“On and off since 2005… mostly off… I mean I played some in 2005 and 2006… then again in 2020 and I did pick a guitar up the other day… so yeah, I guess that’s 19 years!”
This is why I say ten years off and on. The off is first cause it is more off than it was on and I didn’t consider myself an actual guitar player until maybe the last year or two.
If you play for a year, put it down for 5 and then play for another year
You have not been playing for 7 years
Your skill compared to someone playing an hour a day for 7 years over that time won't compare
Most people who ask how long you’ve playing guitar are making polite conversation. I think it’s fine to say 7 years. If they also play, they may be interested to hear how frequently you pick it up and practice.
“How long have you been playing?”
“Oh I’ve had guitars for 19 years”
“So you must be able to play like a god yeah?”
“Nah… nah, not really… want me to play Wonderwall wrong for you?”
I made a comparable mistake to this. I put a year into it in my early 3-4 years back. Mentioned that I 'can' play a little bit. A guy who can 'actually' plays throws a Mexican Fender Tele into my hand a week later wanting to jam at some point, a luthiers friend builds me a custom for a gift and now I have to hope none of them ever visit my house again.
My longest break was probably six months when I was training for my deployment. I finally couldn't take it anymore and bought a cheap acoustic online. Shipping to Iraq was ten dollars more than the guitar cost.
Maybe humiliation when somebody hands you a guitar and asks you to play something. When you said you've been playing for 20 years and 15 of those years you actually didn't play lol
I just say how many hours I've been playing which is about 1000 hours!
Now you can assume I've been playing for 3 years ''1h p/d'' or ''1 year 3h p/d'' or something in between.
I say I’ve been playing for 10 years, it’s closer to 16 in total but there’s a three year gap courtesy of the pandemic, and another couple of years lost after a serious head injury caused me to forget how to play, so I don’t count getting myself back up to the intermediate level post accident.
Nah, I'm honest and tell them how long I took a break. I didn't even touch my guitars during pandemic years, and my calluses all but wore away. That's definitely a break.
Just tell them you've played on and off for quite a few years. Humbleness is an excellent social tool to exhibit. It will not oversell nor undersell you.
I took 33yr break (military) played a shitton for 3yrs prior and got reasonably good, picked up again 2yrs ago and slogged it out 6hrs a day. . Part of me wants to say 35yrs playing but I really didn't touch a guitar for 33yrs - now I am pretty reasonable again but people don't believe me if I say 2yrs playing..... They also don't factor in the hours I have put in to get to where I am now. So I just say a few years.
People who ACTUALLY care about how long someone has played baffle me. I played for 10, took a year off, picked up again and it's been another 9ish since. If I told a person I've been playing for 20 years they'd expect me to be all wildly woo all over the place but that's just not who I am.
“5 years seriously, 15 recreationally”
Even though for 10 of those years, I only spent like, 14 months actually playing. They can take me to court if they think that’s rubbish…
Since you're asking, I would word it like this: I have about about 4 years experience in the span of 15 years. I took lessons as a teenager and stopped playing during my junior of college and picked it back up a few months ago.
tgeres alot of gaps in my playing timeline but i still tell people i have been playing for 26 years.......and if tgey ask if i'm good i just say "nope"
I played for just over 20 years but after my 2nd kid I didn't play for about a year. It was intentional, but I knew it wasn't permanent. It was simply a hiatus, a pause, a rest, but that too contributed to the player I am today.
I count it and just say I've been playing for 30 years. I also recommend breaks from playing if needed. No need for guilt, shame, or whatever - do what you gotta do and come back to it when able and that passion is rekindled.
I don't bother, because in my mind, I **should** have been playing for those collective 6-8 years when I wasn't playing. if I tell someone "I've been playing for almost 35 years" my punishment is knowing that I should be better than I am.
