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am I too old to play again?

#41
daveyo said:
I am picking up the bass after some yrs of not playing.
i have played guitar for yrs but I want to play in a band sitution again,
I am 54 yrs old
Dave
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About a year and a half ago, a member named MalcolmAmos posted:

"When I retired at 65 I had the time so I took some lessons and bought a stack of "how to" books and 15 years later I now play in two bands and gig 8 to 9 times a month."

Compared to him, you're just a kid!! Have fun.
 
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#43
I'm another geezer, 64, and remembering that I used to play that damn thing in the corner-- my main problem is available time, but I can record into the computer all I want, just as soon as I figure out how all this software works--

ETA: Is this the birth of the Rockin' Geezers Club?
 
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#44
ldryder said:
About a year and a half ago, a member named MalcolmAmos posted:

"When I retired at 65 I had the time so I took some lessons and bought a stack of "how to" books and 15 years later I now play in two bands and gig 8 to 9 times a month."

Compared to him, you're just a kid!! Have fun.
Click to expand...
Malcom is cool, I enjoy reading his posts!
Another thing to think about is the influence you have on others, especially youngsters. I don't know if you have Grandkids, but my Granddaughter took up bass after hanging around with me. She plays clarinet in school, but this year her music teacher asked her to play bass in jazz lab. She was trying to learn guitar, but I handed her a bass one day and started to show her some stuff, and she took to it right away. For her Birthday a couple years ago I sent her my Danelectro Longhorn which she was fond of, and she's still rocking it, at least when she isn't hanging around her boyfriend, which is a different story altogether!
 
#50
Ductapeman said:
I'm another geezer, 64, and remembering that I used to play that damn thing in the corner-- my main problem is available time, but I can record into the computer all I want, just as soon as I figure out how all this software works--

ETA: Is this the birth of the Rockin' Geezers Club?
Click to expand...
Could be. I would be all for it except for one problem. I'm only 55. That's not old enough to qualify yet. But, I'll say that I put it down for a very long time. In my late 40s, a band made of of parents from the high school our kids attended asked if I would play bass. Since then, I have picked up the upright bass and have become an (adequate at best) drummer. Plus, recording two of the three bands I play with. For the time being, I'm playing electric bass in a band, upright bass in a band, and drums in a band. I'm just practicing for when official geezerdom hits, not just what my son thinks a geezer is.

I think there's a lot of us who got the kids out of the house and started playing again when the dog died and left us with enough time and spare cash that we can do what we want all of a sudden. Being a geezer geezer is great!
 
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#51
Are your hands arthritic? Do you have some other ailment that keeps you from being able to play?

I am massively overweight, have several medical issues related to that, am younger than you, but some mornings I feel like I am 100, and the guys I play with are cheap SOBs that can hardly afford gas money to get to gigs let alone gear... And we play, we gig, and we have fun. The other guys in my band break even as it were since I foot most of the bills, and I pay to play, and what money we have made so far has gone straight toward gearing up and paying expenses. Hopefully by mid / late summer we will be making some $$ and not just breaking even. I honestly would like the cash flow to be positive for me, but then again, what I am spending to play is WAY cheaper than a psychiatrist...
 
#54
Next year, you are going to be 55, whether you resume playing Bass, or not. So, what are you waiting for?

(Back in the 80s, I gave my Brother a Bass, which sat in in closet, seldom, if ever played. Ten years ago, at age 50, he tore into it. A few months later he was gigging. He now has a nifty collection of Fenders, and Fender shaped objects.)
 
#57
You're never too old!

I took a 20 year break from music.. I mean completely cold turkey. I had made it my living but reached a point that family became more important than the time I was devoting to music.
I've been playing again now for almost two years, gigging in two bands with great guys and having more fun than ever.

You're never too old!
 
#60
To me, it's not a matter to being too old to perform. No. Never. If you play well and have decent or better stage presence, your age does not matter at all. Just rock it. Everybody have a good time.

The thing important to me that relates to age is being the oldest guy in the room at a gig when not on stage. Kids at the show might joke to each other, "Hey. Is that your dad over there?" Not the best position to find yourself in.
 

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