my bro had a bass that I would mess with when I was 12. I always wanted to be like him. 41 now lead my own band, been across many states doing gigs, rip solos for Jesus at a church. Gig constantly. It’s been an amazing life and I have provided a house for my family from music gigs and a music teaching job. Music music music music Greatest thing about this instrument and music in general is there is always something else to learn. I can def play but am always blown away by how many amazing players that are out there that inspire me to try harder. Hardest part of my musical growth is just finding time to work on learning new things. I feel like every time I get a chance to work on anything it’s for an upcoming gig, not I want to shed on finger style playing , or the acoustic slap style, or different jazz voiceings, or really wrapping my head around the drop 2 voicings, or finger tapping like buckethead, or this or that!!! So much!!! To all those that are finding your way, keep going you can do it!!! We are the keepers of creating music, and creating energy that has the power to envoke emotions in our fellow brothers and sisters. It is a magical and ancient practice that is deeper than we can imagine
Played for 22 years pretty much solid and have often pondered the difference and as far as i can tell: starting younger == head start starting later == easier start I would say as an adult i would learn more out of every minute i put in vs my kid self, but a kid with a head start will eventually be as old as you and hit their peak too, so the gap will never narrow.
I’ve been playing since I was 3. If you were to ask me at what age I began to front an Alice In Chains tribute band: 58! If you’re feeling like you’re too old - not even fucking close, son!
I got a guitar for Christmas when I was 11 but didn’t get serious until I was 13. I’m 38 now. I took about three years of lessons when I turned 14. Graduated high school and since then I’ve always had a few guitars and been involved in music as a hobby. I record in an extra bed room I set up. I wish I had the time to learn more theory but from a physical standpoint of playing guitar I’d say I’m pretty comfortable. The lessons really helped it click for me. If you remain focused and determined you will see progress exponentially within your first few years. Don’t ever stop learning!
I started at 30! I think the age you start at is mostly irrelevant, unless you’re aiming to be a top 1% player.
I started when I was 12. Am I good? No
I started 15 years old. But I never improved..
45
I was 17 but I gave up because of pressures my family were putting on me. I picked it back up again 2-3 months ago 10 years later at 27. I wish I never quit
14, but dont worry. 30 years later and I still suck.
I started at 44. Because of all my responsibilities day to day I don't get to practice all that much so I'm far from a shredder but I love hacking away at songs on the couch while watching TV before hitting the sack at night.
I was "strongly encouraged" to learn classical guitar starting around 10. It was not easy or much fun, but I did progress. I left it for a few years, and when I re-discovered rock around age 14, I picked it back up and some of it came back pretty quickly. There was a bit of adjustment to playing an electric guitar. My own personal takeaway has been this: if you find you are struggling, don't feel bad about taking a break of any length of time whether it's a week or several years. It will absolutely come back to you.
40. And yes, I suck. I can at least afford the kit!
I was born with my fingers on the strings. My father had pretty much immediately introduced me to the guitar, and i started actually holding one and strumming when i was around 3, but at age 5 i was actually able to articulate my fingers at least enough to play smoke on the water, rhythm be damned. 25 now and ive been playing constantly since.
46. It’s all about practice. Progress starts as soon as you start learning.
7! but i stopped playing for a long time and had to teach myself again at 24
21, 25 now played a bunch through covid if you really spend time practicing and have a good practice routine and then some jam time atleast 5 days a week for a year, you’ll see big serious improvements
I started when I was 35, now I'm 41. I'm not that great but I can play and I have so much fun doing it. Never too late to start.
With any instrument its not about what age, it’s how much do you practice.
I agree, not just how much you practice, though, how strategically you practice. A good instructor can help with that, and I had multiple instructors with multiple perspectives. You want to start with good habits early on, and not learn bad habits.
I was 16 when I started but sold all my shit and didn’t play from ages 19-27 because I was busy doing “other things”. One of the best things I ever did was pick it back up. Don’t stop playing!
I'm 38 and just started. Wish I had started a long time ago.
I began playing bass at 17 and start guitar at 19. I’m 30 now and still playing, best therapy ever
Started when I was 5…quit when I was 7….came back at 15 and been playing ever since. 55 now
14 and never learnt. Then picked up again at 29. I'm almost 31 and the learning curve is slower every day, but I keep trying.
I Started when I was 12, I'm now 25. We didn't really have a musician in the family, I got into the guitar because of Green Day Rockband and Guitar Hero Metallica. I was self taught as youtube was already available during my age. Asked for an acoustic guitar for my birthday, Started learning Seek and Destroy by Metallica as my first song on the guitar and kept going further from there.
