Can an old dude learn music?

I'll make a deal with you. While I haven't reached your advanced age (I trail by a 2 years), I HAVE been thinking about learning to play my husband's guitars. He always looks like he's having so much fun when he plays. Anyway, I'll start learning and you start learning and then we'll find out if you can teach an old..well, you know the rest.

All of the guitar shops will have someone that teaches. This will give you more of a jump into this than if you try to tackle it on your own.

WARNING! Scales are important, but people often start to think of them as "boring" so they don't do them. Attitude is all important! Just making organized noice (the definition of music) can be fun.

The instructor will also usually get you started with a few songs, (usually you say what your interested in) so your really playing SOMETHING.

I would consider watching the papers for used equipment, as with that many people it will be more fun with at least two. I have four, and have my eye on one more electric and a Bass.

do you have to be really really dextrious? Depends on what you have your heart set on playing. Don't expect to be playing a complete song the first day.

I also like to pick up some of the guitar magazines. "guitar for the practicing musician" is one of the best IMO. They even have sheet music with tablature so you won't have to learn to read music if you don't want to. Has good lessions and tips, and lets you know what the greats do. fun fun fun!

The very best of luck with this, and a Musical New year to you my friend.

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But I always answer it with a resounding yes.

The bigger question I ask is why don't I? Well, on second thought, I'll answer that one right now. Because I never have made it a high enough priority to make the time, that's why.

(Guitar and/or piano, by the way.)

http://www.theviolincase.com/Newsletter/Apr04.htm

So the answer is, yes, you can -- IF you make it a high enough priority to make the time, that is.

Get a hot, young, 20-something grad student in music education to teach you.

It'll help you keep focus and want to impress her.

Good luck.

Be careful not to "take over" this instrument. I can tell you're enthusiastic, and as an adult you'll have a much easier time staying focused and learning something that you're truly interested in. The kids may feel intimidated by this -- they can't hope to compete with you, and may simply walk away from it, which isn't what you want.

Start with scales, and continue them until you
can do them up and down without looking at your hands. Kind of like typing without looking at the keyboard. Then progress to chords, although
you might get cramps (onset of old age) in your
hands but will subside with continued use and
then simple songs with a minimum of chords and
maybe a melody you know. It can't be that hard
could it??? GOOD LUCK, I'll be looking toward your first album (or should I say CD)

You can pick up anything as long as you're willing to stick with it. I don't have as many years of experience compared with most on TR, but I've been playing for a while and it's in my top 3 of ways to relax and unwind.

Scales are the best bet to start learning and then get into the chords. Once you get the basics of those, it depends on what you want to play. If you want to play other people's songs, www.ultimate-guitar.com has a long list from many genres and also has posts for learning skills and the like.
If you want to start with your own music, I'd suggest learning some blues riffs because those progressions become the basis for just about every style.

Have fun with it; it's a fun skill to have for your own enjoyment or to pull out at a party when everyone sees a guitar sitting in the corner and begging for someone to play it.

I like that tip about the 20-something girl though... is there one being recommended? Cause that'd be swell.

Your biggest advantage, being in IT, is that you're accustomed to thinking very analytically. You can actually study music theory, enjoy it, and learn it, something that's difficult-to-impossible for a lot of people.

Scales are the most well-known element of music theory. The seven notes of a "major" scale are frequencies in proportion to: 24-27-30-32-36-40-45. The next note is 48, which is twice the frequency of the "fundamental" note, which is called an "octave" because it's the eighth note in the scale. Two notes an octave apart sound the same, just a somewhat different tone.

"Harmonics" is the next topic. Notes sound good together if their frequencies are in the ratio of small integers. Notice that the adjacent notes in the "scale" typically have ratios around 8:9, except for a couple of 15:16. Notes taken from that set and placed in a sequence can form a "melody." If you pick notes that are not adjacent and have an even smaller ratio, such as 3:4 or 2:3, those are very "harmonious" intervals, to the point that you can actually play them at the same time and they complement each other.

Three notes played together such that their ratios are extremely small integers form a "chord." The most common chord in the music of Western civilization is in the ratio 3:4:5, the Pythagorean triangle, and it's called a "major" chord. As an exercise you might try finding the three sets of notes in the major scale that are in that ratio. (You may have to extend your scale up into the next "octave" by adding the doubled frequencies of the original scale, to find them all.)

Every major scale has three major chords, and that is the foundation of songwriting.

In reality instruments are not tuned to this perfect "harmonic" scale. The interval between any two notes in a "chromatic" or "scientific" scale is either 2^(1/6) or 2^(1/12). Strangely enough our brains have adapted to that and we don't notice the difference, even though the physical harmony of regular pulses in the air has been destroyed and replaced by virtual harmony.

