[quote=“roger_holland, post:639, topic:26183”]
Hello Roger here,
According to my own thoughts, I now join you Old Dogs
[/quote]
Happy birthday Rogier! Have the best day ever, I hope it’s a good one 
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Happy Birthday, Rogier!
Welcome to the illustrious group of Old…
Guitarists
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Hi friendly people 
@LievenDV and @TheMadman_tobyjenner and @sclay and @franzek and @SgtColon and @stitch and @Gunhild and @LunaRocket and @Mari63 and @nhh2oskr
Thank you so much for the wishes and the kind words and the smile 
… yesterday was a beautiful day… I went to the dentist and it went smoothly despite the long journey I made and then had dinner with my girl at a good Italian… the time of mega parties is over (80+ people sometimes) since corona arrived and we really liked that…
Greetings and thank you again.
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Roger @roger_holland
A belated Happy Birthday and welcome to the old dog club.
It made me think perhaps we need more categories, I’m only JOKING but perhaps it could be along these lines
50 - 59 Old dog
60 - 69 really old dog
70 - 79 Veteran
80 - 89 Vintage
90 - 99 Antique
Over 100 National Treasure
From a veteran Michael
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Rogiiiiiier! I completely missed your announcement 
. Very happy belated birthday and all the best for you 
!!!
Stay as nice as you are and keep on spicing up the community with your nice comments! Best wishes !
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Hi @MAT1953 and @Helen0609
Thank you very much
and Psss: I have informed Richard and his colleagues that there should be many more categories 
Greetings
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Happy (belated) birthday Rogier!
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Ahhhh… to be 50 again (sigh) … I remember that (vaguely… heavy sigh)….
Happy Birthday Rogier… better late than never, eh? Wishing you a wonderful decade ahead, when you hit 60, THEN you’ll really, really, really be an “Old Dog”!!! Heck, at 50 you’re still in your prime!!!
Gelukkige verjaardag!!!
Tod
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Regarding the discussion about wearing a fretting hand glove on order to practice longer without fingers getting too sore, I realized that the biggest reason I can’t go more than a couple of hours isn’t my fingers. It’s my back that starts screaming at me. My fingers are still fine, but my back is cramping and aching.
Possibly posture-related, but I believe that my age plays a major role.
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Does your chair have a back? I’m using a wooden kitchen barstool, and it helps me, I really need to get a proper chair with an adjustable back support, but I hate not being able to test one out first!
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But I don’t feel really old at 64! now when I hit 65, maybe! 
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I don’t feel really old at 71, 80 maybe
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Yeah, but my practice sessions always have electric first, and I play that standing. My back is always tired and aching by the time I sit down to play acoustic.
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Ah, I am still in the sitting down stages. I also have a bad back, it goes out now and then, I have a supply of Flexeril it happens so often. I should do my back exercises more often than I do to prevent it… but ah well.
On an interesting note, the hubby and I attended a block party tonight. Around here, farm country, the people came from miles around, it was our first time (only the 3rd time it’s happened) and there was music. First an acoustic set, a guy and his wife who sang backup with him, then he was joined by a young guy on another acoustic, and then they were joined by an older man on electric who obviously has been playing a while, he was playing lead. They were all quite good, especially the latter 2. I spoke with the young guy later; the older man and he are in a band together called Alabaster Casual. It was a fun time.
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Really sorry to read Rebecca, but this sounds very familiar to me…
I’m actually using the JG practice planner to remind me of this. I’ve added a brief back exercise to the beginning of my routine, this helps me to be able to play mostly undisturbed by these kind of ‘older guitar student’ problems 
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What a great idea! I am tall (6’4") with the typical tall guy’s back problems. I picked up a guitar for the first time just before my 60th birthday, and have been eagerly learning with Justin almost every day for the past 2-1/2 years. My back starts to get sore after about an hour, so I’ll add a back stretch to the beginning of my practice. Definitely one of those “why didn’t I think of that?” moments. Thanks!
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Yeah, I’m 6’3", and add to that the fact that I’m 74 years old. I don’t know how to do back stretches, though. Let me know if doing them makes any difference for you.
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Well, I know they keep my back from spasming more often than not!
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Mike, we’re two years later. How’s it going? If you’ve kept at it, you no doubt are becoming quite skilled.
And Mike … 53 isn’t ‘mature.’ lol … you’re young, man, young! I’m 68, and just getting going with the guitar again after an absence of many years. We’re not mature. We’re cool!
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Sure, being older has some disadvantages, not potentially having as many years ahead of you to learn being chief among them.
I think there are advantages, also. I joke that I only have one talent, which is that I can teach myself new skills. I didn’t always know how to do that.
I’m adopted. When I was a kid, my dad and uncle played guitar. They tried to teach me once. I.har never been so frustrated. My fingers couldn’t tangle enough to play the simplest of chords. I figured that guitar playing wasn’t in my genetics.
As a young adult I found and met my birth family. My (birth)dad and brothers all play guitar quite well. Even then I figured it was too late to start. Especially since my fingers still couldn’t tangle enough to play the simplist of chords.
What I discovered later should be obvious but it isn’t. All skills are aquired skills. Of course I couldn’t play guitar. I’d never taken the time to learn, or to develop the motor skills.
I’m now in my early 40s. (48 is still early 40s, right?) And I’m learning and progressing every day in guitar. If I’d started as a kid, or even a young adult, I might be a great guitarist now. I probably also wouldn’t have progressed as quickly as I am now, having learned how to learn. I also might have given up in frustration.
Older new guitarists have some advantages over their younger selves. That’s all.
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