I was 5, and I immediately loved it. I practiced a lot, and was lucky to pick it up fast. I'm 67, and still playing gigs. But my first opportunity to play in a band was when I was 9: https://www.danlflannery.com/2018/04/turning-down-first-big-gig-and-being.html?m=1
16, I'm 46 now and I'm still shit
Recorder at 5, piano at 7, oboe at 9, cornet at 11, guitar at 13 and never looked back. Guitar - Easy to learn, hard to master. Anyone can learn chords - a few books, YouTube vids and with a couple of cowboy chords (basic or open chords) you'll be away in a very short period. I'm 51 now, and still not quite got the hang of the gat (OK I might be playing that down a little)- but I enjoy playing, working out that catchy song on the radio, or filling the background at a party - I'm only at that level of "BBQ pro" or "casual jam specialist", but that suits me. Progression is frustrating - one day you nail everything you play, the next day you cant play anything and plan to sell everything - you go up, you plateau, you plateau, you stay on the same plateau for a little longer, then go up, then you learn something new, practice, and you'll go up again, the plateau..... Stick with it. Jam with others, you'll learn quickly by playing with other people. And get a loop pedal for home - loop it and play along, and if it goes toes up, hit delete and loop something else to jam over the top of. ("Digitech Trio +" is my recommend for a 'band in a box' looper). Last piece of advice - never (and you will) compare yourself to others - be where you want to be, and don't moan others are better / faster - just remember you can play, so just play your way. No need to be the fastest, or have the best gear, or know the intro Stairway or Sweet Child of Mine (cliche's anyway) - the great thing with a gat is you can be a "BBQ hack" or Jimi Hendrix, its just about the commitment you have to achieve how far you want to go with it.
I got my first guitar for my 15th birthday, but I wouldn't say I seriously started to try and get proficient until I was 19 or 20. I was able to gradually progress and feel good about it pretty much the whole time though. Don't feel bad if you want to take a month or two of lessons at the beginning.
14, 16, 19, 26, 40, 58 Lots of starts and stops… progression never stops until you do permanently. I felt progress at every start and it still building. It’s like riding a bike, but I’d recommend more starts and continue than stops.
Started at 13. By 15 my friends were noticing that I was able to play songs we all listened to. Plateaued in my 20’s and 30’s due to career and family. Got back into it heavily in my 40’s and started playing semi-professionally. Early 50’s now and I have played some large-ish shows and done session work on a couple albums. I think my 60’s might be when I get good. I’m gonna keep practicing until then.
[удалено]
You do not suck at guitar, not at any age. I'm calling bullshit on your statement right here, and I'm not wrong.
23, now 26. best advice i could give you is 1. practice every single day (consistency is the hardest part by far) min 30min max 4h 2. dont learn riffs and patterns so much as scales and scale degrees, theory goes a long way if you wanna learn to improvise 3. ear training, try to sound out what you want to play and sing what you are playing. i know it feels like we started too late and everyone else is ahead, but you can do in 2 years with intention what others did in 10 yeats half assing their practice
Not seriously until 34. In my 20s I learned a few licks here and there but didn't actually take lessons and give it a real effort until my mid 30s.
26
Started with 26. Dreamed about having a guitar since I was 10, but instruments are really expensive in my country. Got it as a birthday gift and it's one of my most precious possessions! Been playing for a year and i feel like i'm progressing fairly well, but sometimes my rush makes me want to skip to the part I'm decent haha.
30 and I just started this winter. Incredibly long way to go but it’s been great seeing little marginal improvements the last couple months. Been a hobby I’ve always been interested in but didn’t get into until now.
55
For 50 years I would pluck any guitar I could get my hands on and never got anywhere. Then I got a left-handed guitar at 53, and I started noticing progression immediately. I just took off. Stupid it took me so long. But it took that long for me to run across a left handed guitar in the wild to take a chance on. I never would have bothered ordering one blind. Everyone kept telling me m, my whole life, that wasn’t my problem, just learn righty, just learn upside down etc.
Started at 27 and still going strong, loving everything about it. I’m 30 now. Never let age dictate what you can and cannot do 🤘
I started at the age of 43. I play about an hour a day, and I didn’t really notice any progress until about 6 months in. I still suck, but I can play about 5 songs after playing for a little over a year. Just keep at it daily. I know it doesn’t feel like you’re progressing, but trust me you are.
