wow that's very inspirationalYou are never too old to become a musician. At what level is entirely up to you and your work ethic.
I am a huge music (guitar) fan of all types. I swore to myself when I turned 50 I would start in on Jazz and Classical guitar. I bought a very nice classical guitar when I turned 50. I started playing guitar when I was approx. 20 yrs old. I've been in some cool bands, opened for some big acts, but all in the rock-metal genre.
I turned 52 last week. I have made some progress in both areas, but I am learning to read music and it is a bitch for me. I can shred around all day over chords and my ear is very developed. So on one hand it is easy to hear melodies and intervals and cheat my way through, but reading it while I play....I sound like a brand new guitar player with about an hour of practice under my belt.
The point is, with a family and sports and dogs...I just don't have the time. But I do what I can when I can, and I enjoy the hell out of the challenge. I want to be able to play a few pieces correctly before I die, so that is my goal. I call myself a musician, so you can too.
When is it too late to be a musician?
- Thread starter 14drz
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wow that's very inspirational
that's something i really needed to hear honestly. i feel like i'm going too slow if i compare myself to other people who are my age because they are moving in new towns, they are starting new jobs and stuff like that while i'm stuck where i was 10 years ago and i say things like "i did all wrong in my life because i would have liked to to other stuff". i guess society nowdays requieres a speed that not everyone has and it makes you feel like you're late if you don't keep up with other people but it's up to you in the end of the day
Emperor Guillotine
The Almighty Ruler
Comparing yourself to others is a nonsensical practice that the human brain naturally engages in. (Nonsensical meaning: everyone has different lives with different paths, different speeds, different opportunities, and different outcomes. Unless you are a carbon-copy clone with the exact same life as another human, you cannot compare yourself to another human.)
With that said, comparing yourself is others is also a horribly toxic, debilitating mental practice. It has been my downfall personally more times than I could count; and I bet there are many, many other members here on this forum who would vouch that they've too succumbed to that mental practice all the same.
I guess it doesn't help that for us here in the USA, our society is trying to force rapid progress because everything around us is deteriorating and the abuse of the world/country that today's humans have perpetuated is starting to backfire on us. Meanwhile, our society also puts a lot of pressure on the younger generation to have some type of gameplan for their lives enacted at a point where they (the younger generation) barely even know who they are or that they are conscious. And our society expects the younger generation to adapt at unreasonable lightspeed as things continue to dismantle themselves (or be dismantled by the older generations like the unbelievably moronic, overly self-entitled boomers and the resigned, subservient Gen-Xers) and delve further into chaos here.
Many younger folks want to pursue fulfillment (especially creative fulfillment) first and foremost over anything even remotely having to do with monetary compensation values, which really ought to indicate something. But obviously not everyone can be a musician, an artist, a painter, a fiction author, a photographer, or some type of creator. We need workers who are "the backbone of our society" that keep our world turning on the daily such as: tradesman, electricians, plumbers, metalsmiths, architects, civil engineers, construction hands, landscapers, food service, medical workers, modern biologists, computer technicians, web developers, data scientists, AI specialists, product managers or project managers, designers of the future, or even just the general office rat. Any "cog in the machine" type job positions have to be filled by a human at some point. (I'm not saying that any of them have to be filled by you specifically, OP. But I'm sure that you get the gist of what I'm saying here.)
You have to adapt at some point. You have to acknowledge the passion pursuit versus the career (survival) pursuit. And you have to know when to separate hobby from work. (Just because you enjoy doing something like playing music doesn't mean that the world should pay you to do that thing or even owes you a shot to do that thing, especially when millions of other humans can do that thing as well as you, or even better.)
TedEH
Cromulent
There are people out there who won't find the same level of success you probably already have until their 50s or 60s. These comparisons are meaningless. I've got a decade on you, and I still live about 3 blocks from where I did when I was 10 - and who cares? I mean, I care a little bit, I do want to move, but there's no external force or time limit on any of that -> I just need to go do it, same as you just need to stop overthinking "being too late" for anything, and just go do the things you want to do. The more time you spend lingering on whether or not you should have done something earlier, the less time you're actually doing the thing.
