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Am I too old....

#41
Yea..Just take your time..

If you want to learn you need to practice. But do stuff that is interesting to you!

I took 1 lesson when I started a age 16. Scales and stuff. I took a little technique from the lesson but not much else.

Then I just started playing to my favorite records. If I didnt know the exact line I'd make my own up (lots of mess-ups).

Just have fun with it don't put yourself in a box
 
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#43
Hey Pica,

I'm 39, so about the same age as you, and I just took the bass up a few months ago. I played a little in high school, never any lessons, and then nada for about twenty years. I'm definitely pretty mediocre, no doubt. I get up at 5:00 am every day so I can get half an hour of practice in before getting the kids up for school. I've got a couple of guys to jam with on weekends and we seem to be able to get through a few songs OK. So I'd say no -- you're not too old, just keep at it and take one step at a time. Guys like us may never be Victor Wooten or whatever, but you'll get some music out of your bass and that's what it's all about.
 
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#44
Never too old, I have been playing for a year and it was tough in the begining but slowly it came..i am by no means a great player but i can hold it together with the drummer..and now i have played my 4th gig which 6 months ago i thought would be far beyond me.
Hang in there and practice music you like...and you`ll get it
 
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#46
I'm 38 and bought my first bass about 6 weeks ago. I have never played any instrument or taken a music class. I've been a fan of music (obsessed with it actually) since I was a kid. I've sang for years. Run the sound board for my brother (who at one time was considered one of the top banjo players in the country) and even engineered and installed car stereos and home theaters.

Each time I tried to pick up an instrument and learn to play, I got discouraged very quickly because I didn't see enough progress. My brother tried to teach me, but he has no music training. He's self taught. Basically someone who was "born with it". He doesn't know how he plays, he just does. I tried to play piano once, and after about a week of trying, ended up quitting.

My entire life, I've loved the sound of the bass. I have spent countless dollars on subwoofers for my car and home just to hear that sweet bottom end.

I decided to try to play the bass. I bought the gear, and made the commitment that no matter how frustrated or impatient I get, that I will push through it. I want to PLAY. I want to play so bad I can't stand it. But at 38 I am a lot more mature than in the past. There is no short cut. I figure that it will be a lifelong quest for learning, not only playing bass but also music.

A funny thing has happened. I actually enjoy practicing. I find ways to challenge myself and judge my progress other than being able to play actual songs. I'm not there yet. I can noodle around and play a few songs, but not like I want to play them, not using the bass line in my head.

On this past Thursday, I started practicing permutation exercises. To play cleanly with no errors, I had to slow to 55 beats per minute. AGONIZINGLY slow, but it gave me time to get my fingers in position to fret the note. Today, three days later, I've more than doubled how fast I can play the exercises cleanly. Tonight I was playing at 150 beats per minute CLEAN. No errors. I felt really proud of myself.

I do my best to practice every day. Even if it's for just a few minutes. Sometimes I go down before I go to bed with the intent of practicing for 15 minutes, only to look up and notice I've been there for 2 hours or longer. I can't walk by my bass without a strong urge to pick it up. It sits outside my bathroom, and when the water is warming before I take a shower, I'm playing, even for that few seconds.

The key for me is having realistic expectations. I have a good teacher. I have seemingly unlimited amounts of desire and motivation. I work on exercises, ear training, reading, and when I need a "study break" I put on some familiar tunes and try to pick out the notes. It's a thrill when I can play the song about 75% (I always seem to get lost on bridges and such).

The next thing I want to do is find someone to play with. Once I feel like I have enough skill to do so, I'm going to try to find others to jam with. Maybe visit local music stores and see if they have a bulletin board so I can try to get a "jam night" set up somewhere. I sing in church, and am blessed to know lots of great musicians. I will try to hook up with them as well. I just have to accept that it's going to take YEARS to get to the point where I can be considered "good". I'm fine with that. I just want to play.


Never, never give up. You're not too old. Stay positive, set realistic goals, and practice even if it's for a few minutes. You don't need hours a day to get better. Five minutes is better than zero minutes.
 
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#47
Too old?!?! Not hardly - I'm 62 - started bass at 55, got married at 57 into a busy pre-made family so I stopped practicing for 4 years - now I'm back at it - it's slow - two steps forward and one back - persistence and setting weekly/monthly achieveable goals for the amount of practice and what you want to learn in a specific amount of time are keys to success.