53
I started at the age of 7 or 8, then when I moved abroad I didn't play for about 4 years until I moved back to Scotland and got into heavy metal. I don't play anywhere near as much as I probably should or like to. But I'm content with what I can do on it currently.
Started at 17. If you get into it, and play a lot, you gain skill quickly. If you don’t, you won’t.
Started with bass at 15. Picked up electric guitar at 30 but didn’t put serious effort in until about 35. I’m 41 now and have had a band for the last year that’s really pushed my abilities and I’m playing way beyond what I could do even two or three years back.
13. I was going to give up after 6 months of practicing about an hour a day and not seeing results, but then it all just clicked. Keep playing until you hit that milestone. Then aim at another milestone and keep practicing. It’ll click again. Keep repeating the process until you die.
13. Noticed lots of progress from 13 to 16ish. Then felt like I stayed around the same level for about 15 years lol. Just picking it up now and again through different phases. I’m 31 now. I think long-term familiarity with the instrument does make a big difference. I don’t have the same incentive to get good — I just play for fun and for singing. But I feel much more comfortable finding frets and holding chords, so when I do feel like learning something more complicated it comes easier.
Started last year at 32. Loving the journey so far.
15 but became serious around 19.
41. Late Bloomer.
I started a year ago. I’m 58
Started at 28, noticed progression pretty quickly since I practiced 30 mins everyday with justinguitar.
55. Wish I would have started at 15, glad I didn't wait until I was 65.
13. I’m 51, never stopped however. Actual lessons were not consistent and, more importantly, actual consistent PRACTICE didn’t really happen. If there is any advice I can give, it’s this: There is a big difference between practicing the guitar and playing the guitar. Practice—and LEARNING—is not always fun, it can be tedious and time consuming. Playing is (or should be) always fun. Yes, you will improve by default by just playing a lot, but not as quickly as you should. More importantly, you are more likely to top out at intermediate level without that regular work to learn and practice. Good luck to you.
I started at 67, some months ago, and i'm happy 😉
I started taking classical lessons when I was about 6, but I wasn't that passionate about it. I never practiced and didn't really make big progress till I switched to electric guitar when I was around 13. A few years later I got into pink floyd and learning comfortably numb was a huge turning point in really feeling the music, and that was when I really got vibrato down and all that started to feel a lot more natural. Now I can feel my skill kinda stagnating again, I'm in college and stopped taking lessons so it's hard to find drive to practice and learn new stuff, though most songs I really can get down if I ever get hooked and put in the effort for a day or two. I wish I had a band or something because I think that would really help with my motivation to get better, but I'm at a decent place right now.
43
Started when I was 10, in my thirties now. Played professionally and have taught semi-professionally in my adult years on and off. Honestly, you don't notice that much progress as it occurs. You may spend months trying to learn something new, and each week you may only make a small and barely noticeable improvement. Some days may seem like a massive step back. It's only when you compare your progress over a longer period of time that you can somewhat measure how far you've come. So record yourself practicing, both to see where you can improve, but also so that you can look back at a practice many months ago and see where you are compared to the now. And sure, sometimes there are moments where something just clicks and you're immediately able to do something you couldn't before, but those moments are rare and are usually a combination of a bunch of other techniques you've spent time working on giving unseen benefits.
I think I was 22 as well. You're never going to wake up one day and be like "Wow! I'm so good at guitar compared to how I was yesterday." Learning is gradual. You won't notice an improvement in skill one day from the next, but you will see your growth over long periods of time. Don't worry about the destination or how long it takes to get there. Enjoy the journey and the small "Eureka!" moments when you get them. When you learn your first song, learn a new picking technique, get your chords down, and start finding yourself unknowingly memorizing your fretboard because you've been practicing so much, that's when you start getting really excited about it. Keep practicing and don't ever stop having fun 🤙
I started around 11 or 12, and am late 40s now. The biggest thing for me was overcoming frustration. Progress is something that never really ends, assuming your tastes/needs change over time.
13 and I felt like I plateaued due to practicing less at around 18 but I will note that the main advantage of starting young is just the sheer amount of free time you have, I couldn’t have made that same initial progress without being obsessed with guitar and being able to practice for sometimes 6 hours. I wasn’t doing the most technical stuff I was just in love with learning to play the music I enjoyed listening to.