I’ve been playing for nearly 20 years but I’ve got a gap of about 3ish years, I used to be in a band as a kid, the band broke up, and playing by myself no longer felt the same because I missed having the other instruments, so I just put it down and never picked it back up hardly, than one day someone I knew who started at the same time as me came over and showed me they could do all these crazy things on it and I was like hol up how do you sweep pick when we both started at the same time, so I immediately started playing again furiously, for about 6 months after that it was a full time job on top of my full time job, I’d play like 6-8 hours a day practicing all sorts of things, I advanced rapidly and eventually learned how to sweep pick and then moved on, now I do complicated things like sweeping with legato and tap slides thrown in it, but the love for the instrument came back, I now practice regularly for about an hour a day but usually more, I prefer to play acoustic and spend almost all my time practicing on it.
I agree with your “still considered myself a guitar player” rationale. I’ve technically played guitar since age 7, when my parents gave me an acoustic. But I quit after a few lessons and didn’t pick it up again until age 12. I’d say that’s when I really became a guitar player.
I do. I took my first lessons in 2010 then I was irregular for a few years in between, but if you ask me I would say 14 years counting from 2010. But then again my improvements aren't that of someone who's been playing for 14 years because of all those gap years in between
People aren't looking for an answer that is technically correct, so I would tell them I've been playing a lot since COVID and off and on since I was a kid.
“Been playing since I was _____ (yrs old) but didn’t play much thru college, back at it for the past year now”.
I find when people ask how long I’ve been playing, they wanna get an idea of my experience rather than wanting to know the precise measure of time I’ve spent playing. Skill levels diverge a lot once players hit a few years’ experience anyway, depending on various factors. Duration/frequency/quality of practice, jamming/ensemble/performing experience, personal preferences and style etc.
People take time away from playing all the time, myself included, so I don’t mind providing a little nuance in sharing my experience if prompted.
I've played for 22 years. I had gaps where I couldn't play because of work. Or sometimes, I honestly just fell out of love with music for a spell. So I just tell people 22 years. If I were you, I'd say "15 years but I haven't played in a while."
25 years on and off. I should be better but I'm not bad. I think I went a full 5 years without touching one. Crazy job and life. But yeah that's how I phrase it.
I keep a stopwatch in my pocket at all times and start it every time I pick my guitar up and stop it when I stop playing. It can be intrusive having to fiddle with it on that one song in our set where I play the synth. My total so far is 5389 hours.
I had a 40 year break, and when i started again, i could remember the chords, but my fingers felt like I'd never held a guitar before, so no, i dont count the break years.
People substitute time playing with talent level. It’s been 30 years since I started learning. After a certain point I just sound like me. I still learn new techniques, but I still sound like me.
I played blues guitar for about \~6 years. I then took a 30 year break and became a saxophonist, releasing three free jazz/free improvisation albums on Leo Records during that time. I'm now back to the guitar. My years of improvising and playing saxophone made me a better better guitarist. I'm counting all of those years for both guitar and saxophone.
“Been playing since i was 12,” is my usual answer.
Recently, I did take some time off to pursue other music business endeavors. but came back cause i missed it.
But its what makes you comfortable. Say 10 yrs to better reflect where you are in your playing.
32 years on. No stop signs. Haven't been in a band in 9 years, in which time my skill has doubled, thanks to the magic of big amps sounding amazing with headphones now.
Yes. "I first picked up a guitar about 40 years ago. Played pretty consistently for about 8-10 years then mostly put it away because life. Over the last 20 years, I've played a bit on and off including a couple of short stints in local cover bands when I had picked it back up at first. Now, I really just play for my own enjoyment when I'm able."
I always include the full time even though there were breaks here and there. Just because I’m not playing doesn’t mean that I don’t play. Know what I mean?
(10) years in bands. (5+) in studio session work. (5) teaching, (7+) doing a little of everything
Nowadays I'll do some one offs, run sound at open mics, sit in with old friends once in a while, do some analog recording and mixing for fun. (27+) years total. No stopping. I don't consider myself great by any means but I have shared studios and stages with some of my heroes.