The reason for this is so that all twelve possible major scales use subsets of the same set of notes, otherwise instruments like the piano would be impossible to construct.

Therefore the next topic of music theory is "the circle of keys." That's a more lengthy topic and I'll let you look it up.

If you find that you have the kinesthetic skills to actually get rudimentary musical sounds to come out of that guitar, then you probably have what it takes to master the instrument up to some level you will find satisfying. All the advice you've been given about the physical playing is sound, please take it. You will have to build up calluses on the fingers of your left hand. (Assuming you're right-handed, if not then do yourself a favor and get a left-handed instrument and play it properly, it will be infinitely easier.) I built mine up in one summer almost 50 years ago, I don't know if it will be faster or slower for you.

As you learn your scales you may find that you have the talent to recognize notes in songs you hear and pick them out on the strings. If you can do that it will accelerate your learning by a factor of ten. So by all means work on that, this again is something that probably comes out differently at an older age.

There are lots of books, you may have to pick up ten before you stumble onto the one that connects with you, so be patient. Everyone has a slightly different way of understanding and relating to music and there's a book for every one of us. The wrong book can make you angry and frustrated, so if you find yourself not "getting it," toss it aside and pick out one that looks friendlier.

Good luck!

My family frequents Renaissance Faires and know a number of the musicians who play at them.

One of thost musicians, a guy with the stage name of Hawke, mentions how he picked up a penny whistle and started making noises with it. Over time, just through playing around, he figured out combinations of notes that sounded good. Now, with a bit of work and tapes/CDs of music, he can pick up tunes well enough to play along with other Ren Faire musicians.

Music is not his first profession, but it is his most loved one. From what I know of his background, he had been in IT in earlier years, before becoming a Ren Faire musician. And he's several years older than you, so take heart and do what you like.

Make it fun and it doesn't matter what the learning curve is like.

You're never too old to learn even if you're not supposed to be able to teach an old dog new tricks. But who am I to offer encouragement about music? The only musical instrument I know how to play is the radio. :^O

Never too late. I love to play the guitar and have found a few things that I wish I had found earlier to help me out. Some say don't but I say learn the fretboard because it makes everything a lot easier and clearer as you learn new things. Check out fret2fret.com. Great program for learning the fretboard and yes you will know it in about 30 minutes ... no joke. I would then move to chords ... learn the chord progression (a lot of 3 chord songs out there for instance D, A, G) play around with it but try "Nibbling on spongecake ... watchin' the sun bake ... yada, yada, yada". I would then move to the scales JD is discussing. In a sense it is just like IT because there is so much to learn and you will probably never know it all. If you have the patience for the ever-changing world of IT then you have what it takes to learn guitar. Good Luck!

It's me and the kids fighting to watch it, while my wife hollers at us. I think it's hilarious. I just don't understand why the kids think I'm giving them a hard time when I tell them to turn it off during an episode they've seen 8 times already.

Most people don't realize hoe many of today's top guitarists actually didn't learn guitar at an early age. Sure most had picked it up before hitting middle age but many didn't start until well into their 20's and are now selling millions of CD's while in their lae 20's to early 30's.

I know of one guy that is now in his early 50's that started playing Jazz drums but never got anywhere with it, he took up guitar in his mid 30s and now plays with a group of reputable recording artists that sell many millions of discs.

If you have an EAR for music,k forget reading music, you just want to play for fun and perhaps noodle with friends here and there, have at it.

It was Shakespeare who said, "If music be the food of love...play on."

I think us old folks can still learn a new trick or two. I don't have the wrists left to play guitar, so I am going to learn how to play the saxophone instead (Coleman Hawkins is my hero). It ought to be interesting as I don't read music. I never have been able to do more that fumble my way through vocal scores way (way way) back in high school. I always played by ear. If I can do it I am totally sure that you can! Best of Luck!

My daughter received an electric guitar for X-mas for MY parents. I was so jealous. Well my dad gave me a gift certificate to Radio Shack. Well I go in there the other day and see a nice Yamaha guitar starter kit. Well as you can guess I walked out the door with it. I plain on taking lessons, but in the mean time I have been downloading guitar tabs from http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ and having some fun working on them.

BTW I am 35 and HATED music class in high school and can't read a lick of music.

Rock on dude, we will learn together.

I picked up the native flute at a pow wow last summer.

My only problem has been trying to un-learn 10 years of organ lessons from my mis-spent youth.

Years ago, I took guitar lessons. When I broke my first string, I had to gather up my determination and ask a saleman for a "G string" (I am female).