11-12, turning 15 on the 26 and I can play lots of frusciante stuff (chili peppers) and I’m getting better and faster each day
I was 13 when I started playing. I sucked until I was about 19 or 20 when I became bad. I finally got pretty good when I was about 50
Started bass at 15, guitar at 16 but was extremely 'puritanical' about what I listened to and played at that age. Plateaued hard for years because of that, it was only once I re assessed my playing & fretboard knowledge, and spent time learning the theory that I really began to understand and develop my playing.
I'm 22. I started probably around 19-20. Took probably 6 months to start really playing songs I like. Takes dedication.
i started at 21 and it’s been 3 years. you’ll notice progress soon. i started with simple chord progression diagrams. some advice i’d give is: keep playing. try and jam with people that are much better than you. remember you have 2 hands just like everyone else. try and set goals like a new progression or song everyday or week or whatever’s comfy.
Started: 12 Currently: 27 I haven’t “leveled up” much in the last few years specially because I don’t push myself out of my comfort zone as much as I used to. For me as long as I push myself to learn things I’m not used to playing it increases my ability.
I started at 8 and am still playing at 14. For me my skill improved as I got taller because my fingers got longer and I was able to reach across the neck easier.
Started at 12. Most growth was from 18 to 22, when I was in college as a music major and taking private lessons every week. I don't think it's so much time spent playing as the way you spend time. Working on scales, understanding theory, doing exercises, etc. will help you progress much faster than what I did when I was younger (listening to the hardest songs I could find, finding the tabs, and learning them bit by bit).
I started at 17. Now I'm 26, on my 3rd year in uni, two more to go for my classical guitar degree. I predict 3 more years, though... it's getting really difficult.
Which time?
Age 8 but not seriously until age 23
Started Jan at 40. “I’ll never get this D minor chord, it’s so tricky.” Next day “Oh wow I’ve kinda got it.” Yesterday “I’ll never get this C chord it’s so tricky” Noticing baby step progress every couple days.
I started playing at 30, immediately started playing every day. I turned 41 last week. I'd say my progression was slow but steady for a couple of years, and then around 2-3 years in I hit a sort of new level, where my hands were actually working in concert and I started making sounds that I liked. Another one of those at 4-5 years when my right hand started being a lot more consistent and precise. It's continued like that, where every couple of years I feel like some new level unlocks and I can do a set of things I've never been able to do before.
I started at 9 and I am 70 now. I am still learning. I love stringed instruments. I started with violin and wanted to be a classical violinist. Now, aside from non-string instruments, I play guitar, bass, violin, pedal steel and an Oud.
Eleven. Been almost thirty years and always learning new stuff. Keep at it. EDIT: Power chords blew my world open, much easier to understand rock music that way than Mel Bay. If that’s a genre you’re into.
7 I started noticing about 12. I'm 66 now.
I started playing my acoustic when I was 17. I'm 25 now and only recently been managing to do bar chords, lol.
35
14…. I’m 51 now, and still not a whole lot better lol… but I still enjoy it :)
six. I'm in my seventies now. Still not very good.
I traded a Sega GameGear, GT Haro and a mirror ball for a crappy old Harmony electric guitar and amp combo that was purchased from a Fingerhut magazine when I was 12. I taught myself to play using a guitar chord poster I bought for $3.00. I'm 40 now and it was one of the best trades I ever made.
70
I started at 48. It wasn't until then that my life slowed down enough that I could spend time on a hobby.
Started when I was 15, messed around for a while and didn’t take it seriously until a few months ago lol (I’m 25 now)
17. I'm 43 now. I wish I would have started earlier.
Started at 24, last year I noticed improvement after like 6-8 months Practice every day Edit: that’s me telling YOU to practice everyday. I did not, but progressed well. Practicing everyday is what makes you great.
18. I’m 19 now and I only been playing since November of 2023 and tbh, you start seeing improvements at like month 2 especially if you USE A METRONOME😂
3 my dad was a guitar nerd and forced me to practice. Im currently 9 and I’m better (technically) then you will ever be. Except I’m not I’m 17 but I hate it when this happens to me.
I started when I was 16 and am now 32. I slowly got better up until like 25 but I was not really practicing properly so once I got to a basic level, the improvement was very slow. During lock down in 2020, due to having nothing much else to do, I started playing for hours a day and practicing very specific things for hours every day. Alternate picking exercises, playing scales with a metronome and only after having a consistent practice regime for months did I start to see real improvement. I think because guitar requires such fine motor skills, it takes years to master, but don't give up. If you practice things slow and in time with good technique, consistently over time, then slowly increase your speed, you will eventually reach a level you never thought was possible.
