How late is too late to start?

[Kat86]

Hey all,

I'm just starting to learn the upright bass at 20, and I was wondering if there are others who have started around this age to later and were still able to pick it up well. Most people I talk to have played is since a very young age or have played electric bass or guitar bafore hand. (I've only played piano and trumpet before trying to learn the bass)

But yeah, I'm just wondering if there were others who have been in this boat and had success.

Cheers,
Kat

[beyondhairy]

how late is too late? are you in your death bed yet? no? then its not too late

[DJones]

I started playing upright in grade 12, 3 years later I'm a double bass performance major going into 3rd year!

So.. it's never too later, I guess it all depends on how hard you want to work on it.

[stedtale]

It's never too late.

[Kat86]

Awesome.

[Blake Bass]

Jeff Berlin said that if you practice the "right" material for two hours a day Mon-Fri You can be proficient on any instrument within two years.
Get a good teacher, be dedicated, committed, learn to practice the right stuff, and you'll leave many players behind who have been screwing around for ten + years

[Dbassmon]

I started this year at age 49. I have been playing electric bass my entire life. The double bass is a very different instrument. I wish I had the time I did when I was a younger man to devote to my studies. Regardless, I press on.

[pike66]

It's never EVER too late. Ever. lol
-Randy-

[James Hart]

Originally Posted by Dbassmon

I started this year at age 49. I have been playing electric bass my entire life. The double bass is a very different instrument. I wish I had the time I did when I was a younger man to devote to my studies. Regardless, I press on.

well said, I too started this year after a lifetime an electric. Turned 39 mid March... started URB mid April

[Alan Vorse]

I started last September at age 32 after playing Electric Bass since age 14. I too wish I had started earlier, but if you get a teacher and put the time in, you'll see results.

[Kat86]

Originally Posted by Alan Vorse

I started last September at age 32 after playing Electric Bass since age 14. I too wish I had started earlier, but if you get a teacher and put the time in, you'll see results.

At least you played the electric bass before. I haven't played any string instrument before this. Dispite this, I think that it will go well; I'm working with jazz bass first.

[Aaron Cohn]

I think I read that the recently deceased Walter Booker, a great jazz player with many many recording credits with other great jazz players, started the bass at 26 or something like that.

[anonymous12251111]

Originally Posted by Kat86

Hey all,

I'm just starting to learn the upright bass at 20, and I was wondering if there are others who have started around this age to later and were still able to pick it up well. Most people I talk to have played is since a very young age or have played electric bass or guitar bafore hand. (I've only played piano and trumpet before trying to learn the bass)

But yeah, I'm just wondering if there were others who have been in this boat and had success.

Cheers,
Kat

Ed Tait, my teacher and Assistant Principal Bass of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra started Bass at 20. Anything is possible, work slow and hard and never take any shortcuts. Be true to yourself, accept failure when it comes and know your limits.

Best of wishes

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I started at 35 after playing piano, classical guitar, and electric bass. It's never too late.

[M Ramsey]

I started the month I turned 30. Prior to that, it was the banjo for 9 years. No other experience with bass of any sort.

[theshadow2001]

Well after 11pm is pretty late to start. If it gets up to that time and you want to start then for the sake of others around you it might be better to wait till early morning and squeeze out a few notes before school or work or whatever

[Jazz Ad]

I have a student who started at 65, he's now 67.
He plays french trad music with his friends and he rocks.
Ok it's horizontal bass but I'm sure you can start the URB at any age too.

[robgrow]

+1 What everyone else said. It's never too late. Go for it!!!

[bass4daddy]

I never played an instrument before I turned forty. Taught myself guitar and for the past four years have been playing upright. Averaging eighty gigs a year for the last two years and having a blast. It's all about desire. That and having fun.

[abaguer]

I started at 18 in college. I had been playing bass guitar up until then. I believe Harvie S was a piano player at Berkely and then switched to bass. Definitely not too late for you; it's all about how you apply yourself from this point on.