Hey ho!
50 and 1/2 here, played a bit when I was young / at Uni but not since, back on the horse so to speak, looking forward to learning again, and this time probably doing it right haha.
So many more resources available now, massive shift over those intervening 30 years!
Also have Rocksmith setup thats a heap of fun too.
Hiya all. It’s great to see so many women picking up the guitar! Love the guys too, but I can see no good reason for men to have all the fun.
My oldest child once tried to get me started on the guitar. My fingers kept muting the strings, and we both got frustrated pretty quickly. I found Justin’s site about a year ago and found him to be such an encouraging teacher. The message I got was to keep working on the trouble spots, but don’t let them stop you from moving forward with some fun things. So I worked and practiced and worked some more. I can now pretty confidently call myself an intermediate-level guitar player. I am 56 years old and looking forward to many years of learning and playing music.
About that “old dog” phrase --First of all, as a dog owner, I know for a fact that old dogs are pretty good at learning new tricks. Second, age does have some benefits. My “in-person” teacher commented that he likes working with older students because they have a lot more patience. One of my goals is to write songs. I know there are some very talented young songwriters, but I do think experience can add a certain amount of richness to our music.
Hi Donna, I would love to explore writing too. I have a note phone and am getting into the habit of jotting down lyric snippets and ideas. Ya never know, a song might pop up out of all those scribbles 
So, I’m really late to this thread. At my age, 68 in about six weeks, I am entitled to be late from time to time 
My story is the same as many here. I was determined to be a guitar god in my teens, up until I realized it involved work and commitment. 
I got tired of people telling me I could not play the guitar and actually leaving the room when I picked one up. Fast forward 50 years. My desire to play never faded. I found Justin’s site, May 2020, and bought a decent guitar. Now I find amazing enjoyment in playing, no one runs from the room anymore and I actually found the courage to begin recording my efforts and posting on the audio visual of you playing (AVoYP) section of this forum. Talk about a high! The people on this forum are amazingly supportive. You are never older than you feel and playing guitar will strip years off that feeling! Pick up your guitar, follow Justin and go for it!!
Indeed. I tried once and packed it in. Then tried again 10 years ago at the age of 53 and am SO glad I persevered. For me, having a clearer goal than just “wanting to learn guitar” made a difference, and for me, in the beginning, avoiding scales or theory made a difference. Now I soak up as much theory as I can. The experiences and joy I’ve had and continue to have make the initial struggle so worthwhile.
I think part of it, for me at least, is that I am finally mature enough to be doing it for the process (which never ends no matter how good you are), rather than for some imagined result of being a “rock star” or something. Besides, it keeps me off the streets, and I sure am too old to be out there…
I Just turned 70 and returning to guitar after 50 years. I have a fender strat purchased new in 2001and just recently picked up a lightly used Ibanez acoustic AD60L (left handed). After a year on Justin’s site I am currently on Grade 2 Module 11. Having serious difficulty with the dreaded barre F cord but determined to hang in there.
Hi @runhappy, welcome! You will get lots of support and encouragement around here. Stick to it and you’ll conquer that F chord, too!
Blockquote The message I got was to keep working on the trouble spots, but don’t let them stop you from moving forward with some fun things.
You nailed it!
Howdy all
I’m Paul, 46 year old beginner. Been on the forum for a while but dont think I did the introduction.
It’s great to see so many others of similar age, and older, picking up a guitar for the fist time. Age it seems is no barrier!
I have a Yamaha Pacific 112v and a Positive Grid Spark amp. Want to get to the point I can just pick it up and play covers with confidence.
Hello Paul,
You are a young spring flower compared to the people above, 
…I would also like to look here,…but that “may” only in 2 years, right? 
…I am now 48 years young 
Greetings to you all , Rogier
About to turn 47 here and learning guitar for the first time ever. I don’t feel I’m too old, in fact I feel if I tried this when I was younger and so much more active I wouldn’t have stuck with it. It’s fun to come home after work, have some dinner, and sit down and do some beginner practicing. I’m not expecting to be in a band or anything but maybe one day I can serenade my girlfriend or play some of that classic rock and 80s metal I still love to this day.
I have an ESP LTD MH-301 currently that’s a lot of fun but that licensed floyd rose bridge is intimidating. I will be attempting to change the strings on it some time this week but am nervous.
Hi Ron I know what you mean, I had an on off relationship for years as life got in the way and lots of other interest outside work. Kick starting after retiring was what I needed, plus this website. Your objective are laudable. Welcome onboard ! 
Hello Ron,
Good luck with that, if even Justins says it’s “a pain in the …”…when I’m looking for a guitar, I make sure it doesn’t have such a bridge on it 
I want a Les Paul for my next guitar. I can’t do an acoustic as I won’t be able to control humidity and temperature like it would require.
I’ll either be successful with the re-string or I’ll have to take it to Guitar Center down the street and have it professionally set up again. Looking to avoid that but I didn’t realize how tricky floyd roses were when I bought this.
(is there any way to multi-quote here?)
Thanks. You know you get a little older, you slow down a bit, you want to kick back and relax with a new hobby or something. Plus my girl plays piano and I think it would be great to be able to play alongside her. Maybe Smoke on the Water lol.
Smoke on the water is not that hard…definitely doable as a progressing beginner. Certainly something to aspire to.
As long as you are not going to measure your success by trying to play it like Kasper or Mike would ie just like Steve Morse now or Richie Blackmore from back in the day
Yes @DavidP I guess it’s all about “how” you want to play it…but I’m finding that playing a song doesn’t ALWAYS need to be exactly like the original to be like the original 
That iconic rhythm intro is not too hard…and the rest of the rhythm can be approximated to sound good…I’m obviously NOT talking about the lead/solo elements. Most of the rhythm is just three chords played on a nice HB guitar with some nice distortion/dirt I’d guess.
I was just pulling your leg, Jason. I’m with you and I think all my playing is something like the original, usually not as alike as I’d like 
I think the first trick with the iconic Smoke on the Water riff is to figure out where to play it. Like many of us, I’ve played it as simple 2 finger power chords, root note on the low E string, but I gather that is not really how it’s done.
But we digress and if we carry on Richard will swoop in and delete these posts 