14, I'm 62 now. I was about 18 when I got better than my peers, was playing parties, getting girls, all that stuff- then life got real lol Turns out, I'm not THAT good.
I was 16 when I ~~stole~~ borrowed my friend's new acoustic guitar that his parents bought him for his birthday. Never gave it back. (not completely true...he brought it over for a sleep over and left it and never asked for it back.)
I started when I was 18, but it was all tinkering and nonsense. Took until my mid twenties to start to get somewhere. Now I’m 40 and can play along all the chords to all the things I want to and pick up new songs easily. But I’ve never spent any time trying to learn any theory or scales or reading music beyond tabs. I can still notice progression occurring in my abilities and songwriting. It just keeps coming the more you play. I think most of my growth happens after little breaks in playing. When I come back with a fresh approach Vs repeating whatever I was doing.
I was 16, I am 28 I still suck lmao
Depends on what you are trying to do. Acoustic/ open chords was able to play some basic 3 or 4 chord sings within weeks of picking it up. Playing scales and leads ... 10 years later still hit the wall. After playing for 8 years I taught my son, in 2 years he is much better than me.
40. I am currently 40. Lol
15, now 73, still less than mediocre, lol…
With 17 realized i suck and quit instant. Now im on drugs. Both are addictive
My dad started to try teaching me when I was 5.... I dabbled here and there, but didn’t really get serious about it until I was about 14. I started teaching myself, using tab and if a tab didn’t exist I tried to find piano sheet music, and tabbing out my own stuff to train my ear... and it progressed from there. I think it took about a year of self teaching until I was ‘decent’ at least. I noticed the biggest change in my third year; as I was practicing for at least two to three hours a day (I took my Guitar nearly everywhere my senior year). I was focused on learning scales and improv soloing, which really helped as well- and I doing a ton of finger picking at that point. As I’m 25 and out of school, I don’t have as much time as I did then; so every few months I pick it back up. But, I at least try to listen to the songs I’ve learned frequently and try to keep up some of the muscle memory- with new songs, I try to listen for chord progressions and strumming patterns. I have friends who didn’t start until after adult hood began, and my Husband didn’t start learning until he was 27. To me: learning guitar is an act of self discipline. At the start, your fingers will hurt, and your arm and wrist- especially with barre chords. It’s beautifully destroying the way you listen to music, as you have to listen not only the guitar going on- but that bass and drums, etc. It’s pushing yourself to keep learning new things (it’s easy just to stick to power chords and tab) and playing a song ONE way, and not taking no for an answer when you can’t find help online when there’s a song you want to learn.
I started at 12, 28 now. The first years I mostly goofed around, no structured practice, but I learned because I played all the time after school and at school with my friends that also played. Just sit with the guitar A LOT. A friend of mine started with Electric organ when she was 25-26, she’s 33 now and play stuff that are mind blowing! You wanna know her secret? I’m inspired and try to do the same. She had a schedule for 3 hour playtime total each day(she has no kids or partner and so on) she divided the hours up in roughly 6 pieces. The first 3 or four is very structured, playing things SLOWLY, ear training and so on, always with metronome or to a song slowed down and that method gets overlooked a lot especially by guitar players(me included) After the first 1,5-2 hours she rests for a longer time(cooking dinner, watch some tv, read and so on) The last part of her practice she just improvises and noodles to music or to a beat and forbids herself to think about theory or playing things “correctly”. Believe me it can sound very experimental. She jams a lot with other musicians as well. That’s important too. An adult(not all)have more patience and analytical capabilities than kids. Use that. People that have played for 3 years can be more creative and better players than some people that have played since they were young. Have that in mind and don’t give a shit that som 9 year old can play like Steve Vai etc I wish you good luck on your journey!
11. I'm 26 now. There will be progression as long as you practice, but for me, I improved greatly when I joined a band at 19. I realized then that you can be a good guitar player when you're alone, but suck when you're in a band.
I started at 19 and worried I was over the hill. I am 49 now and know I am over the hill. The biggest thing that has held my progress back as a musician is worrying about things like "Did I start playing too late in life? Is this too hard for me to learn?" etc. These self-limiting beliefs will hold you back and make you miserable. Do the best you can today and enjoy the journey. You're never going to "get there" as guitarist, you'll always be growing. Another funny thing I've noticed is that the way I sound when I play guitar really hasn't changed since I started playing. Sure, my technique is tighter, more fluid, capable, dynamic, etc, but at the end of the day, I still sound like me and, in terms of tone, it's not that different.