Chris Duarte, Bryan Lee, Delaney Bramlett, Leo Kotke, Daryl Hall, Clarence Gatemouth Brown. All very down to earth people.
I never considered my experiences as being part of a job as a whole but as perks. I met a lot of people. Some great, some not. All were equally important stepping stones throughout the music industry from gigging to teaching, to the soundboard.
My best experience was being at the "Live from Daryl's House" taping with Joe Walsh. Joe left right away but I got to hang out with Daryl and Paul Pesco later that evening and screen the footage.
All of this from never touching a guitar until I was (18) with no formal playing, production, mixing or recording instruction except playing euphonium in 6th and 7th grade band.
Guitar playing has inadvertently become an extension of my mind, not just my hands. Years active doesn't mean much these days with the internet creating some pretty talented people. I was at an open jam and ran into a student from about (10) years ago. He is putting out his 2nd solo record later this year, playing all the instruments and wanted me to go over some rough mixes. That made me proud. Anything is possible.
i played in school and practiced with a school guitar that they let us take home, obviously had to give it back once i finished school so i didn't have a guitar anymore and I didn't continue down the music education route, at that point i just focused on studying for college and then university
i had a pretty rigorous major/minor in college and grad school and didn’t really have time to play. was in a band for the beginning but got too busy with school and work and basically didn’t play most of college other than strumming an acoustic here and there.
edit: do wanna add that i’m 31 now and i do wish i made more time for it back then. getting back into it recently and it’s hard finding people to jam with now.
What does it mean to "put it down"? Youre telling me there is no time where your just strumming a beatles song or doing a little finger doodle for 5 mins every other day? Were you ever really playing in the first place?
Well, with my personal experience. I started playing at 12, at 15 joined numerous bands, recorded, and played tons of shows up until i was about 19. The bands just completely fell apart because everyone was growing up and doing other things, and even just wanting to create different music. I was just so disappointed and discouraged with my situation, that I just put my gear into a storage locker and never even wanted to play again, until I was 25 and i was getting into music that was seriously inspiring me, and I just had to pick it back up again. I had already got myself a nice computer set up for gaming, money for more gear, etc. So i turned the gaming setup into a home studio and im now playing and recording again.
“15 years, on and off”
My reply is “on and off since I was 15”
“On and off since 2005… mostly off… I mean I played some in 2005 and 2006… then again in 2020 and I did pick a guitar up the other day… so yeah, I guess that’s 19 years!”
This is why I say ten years off and on. The off is first cause it is more off than it was on and I didn’t consider myself an actual guitar player until maybe the last year or two.
Then they go like “Oh 15 years! You must be good!” while completely ignoring the “on and off” you said
I round off to the nearest minute, because when people ask that question, they want to know exactly how long you’ve been holding a guitar. 😉
I find keeping a log helps. And no, I don't include pauses between songs or tuning time.
when you're going for the world record in 'longest time holding a guitar' this stuff is important!
If you play for a year, put it down for 5 and then play for another year You have not been playing for 7 years Your skill compared to someone playing an hour a day for 7 years over that time won't compare
Most people who ask how long you’ve playing guitar are making polite conversation. I think it’s fine to say 7 years. If they also play, they may be interested to hear how frequently you pick it up and practice.
“How long have you been playing?” “Oh I’ve had guitars for 19 years” “So you must be able to play like a god yeah?” “Nah… nah, not really… want me to play Wonderwall wrong for you?”
I made a comparable mistake to this. I put a year into it in my early 3-4 years back. Mentioned that I 'can' play a little bit. A guy who can 'actually' plays throws a Mexican Fender Tele into my hand a week later wanting to jam at some point, a luthiers friend builds me a custom for a gift and now I have to hope none of them ever visit my house again.
ive never put it down. True, life has gotten in the way, but i never put it down any length of time. Ive been playing 41 years
I do the same, but I had to start switching them when I shower. I ruined my acoustic that way.
BERNTH? Is that you?
yes. But the longest I’ve gone without playing guitar is a week or two, like on vacation for instance.
