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Am I too old....

#143
I Play and have really fun with friends on several instruments that started to play after 50s.

Less ego and more maturity helps to become more musicaly friends!

You can learn at least, one thing by day
 
#148
George1962 said:
I can relate to the "too old" comment. I am 54 and having a lot of trouble recalling scales or lines. My memory is shot!
Click to expand...

Playing music is supposed to be one of the best things going to ward off memory problems and senility and other age-related brain problems.

Tests have shown that the Cerebral Cortex is a lot more developed in capable musicians than it is in non-players.
 
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#149
I think it's important to have realistic goals about what you want to do on the instrument. If not, you may find yourself daily seeing players in the 30s or younger already better than you will ever be even if you practiced 8 hours a day for the rest of your life. This discourages me sometimes. I ask myself why am I bothering. I think there has to be a personal reason for wanting to learn and the passion for the instrument to see you through the frustratingly slow pace you may find yourself in. It's hard not to look ahead to where you think you need to be, but I think the key is to be satisfied with wherever you are in your development and enjoy the process. As indicated above, science is showing that the act of learning an instrument is beneficial to the brain now and later in life---so keep challenging yourself!
 
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#150
consectaneus said:
I think it's important to have realistic goals about what you want to do on the instrument. If not, you may find yourself daily seeing players in the 30s or younger already better than you will ever be even if you practiced 8 hours a day for the rest of your life. This discourages me sometimes. I ask myself why am I bothering. I think there has to be a personal reason for wanting to learn and the passion for the instrument to see you through the frustratingly slow pace you may find yourself in. It's hard not to look ahead to where you think you need to be, but I think the key is to be satisfied with wherever you are in your development and enjoy the process. As indicated above, science is showing that the act of learning an instrument is beneficial to the brain now and later in life---so keep challenging yourself![/QUO

Thanks so much for the advice you gave me and the time you took to write it. You have gave me hope and now I am going to be realistic and enjoy the process!!!
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#151
I think I mentioned it before I am 54. I am taking medication that effects my memory a bit. I am bound and determined to learn this instrument. But at this moment I can only remember short licks. Entire songs I can't. I do love the instrument. I had to retire early. Is there any bipolar people out there?
 
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#154
Hi Everybody, wow I forgot all about this post, I had no idea it was still going. Thank you all for your stories and advice. You do realize this post was started 7 years ago. I have gotten quite a bit better since then. My advice to all you new bass players. Get a good teacher and practice as much as you can. Cheers.
 
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#156
pica said:
Hi Everybody, wow I forgot all about this post, I had no idea it was still going. Thank you all for your stories and advice. You do realize this post was started 7 years ago. I have gotten quite a bit better since then. My advice to all you new bass players. Get a good teacher and practice as much as you can. Cheers.
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seven years ago and it is helping people now......good case for not closing down a thread. Lots of new members joined TB in that same 7 years. :)
 
#157
You're not too old.

Small, focused goals... You may not even know what you want or how to explain what you want or don't other than
"I like band X and the bass player...what does it take to sound like...."

Don't think that you have to "know it all" in order to play. My experience has been that people don't practice when they think that there's a mountain that will take years to climb before they're "good". That can be overwhelming.

  • What kind of music do you love? I mean the music that you would jump to play, the stuff that's on your spotify playlist?
There's mighty value in scales, modes, re-harmonization and all of those things...for some people. Not all people. Some people just want to play a song or two and fee successful at that. That's okay too.
You're not too old.
 

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