Too late to learn to play?

[Williethump]

Yes. In the OP's case, it reads as it he wants to learn to play a string instrument, and play along with records a bit.

Any instrument takes time to become somewhat proficient, so adding a different instrument - usually suggested to help understand music theory - takes away from the time the OP will need to invest in learning to play a primary instrument.

He has expressed no interest in learning keyboards/piano or music theory for that matter (IIRC). So yes, at THIS point in time, as far as I can ascertain (which is, admittedly, about as far as you can - IE we're both guessing) I would say that it would definitely take away some of the fun.

I'm an elderly student bassist of about six years learning lacking any music training, experience, theory or much talent. I agree that a keyboard is the ideal instrument to learn on so I bought a pawnshop Casio keyboard and some books. Didn't work out though, keys are about 375% more difficult to play than a bass. Just by using TAB and learning the finger box patterns for major, minor, blues and the pentatonics scales I was belting out (bad) I-IV-V 12-bar blues in not much time at all. Whereas the textbooks for piano had no such cheats and expected me to learn to read music! Learn a few finger box patterns and play them anywhere in any key on the bass guitar. Apparently a keyboard has a different fingering for each scale and each key! Overwhelming amount of stuff to learn. I'm not too old to play music but I am too old to learn to read music. If you are young then keyboard instruments are ideal for learning all aspects of music. No time for that if you are approaching dirt nap age. Anybody need a hardly used Casio keyboard?

 

[Jack Butler]

In your situation the first purchase after a bass and amp would be a set of TI jazz flat strings. They require a light touch but are life changing in how much easier it makes an electric bass play. You could even go short scale and jazz flats.

 

[Neil Folkard]

Five bands?!?! All at once?!?!? How is that even possible?!?!

Haha. Sometimes I ask that myself. I've just added a fifth, so let's see what happens! The easiest answer is that they are all originals, and rarely to never firing on all cylinders at once. So, the band(s) that are hot, get the most attention. Plus, original bands rarely play multi-set gigs, so there is far less material to play.

At the moment, I'm rehearsing on weeknights with two of the bands and the others the weekend. It's rare that all four will be able to get together each and every week, schedules and all.

The fifth band is my own, really, with mostly my compositions. After some fits and starts, I've decided to record an album with some very fine players, so that is only a recording studio construct at this time.

I have decided that this is my limit. No more after this, lol.

 

[Neil Folkard]

- That is a stretch! But let’s see, if playing in a band with 6 band mates, where 5 of them wanted to be a BL by finding/booking gigs playing the same list of songs and getting the other band mates to play them, then I guess it’s possible.

They are all different original bands, so not a single repeated song in the bunch! A stretch indeed, haha.

But back to the original thread. Never too late to start playing.

 

[History Buff]

Hello all,
New here. I thought I would ask the Forum the following:
I'm going into semi-retirement. I wanted to take some time to try again to learn an instrument. I have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis which does affect my hands, fingers and wrists. I have considered the mandolin, the bass ukulele and the double bass. Knowing myself and now my limitations, I want something simple to play at a low cost. The bass ukulele and the electric double bass look promising. I have no plans to play in a group or without an amp. This attempt to learn an instrument is to let me focus on something and personal growth.

Any opinions from the spectrum of users on this forum.

Thank you,

Thought I'd share a quick update. I've decided to move forward with learning the bass. I went to the Guitar Center nearest me today. The two dozen basses I could hold, were limited in terms of different manufacturers. There were only about 3 that were new, the rest were used.

But, I really liked the ESP LTD AP204. What I liked was the uniformity of the neck. My left hand's strength is noticeably declining. The width of the neck of this ESP felt narrow enough from top to bottom to where my hand can easily reach all four strings. It might not be the best bass they have there, but it felt like it fit me best. I'll likely go back next week to negotiate for the ESP LTD.

Here are the others that I tried.
STERLING SUB ROSEWOOD
SQUIRE 037 9430 PRECISION BASS
YAMAHA BB234BL

Cheers!

 

[Bassic_desires]

Woo hoo! Enjoy the journey. The best Bass is always the one that best fits YOUR needs.

 

[Marko 1]

Thought I'd share a quick update. I've decided to move forward with learning the bass.
Cheers!

Awesome!

Take a few months worth of lessons, and you'll be ready to start jamming with buddies.

 

[Williethump]

Thought I'd share a quick update. I've decided to move forward with learning the bass. I went to the Guitar Center nearest me today. The two dozen basses I could hold, were limited in terms of different manufacturers. There were only about 3 that were new, the rest were used.

But, I really liked the ESP LTD AP204. What I liked was the uniformity of the neck. My left hand's strength is noticeably declining. The width of the neck of this ESP felt narrow enough from top to bottom to where my hand can easily reach all four strings. It might not be the best bass they have there, but it felt like it fit me best. I'll likely go back next week to negotiate for the ESP LTD.

Here are the others that I tried.
STERLING SUB ROSEWOOD
SQUIRE 037 9430 PRECISION BASS
YAMAHA BB234BL

Cheers!

Nice! I'm betting you could make good music with any of those choices, a different tone from each one and a different playing feel. Like you I started on narrow neck Ibanez and MIM Jazz bass styles but found out when I bought a MIJ P-bass that the wider necks are not that hard to adjust to. Make sure you do hand, wrist, shoulder stretches, Physical Therapy and hand weights. Listen to your body and don't overdo things. Take a lesson or three to learn the correct way to play from a bass instructor. Keep us posted with vid links when you get hot.

 

[DownRound]

I've decided to move forward with learning the bass.

Good move! Pretty much guarantee that you will be glad that you chose to take the plunge.
And +1 on the recommendations for the Thomastik-Infeld jazz flats.
As mentioned, I too have some arthiritis (fretting hand), and the low tension of the TIs has been great.
Beautiful tone and long-lasting as well. Worth the price, I think.