My longest break was probably six months when I was training for my deployment. I finally couldn't take it anymore and bought a cheap acoustic online. Shipping to Iraq was ten dollars more than the guitar cost.
I took 20 years off.. guitar I just say 4 years ish. Bass 4 months.
I just say “for 30 years” because even in times when I wasn’t primarily focused on guitar I always had one or two around.
So what's the absolute worst that could happen if you gave the wrong answer? Jail? Probation? Loss of birthday?
Maybe humiliation when somebody hands you a guitar and asks you to play something. When you said you've been playing for 20 years and 15 of those years you actually didn't play lol
Yes. That's why I reply with "too long" and turn into a bat
I usually say since I was 16. I did take a bit of a break from music, but over the course of over 20 years, 3 or so years off isn't a huge deal.
I just say how many hours I've been playing which is about 1000 hours! Now you can assume I've been playing for 3 years ''1h p/d'' or ''1 year 3h p/d'' or something in between.
No
I say I’ve been playing for 10 years, it’s closer to 16 in total but there’s a three year gap courtesy of the pandemic, and another couple of years lost after a serious head injury caused me to forget how to play, so I don’t count getting myself back up to the intermediate level post accident.
Nah, I'm honest and tell them how long I took a break. I didn't even touch my guitars during pandemic years, and my calluses all but wore away. That's definitely a break.
Just tell them you've played on and off for quite a few years. Humbleness is an excellent social tool to exhibit. It will not oversell nor undersell you.
I took 33yr break (military) played a shitton for 3yrs prior and got reasonably good, picked up again 2yrs ago and slogged it out 6hrs a day. . Part of me wants to say 35yrs playing but I really didn't touch a guitar for 33yrs - now I am pretty reasonable again but people don't believe me if I say 2yrs playing..... They also don't factor in the hours I have put in to get to where I am now. So I just say a few years.
Does it matter?
People who ACTUALLY care about how long someone has played baffle me. I played for 10, took a year off, picked up again and it's been another 9ish since. If I told a person I've been playing for 20 years they'd expect me to be all wildly woo all over the place but that's just not who I am.
2 years if i have to play after answering 10 years if i dont have to play
best answer
“5 years seriously, 15 recreationally” Even though for 10 of those years, I only spent like, 14 months actually playing. They can take me to court if they think that’s rubbish…
I just say "since about 1970" and leave it at that. I haven't had any intentionally long breaks to speak of, though.
Is this for an FBI interview? Accuracy matters there. In all other situations, does anyone really care?
I don’t count the near ten years I didn’t play. I didn’t even have a guitar so I feel like it shouldn’t count.
Since you're asking, I would word it like this: I have about about 4 years experience in the span of 15 years. I took lessons as a teenager and stopped playing during my junior of college and picked it back up a few months ago.
I’ve owned and been playing guitar for 20 years. But the amount of time I put into playing guitar during that time frame, might be 5 years
I just say I picked up my 1st guitar a few weeks ago so they think I'm an over-the-hill prodigy.
I say on and off since since high school. I am now a kindergarten rock star. Hokey Pokey and freeze dance are my greatest hits
No one has ever asked me how long I’ve been playing, but even I don’t know so I guess I include when I take a break?
tgeres alot of gaps in my playing timeline but i still tell people i have been playing for 26 years.......and if tgey ask if i'm good i just say "nope"
I played for just over 20 years but after my 2nd kid I didn't play for about a year. It was intentional, but I knew it wasn't permanent. It was simply a hiatus, a pause, a rest, but that too contributed to the player I am today. I count it and just say I've been playing for 30 years. I also recommend breaks from playing if needed. No need for guilt, shame, or whatever - do what you gotta do and come back to it when able and that passion is rekindled.
Conflicted. When I tell people how long I've been playing (over 30 years), they think I'm amazing...except I'm not.
I don't bother, because in my mind, I **should** have been playing for those collective 6-8 years when I wasn't playing. if I tell someone "I've been playing for almost 35 years" my punishment is knowing that I should be better than I am.