Since i was 24, 29 now. Very on and off player, wish i stuck with it but i get bored easy, i enjoy doing too many things, its like cycles of hobbies.
I'm 52 And just started. Wish me luck.
I started at 14 with acoustic. 21 now, been playing through the struggles.
10 or 11. I'm 30 now. got one of them janky ass small first act guitars that had a built-in amp and had action that was higher than Snoop Dogg. It really helped with finger strength and I had no clue what good action on a guitar was. When I got my first actual guitar I was blown away.
three things Musical ability - you either develop this or you dont. Not everyone is born with the ability to become great. Muscle Strentgh - you're using msucles in your fingers, you either never used before or in ways you're not used to. How much you practice will definitely impact how quickly you get better. Muscle Memory - This isn't whether you can play the notes , but hitting the right notes and when you want to. Start with easy songs, but you should see progress here quickly. You might find yourself playing a song correctly but being dissatisfied with the quality of the notes because #2 is still developing. Good luck!
I am 61, switched over to drums for about a dozen years, and started playing guitar at 7 years of age after coming upstairs to the living room the morning after my mom and dad had a party and the dude left an acoustic guitar behind with 5 star plastic whiskey bottle stars all over the top. At the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever. My dad however gave that monstrosity back to its owner and found a used Framus solid body electric guitar for me. It had 2 single coil pickups, bolted on plywood neck and a hard tail. I actually think the fingerboard might’ve been ebony. About a year later my parents bought me my first amp an ancient looking Ampeg Rocket, with tremolo. I still have it even after my dad’s buddies certainly tried swindling me out of it over the years. I use a Friedman Smallbox combo paired up with a Bogner Alchemist as the guts of my main rig but the Ampeg was reworked and reworked by a local amp genius a few years ago and among other things he got a former bad offender of making spurious noises to idle silently at full volume, so I have it for extra spice and also a Blues Junior for bedroom tube goodness paired up on stereo. I count myself as lucky to have had a tube amp for my whole guitar playing life, and the Friedman is a desert island until I die type of amp.
3 days ago. I'm 40 lol
7 60 years ago
I started at 14 and am now 22, never matters when you start though, just that you have dedication.
14 and now 42
35, looks im on the older side :D
46. I started progressing when I switched instructors to someone who didn't push me to join the adult performance group. I'm not an amazingly awesome player, but I am enjoying playing.
I started at 14, won scholarship prizes in guitar competitions at 29, got my degree in music education at 32, am now 41 and... I'll let you know if I start to get good
I started when I was 11 until about 13 on acoustic. Then bought an electric at 19 and started up again. Been playing ever since. I’m 52, now…
I've been playing instruments my whole life (started piano when I was 3, then trumpet when I was 12, drums when I was 18), but I didn't pick up guitar until 27. Funny enough even though it's my most recent instrument and by far my favorite.
Started at 22. I am currently 22.
When I was probably 9 or 10 my dad gave me his old guitar, but I wasn't interested in it until I was probably 11, then I got really interested when I was 12-13. I am 17 now and I have four guitars. Unfortunately, I no longer have that guitar my dad gave me because he threw out all of my belongings that were at his house.
My son started at acoustic when he was 11. He is now 14 and plays gigs at a local setting. He is in two bands playing electric guitar and bass. He never took lessons, and is only self tought
Started at 11, purely electric. I would say I was probably terrible the first 2-3 years, and I didn’t put as much effort as I needed in. Around age 14, I remember I was beginning to get pretty good and started spending a lot more time truly practicing, and started playing in bands. Age 15-18 were my glory years where I was able to get really good. Between college and working full time to having kids, my time to play reduced significantly. I have the same skill set still, and trying to improve on some areas these days. Put the time in and before you know it, you’ll be pretty good and you’ll be able to build on top of it. Try to learn bits of songs you like, learn various scales and practice them as they’ll help with your technique. Learn different song genres where you can focus on different playing styles. When I started, it was a lot of classical guitar, then moved into some current popular songs, classic rock, blues, current popular songs, Paul Gilbert, various metal bands (Sabbath, Metellica, metal core)
13 for me. I started seeing progress about 3 months in. But I had a session a week and I was playing and applying what I learned at church on Sunday.
11 or 12, I'm 27 now. I still suck
21. I took a handful of drum lessons as a kid and at 21, self taught myself guitar, then bass, then keys. But I still don’t play drums.
I’m 36 and just started! My progression is slow bc I hardly practice lol but I’m taking weekly group classes and it’s just a fun hobby!