On a serious note (I know, shame on me) therapists have started really promoting music as theraputic. It seems that more of a person's brain is active when listening to or producing music than any other activity.

Also, more of the brain is given over to controlling hands, than any other part of the body (you may find that hard to believe, guys).

If that isn't enough, psychologists believe that new learning/new activities helps keep the brain healthier.

Play on!!!

My 9 year-old daughter wrote out half of the notes to the piano duet "Heart and Soul". I picked my 4 bars on the guitar, while she did her part on the piano. It was cool.

She was so patient with me and seemed so grown up as I struggled thru the first few attempts. I had to laugh. This stuff is great. Too bad I wasted all that time!

I'll never bitch about paying for the kids' music lessons again.

When my oldest son was 15 he wanted an electric guitar for his birthday and we bought him one. A year went by with him kind of picking at the strings and getting nowhere and being frusterated. We found a god guitar teacher and paid for about 2 - 3 months of lessons. He learned so much that he did not need lessons any more. He cannot read music but can really play. He now has 5 guitars, 3 are electric and 2 are acoustic. He is in Iraq right now but bought a cheap acoustic guitar over there to play. He plays all the time and has had studios try to recruit him to play but he has only wanted to play for himself.

The bottom line is that you should get lessons for anyone who is truely interested. You never know how it will benefit you or them. I hope you enjoy the music!

I recall reading the conclusion of a study that said that people that played a musical instrument had a slower onset of memory disorders.

As a counter-thought, I played saxophone many years ago when I was in high school and could read music. I have totally forgotten everything in the many years since ceasing playing.

would have made a [b]nice Christmas present[/b], huh? :p

Now EVERYTHING is on sale, so you should be able to get a good deal.

I have a little home made distortion peddle. Doesn't have a lot of power, but it sure rates on the "cool" factor! Need to make a better one! That would be a good project to get my boys involved in! And get a decent sound piping it through my crate combo with just a touch of the chorus on. I need to get a sterio delay, so I can pull a few of the other practice amps into the mix.

Need to also get a nice set of head phones, for playing during quiet hours.

I don't know why certain persons are trying to teach you musical theory at this point.

The guitar is (in my opinion and with some experience) both the easiest and most difficult instrument to learn.

FORGET the scales and theory for now. Learn about half a dozen chords and you will be able to accompany yourself to about 100 popular tunes which have simple harmony.

So it is the easiest instrument to yield tangible results in a short time.

On the other hand, when you get into the fancy stuff, you will find that the guitar was NOT designed with the human hand in mind. You will have to teach your fingers to distort themselves into positions which they were never designed for.

So it's easy to get started on the guitar. Another instrument that is easy to learn is the recorder. So you could play the melody on the recorder while your children played the accompaniment on the guitar.

To play most other instruments, like the keyboards for example, requires regular practice for a number of years. The brain has to be slowly and painstakingly trained to transfer those little black dots and other symbols on the sheet music into appropriate movements of the fingers, WITHOUT any conscious thought involved.

Each instrument (piano, strings, brass, woodwind) has its own distinctive difficulties which have to be mastered. To achieve a satisfactory result with any of these instruments requires regular practise over a number of years. I think generally speaking it is easier for a very young person to pick up anything -- like different languages for example -- than for a mature person.

I would not agree with Maxwell that motivation is the main prerequisite. TIME is the most likely limiting factor for a mature person.

Some people have pointed out the scientific basis of music. Here is a brief item which I wrote some years ago.

I have often heard it said that if a person is good at mathematics, then they will also be musical. There is no random coincidence to this relationship between music and mathematics. My comments are limited to Western music as I have not explored other forms of music. The basic premise of my discussion is that music was not so much composed by brilliant musicians, but evolved inevitably according to fundamental mathematical principles.

The crux of my postulation lies in the fact that, the simpler the ratio between the frequencies (cycles per second) of any two or more notes, the more pleasing the combination to the human ear. I am also assuming that the creation of music preceded both the development of a system to write it down (notation) and an understanding of the theory that developed to explain the composition.

The development of the eight note 12 semitone octave fundamental to Western music was inevitable, as it is based on precise mathematical ratios. The octave represents the simplest of all ratios, 2:1. But as we continue through the common intervals, we can see the principle of ratios demonstrated further. Thus the interval of a fifth has a frequency ratio of 3:2, the fourth 4:3, and the Major third, 5:4.

Further intervals are the Minor sixth (8:5), Minor third (6:5), Major sixth (5:3), Major second (9:8), Minor seventh (16:9), Diminished fifth (7:5), Augmented fourth (10:7), Major seventh (15:8) and Minor second (16:15).