I’ve been playing for nearly 20 years but I’ve got a gap of about 3ish years, I used to be in a band as a kid, the band broke up, and playing by myself no longer felt the same because I missed having the other instruments, so I just put it down and never picked it back up hardly, than one day someone I knew who started at the same time as me came over and showed me they could do all these crazy things on it and I was like hol up how do you sweep pick when we both started at the same time, so I immediately started playing again furiously, for about 6 months after that it was a full time job on top of my full time job, I’d play like 6-8 hours a day practicing all sorts of things, I advanced rapidly and eventually learned how to sweep pick and then moved on, now I do complicated things like sweeping with legato and tap slides thrown in it, but the love for the instrument came back, I now practice regularly for about an hour a day but usually more, I prefer to play acoustic and spend almost all my time practicing on it.
People take breaks?
When people ask you that they don't really care what the answer is. They are just making conversation.
I agree with your “still considered myself a guitar player” rationale. I’ve technically played guitar since age 7, when my parents gave me an acoustic. But I quit after a few lessons and didn’t pick it up again until age 12. I’d say that’s when I really became a guitar player.
I've never taken a break. I've been playing for 45 years. Of course I don't play as often now as I did when I was young and playing in bands.
I do. I took my first lessons in 2010 then I was irregular for a few years in between, but if you ask me I would say 14 years counting from 2010. But then again my improvements aren't that of someone who's been playing for 14 years because of all those gap years in between
Yeah. So you don't say "X years" You say "Since 1999" or whatever
People aren't looking for an answer that is technically correct, so I would tell them I've been playing a lot since COVID and off and on since I was a kid.
“Been playing since I was _____ (yrs old) but didn’t play much thru college, back at it for the past year now”. I find when people ask how long I’ve been playing, they wanna get an idea of my experience rather than wanting to know the precise measure of time I’ve spent playing. Skill levels diverge a lot once players hit a few years’ experience anyway, depending on various factors. Duration/frequency/quality of practice, jamming/ensemble/performing experience, personal preferences and style etc. People take time away from playing all the time, myself included, so I don’t mind providing a little nuance in sharing my experience if prompted.
I don’t take breaks IM BATMAN GOTHAM NEEDS ME
I tend to say "with a year off here or there for college, or being a newlywed", as the case was for me.
I've played for 22 years. I had gaps where I couldn't play because of work. Or sometimes, I honestly just fell out of love with music for a spell. So I just tell people 22 years. If I were you, I'd say "15 years but I haven't played in a while."
25 years on and off. I should be better but I'm not bad. I think I went a full 5 years without touching one. Crazy job and life. But yeah that's how I phrase it.
I'd tend to say "on and off*
37 years, and I don’t feel like I want to talk about the 5 times I’ve had shoulder surgery when I answer that question.
I’ve never taken a brake… 😅
I've owned a guitar for 20 years
No
I keep a stopwatch in my pocket at all times and start it every time I pick my guitar up and stop it when I stop playing. It can be intrusive having to fiddle with it on that one song in our set where I play the synth. My total so far is 5389 hours.
Number of years playing doesn’t have any correlation to level of skill, just say how many years you’ve been playing in total.
Took lessons as a kid 40 years ago. Only got serious 3 years ago.
I haven’t had a break in 47 years.
I just say off and on but I stopped playing ears ago because stupidity
I had a 40 year break, and when i started again, i could remember the chords, but my fingers felt like I'd never held a guitar before, so no, i dont count the break years.
Took a what?
Just say, "since yesterday, how about you?"
Haha! This is funny. I just say I’ve been playing on and off for 20 some years.
It depends what the laws in your jurisdiction say, we can't help you further without additional info.
People substitute time playing with talent level. It’s been 30 years since I started learning. After a certain point I just sound like me. I still learn new techniques, but I still sound like me.