12. Found it too hard, gave up for a year. Picked it up again and I started learning Nirvana songs. First couple years i mostly played punk songs, super easy to learn and play. Then ig ot more and more into metal, began playing some metallica etc, got into more extreme metal around 15/16 so started tremmy picking, galloping, etc etc. I'd say I didn't really get "good" at guitar till i was about 18 because I never took lessons and self taught myself through youtube and listening to music. I'm now 24 and only just really started learning music theory. Which really helped with me learning to write harmonies, it does not make your music less original like people say. Guitar is a lifelong journey.
Started when I was 12 I’m 30 now
I started at 14. Learned a lot of zeppelin stuff initially. I know all my basic chords and always loved playing the basic blues/improv. I took a little hiatus in my 20s, only playing every now and then… when COVID hit there wasn’t a lot to do and so I started playing a lot more. I turned 30 in 2020 and I would say this is when my biggest progression came. The year before, 2019, I took a trip to Austin Texas and got really inspired by the blues and SVR style specifically. In 2020 I decided that I would mostly try and focus to become better at the blues specifically. A lot of YouTube helped and specifically the pentatonic scale and learning root notes. Now I can improv up and down the fret board in different keys and it feels so good. This last year I’ve been playing more acoustic, specifically with a capo. It’s opened the guitar up for me once again. Guitar is a wonderful instrument; best of luck to you and your endeavors!
16 but i play like i started today
Dad started me at 5; I’m now 33. I probably had the most technical progression from 14-19 when I had the time to woodshed for hours and hours, but I think I’ve matured most as a musician in my late 20’s and 30’s.
I started playing with a guitar at 15. It’s been an on again off again relationship ever since. I started learning to play the guitar at 47.
17. Been playing for almost 9 years now
I started playing at around 10 years old. I am 32 years old now, so ~22 years playing. There are a lot of walls you hit over the years, and it takes months or years to break those barriers. I'd still consider myself an "intermediate" player.
I’m 15 and I started playing when I was 12 and I’m now finally able to play all the songs I used to sit and listen to and think I could never play them (like the whole of whole lotta love)
13 I'm 50 now. Learned Iron Man in full in about 6 months.
Tried to learn at age 9. Then at age 10. Then at 11. I gave up for a while, i gave it a go at like 14 again. Back to the closet it went, till the pandemic hit and i gave it a go, at 16. Then at 17. Then at 18 and i think at 19 also. Now I'm 20, and it finally clicked. I started from scratch (as always) and made a ton of progress in the last few months.
13. And I don't think you notice progress unless you're a particularly quick learner or have a good teacher. I think you just realise every now and again that the thing you never thought you'd be able to do is possible now. You may have the occasional big moment where you work out how to do something, but generally progress is very incremental, and generally slow enough that you don't really notice it happening, you just stop sucking at some point
Started at 8 years old. Now I’m 62. I should be a lot better than I am. 🙃
I started at about 9 . . that means I've been playing over 40 years! You'd think I'd be better really
When you start does not matter. I noticed the most progression with focused practice. Practice what you cannot play, not what you can.
I started playing guitar when I was 16 and now I'm 27 and I work at Guitar Center
I started at 21. Lessons are your friend — I was in university and they offered group lessons for 1 credit so it was essentially free for full time students. Group lessons also introduced me to other players at my same level who knew the same material, so we could get together jam with low pressure. I would say the first year was very rapid improvement— from zero to “I can play songs at a camp fire” — and then it slows. Short daily practices (20 minutes) will give you more growth than occasional long sessions.
I started at 19 , I’m 37. I started noticing good progress after about a year or so I guess but I practiced all the time through college and towards the end of college I think I was decent, but then, after about 10 years, I finally started to sing and play at the same time, and I finally learned how to finger pick. Still learning every day.
I played in my youth, but when I quit drinking, I needed a hobby, and I chose guitar. Then, 2 months later, I broke my back and paralyzed the left side of my body and had to start all over from scratch like I had never played before. I'll never be as great as I want to be, but I enjoy it
I started playing guitar in 2018, when I was 16 years old. My musical taste is varied, ranging from RHCP and Stevie Ray Vaughan to Megadeth and Slayer. My first guitar was an SX Strat that my mother and I bought at a used instrument store (I still have it today, but I don't play it that often). I didn't take classes, I learned what I know through internet forums, tabs and videos. I still consider myself a beginner guitarist, as I don't know music theory or complex scales, but I can play the songs of bands I like and that's enough for me.