Good luck - loungesurfer
 
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#48
I started lessons a little over a year ago when I was 44 and I thought I was old. Some of you guys make me feel like a kid! :p

Honestly, it's hard when you have a job, a spouse with her own career, kids, a home, etc., etc., etc. that can occupy life at our age. I don't get to play every day, but I get in as much time as I can and am pretty happy with how far I've come in that time.

There are plenty of weeks when I go to my lesson without being ready for it and my instructor starts to lecture me about commitment. however, as soon as it starts I interrupt him and refuse to let him go down that path. His next oldest student is only 15 - one third my age - and he's only 22 himself. He goes to school and the rest of his time he's either in the store teaching or with his band playing. When I hear that lecture coming I stop him and tell him to give it 25 years before he hits me with that "lack of commitment" speech. I have to remind him that I'm not his average junior high student who has 6 free hours a day to practice.

However, I do put in whatever time I can and feel like I have accomplished a lot. It's not easy at our age, but it's not impossible either. How badly do you want it? ;)
 
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#49
I started 3 years ago, and i am 53! I noodled around with the trumpet in 8th & 9th grade. learned to read music. Always loved the sound of the bass. Then i heard Robert Bell of, Kool and the Gang, do a solo in 1978, at the Bottom Line, in NYC --and right then i knew i wanted to one day play the bass. Bought a bass in 1991, and still had only one lesson. But now i have a good teacher (5th one), and i appreciate and care for music more that when i was young. I am in a theatre group and having the time of my life playing Rock and Roll.
Enjoy it, man!!
 
#51
Too old. Kid, I'm 51 and have been playing since I was 48. I hope to be good enough someday to join the mediocre bass players club.

It's all been said already in this thread but progress is directly tied to practice. The more time on your instrument the better you can become.

My father took up acoustic guitar at 68 and found a teacher. After six months he still couldn't go from one chord to the next. Turned out he never practiced and ultimately gave up in frustration. That probably would've been me on bass but I try and put in as much time on the exercises my teacher assigns as I can and it's slowly but surely going somewhere. If you want to do it you can. Good luck.
 
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#54
No you're not too old. When we get older our lives do get more complicated though. We can be preoccupied while practicing or taking lessons and not really absorb anything and then have to relearn what we were being taught. So you wind up being where you were last week and the week before. That can be discouraging. You need to practice....absorb what you are practicing and keep at it. You must practice more often....repetition is the key to memorizing and retaining. If you don't do that you'll always be starting over again when you pick up that bass because there was too much time between practice. We're not talking brain surgery here either...have fun with it and don't make it a chore. Once you start improving....even when it's something minute you will feel motivated and want to practice more and more. There should be small goals involved too. For instance...learning to play a 12 bar blues.....and how to play a shuffle etc. All basic stuff, but stuff that is not complicated to comprehend. I don't know you, but you're not too old. Just the fact that you want to learn means your not too old. You can never be to old to learn such a great instument. :bassist:
 
#58
back when I was teaching, I had some over 30's students... it was MUCH harder for them, just as I, at 48, now find it hard to learn a new instrument (aside from bass). It's really just a matter of time -- as a beginner, you simply must play every single day - - ideally, you're practicing rudimentary things, but ANY playing is better than no playing. I did have one older student really pick it up - but he swore of TV until he could play in a band - - pretty gutsy, but as I look back to when I was first playing, I didn't watch *any* TV - - I just played and played (and let my grades go to hell, as it turns out!).

It's just an issue of time to play - if you don't have the time to put into it, don't do it. If you do, then welcome aboard!
 
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#59
After 7 months of lessons, you should have the basics down, such as how to play the basics of a chord including the root, third, fifth and seventh. Your next step is to use what you've learned to make music with other musicians.

Continue to take lessons but get together with a guitar player in your basement or start/join a band. But I think its important to put to use what you've learned in lessons and from practicing.

Once you start making music with others, you will start to "get" the foundations of bass playing that you have likely been learning.
 
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#60
I'll be 41 this August - I've been playing since I was 15, and I'm pretty competent - played in many actively gigging bands over the years, recorded, toured, etc., but it's really only in the last year or so that I've gotten really serious about practicing everyday, and learning more about bass as an instrument in itself, as opposed to holding down the low-end in a rock band.

So for all the 25+ years I've been playing, there's PLENTY I still have to learn yet as well, so don't sweat it. As others have said, as long as your fingers and ears still work, and you enjoy playing, there's no reason you should stop. You're never to old to learn something new, even if you'll never be slappin' and poppin' like Jaco or whoever.
 
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