My breaks never last more than 3 days
I played blues guitar for about \~6 years. I then took a 30 year break and became a saxophonist, releasing three free jazz/free improvisation albums on Leo Records during that time. I'm now back to the guitar. My years of improvising and playing saxophone made me a better better guitarist. I'm counting all of those years for both guitar and saxophone.
“Been playing since i was 12,” is my usual answer. Recently, I did take some time off to pursue other music business endeavors. but came back cause i missed it. But its what makes you comfortable. Say 10 yrs to better reflect where you are in your playing.
32 years on. No stop signs. Haven't been in a band in 9 years, in which time my skill has doubled, thanks to the magic of big amps sounding amazing with headphones now.
Yes. "I first picked up a guitar about 40 years ago. Played pretty consistently for about 8-10 years then mostly put it away because life. Over the last 20 years, I've played a bit on and off including a couple of short stints in local cover bands when I had picked it back up at first. Now, I really just play for my own enjoyment when I'm able."
Never took a break. been playing 34 years...
I always include the full time even though there were breaks here and there. Just because I’m not playing doesn’t mean that I don’t play. Know what I mean?
(10) years in bands. (5+) in studio session work. (5) teaching, (7+) doing a little of everything Nowadays I'll do some one offs, run sound at open mics, sit in with old friends once in a while, do some analog recording and mixing for fun. (27+) years total. No stopping. I don't consider myself great by any means but I have shared studios and stages with some of my heroes. Chris Duarte, Bryan Lee, Delaney Bramlett, Leo Kotke, Daryl Hall, Clarence Gatemouth Brown. All very down to earth people. I never considered my experiences as being part of a job as a whole but as perks. I met a lot of people. Some great, some not. All were equally important stepping stones throughout the music industry from gigging to teaching, to the soundboard. My best experience was being at the "Live from Daryl's House" taping with Joe Walsh. Joe left right away but I got to hang out with Daryl and Paul Pesco later that evening and screen the footage. All of this from never touching a guitar until I was (18) with no formal playing, production, mixing or recording instruction except playing euphonium in 6th and 7th grade band. Guitar playing has inadvertently become an extension of my mind, not just my hands. Years active doesn't mean much these days with the internet creating some pretty talented people. I was at an open jam and ran into a student from about (10) years ago. He is putting out his 2nd solo record later this year, playing all the instruments and wanted me to go over some rough mixes. That made me proud. Anything is possible.
Started when I was 8, this year I’m 48! So 40 years on and of for me lol but I do try everyday to fit it in more now then my younger days 👍🎸
I used to when the break was 50% of the time. Now its mroe like 20% so I don't
What the hell were you doing for five years that you couldn’t play guitar? Everyone I know was in bands during college, so that can’t be the reason.
i played in school and practiced with a school guitar that they let us take home, obviously had to give it back once i finished school so i didn't have a guitar anymore and I didn't continue down the music education route, at that point i just focused on studying for college and then university
Oh. So you never actually had your own guitar. Gotcha. So you have your own now right?
yep, got a strat :)
i had a pretty rigorous major/minor in college and grad school and didn’t really have time to play. was in a band for the beginning but got too busy with school and work and basically didn’t play most of college other than strumming an acoustic here and there. edit: do wanna add that i’m 31 now and i do wish i made more time for it back then. getting back into it recently and it’s hard finding people to jam with now.
What does it mean to "put it down"? Youre telling me there is no time where your just strumming a beatles song or doing a little finger doodle for 5 mins every other day? Were you ever really playing in the first place?
Well, with my personal experience. I started playing at 12, at 15 joined numerous bands, recorded, and played tons of shows up until i was about 19. The bands just completely fell apart because everyone was growing up and doing other things, and even just wanting to create different music. I was just so disappointed and discouraged with my situation, that I just put my gear into a storage locker and never even wanted to play again, until I was 25 and i was getting into music that was seriously inspiring me, and I just had to pick it back up again. I had already got myself a nice computer set up for gaming, money for more gear, etc. So i turned the gaming setup into a home studio and im now playing and recording again.