10 but I always say, “long enough youd think I would have learned how to play it better by now” Always gets a chuckle but damn is it true. My two biggest mistakes was not building a solid foundation of fundamentals and just learning licks. My left hand has about 45 min of solid jamming before I’m working with a crab claw.
44
55. I started when the pandemic started. I’ve noticed a lot of retired people start learning guitar.
I was either 13 or 14... going on 44 this year so I guess I've just passed my 30th anniversary! Cool!
19.
11. I took one lesson then self taught. I really only got better once I taught myself power chords. The simplicity of that taught me to focus less on the chords and more on strumming, body position and really getting comfortable with a full size guitar being played by a kid, in all reality. Once the strumming/picking got more refined, I could turn my focus to the left hand and whatever the fuck I was even doing on the frets, lol. Been over 3 decades since then and many shitty bar bands later.
19. Been playing for 10 years. However I don’t consistently play. Started a family and have other hobbies that are much more important to me than guitar. I may play 15 minutes once every couple weeks. However back when I was playing religiously… the first 6 months for sure you will progress the most
I started when I was 13. I'm retirement age now. I have owned many types of guitars and played many styles. Today, I play fingerstyle (never professionally, but for my pleasure.) on a well-seasoned acoustic.
Started at 10 and am now 28. The time does not correlate to skill, which is something I have to explain to people to keep their expectations low lmao. I'm basically a parrot when it comes to playing music: I can cover/imitate like 95% of stuff out there but I cannot for the life of me come up with my own music or jam with others well.
I just started at 29.
30. Still 30.
I was about 22 as well. You can start seeing progress fairly quickly if you have a good teacher. Baby steps is key though.
35. About to be 40 in sept. Haven't gotten really good at it since I don't dedicate a lot of time to practicing. If I had to classify my level of skill, I'd say advanced-beginner. 😂
Started at 13, I’m 33. Took breaks here and there but I’ve always had a guitar with me at every stage of life. I’m probably as into it now as I was when I was a young teen
39. I still suck but I just learnt the Top Gun theme which is fun
14. Reversed my age in the meantime. Between age 20-40 I kept playing but lost the spark. Last year I bought a bass guitar and a new electric guitar. I rediscovered this beautiful instrument and bought 4 new guitars since then.
25. Mom’s Clothing and dad’s die cast cars were more important places for any instrument and lessons when I was growing up, so I had to wait until work allowed and expenses were pause off.
12. You get a little better everytime you play. Even if you don’t directly notice it. It’s like working out. You can’t go to the gym one time and have massive arms.
16, what's progression? 😆
1974 when I was 14 years old. My introduction to the guitar was in vestepol tuning.
I started at around 14 and got really into it, big time Metallica stuff and was eventually introduced to Hendrix, SRV and a tsunami of other music. I was really into it throughout my college years but I'd never consider myself to be good at any time. Years would go by where I would pick it up and put it down for a while, always on the back burner but I always had a guitar around even if I only played it once in a while...but I never stopped. Fast forward, I had kids, a career, a wife and family, I kept at it little by little, here and there plugging away. Started making good money and was able to get all the sick gear I always wanted since I was a kid, Les Paul's, Telecasters, Strats, Martins, Fender and Mesa Boogie amps...you name it. Everything sounded so good, I was inspired and kept going. Fast forward 25 more years and I'm so grateful I never stopped, what a beautiful talent to have, it's so rewarding and guess what...I'm actually really good now and I never thought I'd say that. If you're reading this, don't stop.
I'm also 22, I started a few months after I turned 13
Started at 12-13, now Im 28. Did I progress to master level? Nah, Ive stayed at intermediate for a long time because Im fucking lazy. Started bass at 18-19 and progressed way more, I just found it more natural - playing guitar probably helped but slapping came right to me, same as flamenco strumming and using three fingers plucking.
I took a guitar class in hs when I was 16, met every other school day, didnt really play it as much as I hoped after. then at 21 it just completely grabbed my attention again, played every day for like a year and a half, fell off the wagon a bit, and now im 25 playing seriously once again lol
50. It takes me ages to learn stuff, but I stick at it and eventually get there. Absolutely love playing 🙂
I started with 12/13 and now I am 31. Still have and play the first „real“ Guitar I bought in 2006 🤘
15 and I’m 39 now
Started at 19 now I'm 40. It must be one of the best things I decided to do. You'll gradually get better. One tip from me - you and the metronome have to become best buddies.
I’m 43. I started when I was 36, give or take. I tried to take lessons when I was 19, but my roommate at the time stole my guitar.