10 years ago you were literally a child. At least wait until you're in your 30s to start pulling the "yeah, but 10 years ago" thing - at least that way you'll have been meaningfully an adult for the whole time in question.
Kosthrash
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Just be yourself (unique and honest) and all the rest will eventually happen!
odibrom
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... it's only too late when one is a corpse... If this condition is not met, you can do whatever...
EXACTLY!
complex-barb.0t
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24…. This post seems like an intentional troll. 24 is too late to be a 24 year old virtuoso, but it’s early enough to be a pretty good 30 year old guitarist.
So it really does help if you're forced into piano band and orchestra lessons age 7 but google stories of how Holdsworth, Wes Montgomery and others started "late"
midlifeguitar.com
4 Famous Guitarists Who Started Late | Midlife Guitar
Learning how to play the guitar - it’s not just for kids, anymore. Truth be told, it never was. Musical instruments are not to be…
midlifeguitar.com
No trolling! just a genuine fear of being late for everything. Everyday you see on social medias 10 years old kids who are so musically skilled since they started so early and that makes you think a little bit. It makes you go “what if I started earlier” or stuff like that but this thread actually helped me understand that I have a lot of time and most important I want to do this so let’s try it
AwakenTheSkies
SS.org Regular
Heheh I'm 25 and to me it's always has been crystal clear that guitar & recording are my obsession, since I was a little kid. But I find myself asking the exact same question as you just in regards to studying, because life has been super confusing and as a teenager I just dropped out of everything that wasn't guitar. Now I wish I didn't, because I'm stuck working shit jobs until I get some better qualifications. And when I do get the qualifications, I won't be as young as the graduates who never dropped out. So is it too late? Apparently not. If you want to do it, now is the best time ever, because you aren't going to get any younger, only older.
I guess you’re right! By the way don’t give up on your studies, I know people who started when they were even older than you and everyone has their own time when we’re talking about study careers. If there’s something you’re interested in go for it, best of luck!
nickgray
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A slightly different perspective would be to look at the typical output of bands. Usually, it's the first few albums that really matter. It's rare that the band continues to keep high standards, even rarer if they keep evolving into something better, and rarer still for the band to change sound in such a way that they keep getting better. Oh, and of course most bands produce very little output, a random band on metal archives will have like a demo or two and maybe an album. Sustained output is what counts, ultimately.
So, statistically, your initial output when you're still not as good/experienced of a player that you'll be in the future is going to be your strongest.
Another important point to consider is that the overwhelming majority of bands and players do not play technically demanding music and sucking live to some extent is fairly normal. We celebrate monster players like Petrucci or Vai, but the reality is that guitarists who are going to reach this skill level are basically a drop in the ocean, they're the select few among the select few. Unless you legitimately enjoy putting an insane amount of time into practice, you just won't get to a crazy high level. And that's just technique, you also have to produce music and you have to market yourself. Technique alone is no good unless you want to do YouTube covers and short videos playing random licks. Focus on the techniques that are relevant for the music you want to write and also be realistic about your skill level and your potential skill level in the near future (i.e don't start daydreaming about writing a tech death album if you can't play Smoke on the Water in time).
So, statistically, your initial output when you're still not as good/experienced of a player that you'll be in the future is going to be your strongest.
Another important point to consider is that the overwhelming majority of bands and players do not play technically demanding music and sucking live to some extent is fairly normal. We celebrate monster players like Petrucci or Vai, but the reality is that guitarists who are going to reach this skill level are basically a drop in the ocean, they're the select few among the select few. Unless you legitimately enjoy putting an insane amount of time into practice, you just won't get to a crazy high level. And that's just technique, you also have to produce music and you have to market yourself. Technique alone is no good unless you want to do YouTube covers and short videos playing random licks. Focus on the techniques that are relevant for the music you want to write and also be realistic about your skill level and your potential skill level in the near future (i.e don't start daydreaming about writing a tech death album if you can't play Smoke on the Water in time).
complex-barb.0t
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It’s a good idea to be worried about being too late for some things. Here are things I wish I did earlier. Staring a family and getting your shit together career/business wise. Get those both squared away before you are 30. I know a good number of people in the back half of their 30’s scrambling. It only gets harder if you wait.
While doing that, if you like playing guitar enjoy it along the way.
Tl;Dr if you want something in life, don’t wait.
Emperor Guillotine
The Almighty Ruler
No, this is totally subjective and will differ from individual to individual — all coming from an outdated, archaic mentality.
I’m around that arbitrary, imaginary threshold that you stated. I don’t have a family (or even a significant other) and I am genuinely content with that. Just not interested. Not even remotely. I am totally fine with being alone in regards to my personal life. Doing so has helped yield the necessary focus required for me to continue making progress on advancing myself.
Also, I just lost the entire line of work that I’ve devoted myself to over the past years. Everything collapsed and I was unfairly, repulsively blackballed out. (But the industry I was in has been notably nosediving down the shitter for years now.) I’ve managed to pull a swap into a whole different career field with no “scrambling” as you put it. And I must say that not having a family (or a significant other) definitely helped make the process easier.
The days of how the boomers and Gen-Xers lived life is over. Anyone who is around the OP’s age and trying to start a family or rocket their way to the top in a career path are setting themselves up for failure. You legitimately can’t have a proper, functional family in your early-to-mid 20s nowadays. And you can’t expect any sort of career stability (or even the simple promise of having work) anymore. The world and how it operates has changed drastically.
Companies have zero loyalty. Industries collapse. There is too much competition in the workforce. Economic problems plague everyone. Homeownership is becoming unreachable for many people. The era of unchecked spending is grinding to a halt as today’s humans are being taught to “be content with having/owning nothing”. The concept of the “nuclear family” is being villianized and treated as a passing trend. Homelessness (specifically in regards to the USA) is at an unforeseen, all-time high that is downright shameful. Resources are running out. And overall, the music industry (since this thread is ultimately about music) has degraded into a state of being total dogshit nowadays and doesn’t even remotely operate in the manner that it used to in past eras.
Aside from that, if you have to rely on others surrounding you (like having a family) in order to be happy, or if you have to rely on devoting your entire existence to one and only one particular career path (thus stripping yourself of every other option and painting yourself into a corner) in order to feel content, then you’re setting yourself up for a miserable existence should the rug happen to be pulled out from under you when a divorce happens or when a company shuts down and a loss of a job (or loss of an entire industry) happens.
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7stringDemon
SS.org Regular
Focus on the more important things in life. Music is a dead industry, and only the top 1% of musicians can make a real living doing it.
The closer i get to 30, the more i realize i wasted my 20s trying to be something i could never be. Now im alone and 10 years behind all my friends who have kids, houses, cars and wives.
The closer i get to 30, the more i realize i wasted my 20s trying to be something i could never be. Now im alone and 10 years behind all my friends who have kids, houses, cars and wives.
AwakenTheSkies
SS.org Regular
I mean I agree about the career (I wish I had one lol) but don't you think having a family that early is a bad idea these days? Maybe it's my personal thing but I can't imagine trusting anyone enough to do that.
So you're in a band and can't synchronize the countless well paid gigs with your daytime job? I don't see any benefit in studying music that'll translate to big bucks down the road. You can learn the same stuff on your own, but your comment that you're "not a good" musician so far indicates you probably don't have enough discipline to up your game. Hope I didn't hurt your feelings, just my two cents.
Albake21
Ibanez Nerd
This was exactly me a couple years ago, in which my first comment in this thread came from a place I know well. I really had to take a step back from guitar and really look at it for what it was. After I had been playing for 10 years, I just stopped for 2 months. First time in those 10 years I went that long without it. At first, I thought I was completely done.
But it was much needed. I wasted my greatest years, sadly. Instead of going out and having a good time while living in the heart of Chicago, it was many nights of getting stoned and practicing/making demos that no one will even hear.
It also completely stopped my obsession of trading/selling/buying so many guitars. I realized the main reason for that was getting sparks of creativity from new gear. It did work, but again, pretty pointless in the end.
As much as I hate the saying, it truly needs to be a case of: Just have fun with it. Even if that can be hard to maintain at times.
