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I'm 39, and a fairly decent pianist. I learned a bit of guitar when I was younger, but just recently started learning guitar/uke more seriously. I'm keenly awa

I'm 39, and a fairly decent pianist. I learned a bit of guitar when I was younger, but just recently started learning guitar/uke more seriously. I'm keenly aware of the skills that I spent hours and hours practicing that are now second nature to me on keyboards (such as scales, chords, names of notes) that I need to learn for guitar. Intellectually I understand how things work on guitars, but in order to get decent, I need to start putting in the time to practice playing scales, learning the fretboard, and even just teaching my fingers how to move in certain ways. And it's not any harder to do this stuff than when I was a kid - in fact, in some ways it's easier. But it takes time and dedication. I have to keep reminding myself that I am actually making a ton of progress. But the tiredness / busyness can make it difficult to put in the time.

nhlx2 5y ago
Why the delayed interest in guitar?
- QuercusMax 5y ago
  Just never clicked with me when I was younger. My younger brother was super into guitar so that was kind of "his thing" and I had other interests. I spent a lot of time playing keys in my late 20s / early 30s, including being in 2 different bands, one which played several shows every weekend. ...but a piano or keyboard is not very portable, and not everything is a good fit for keys. I especially love the portability of the tenor uke.
tastysandwich 5y ago
Tell me about it! When I was younger I'd tunnel vision on things and get insanely good really quickly. The price was that everything else in my life was totally neglected. But I could totally afford to spend 6 hours after school, and entire weekends, on whatever I was into. I just picked up guitar last year as an adult. I'm consistently practicing, but man progress feels slow! It feels weird not being able to tunnel-vision on a hobby
- danielvaughn 5y ago
  That’s what hurts the most about aging, to me. The loss of obsession. Obsession is the sole reason I’ve ever been good at anything, and I’m scared that I’ve entered into a permanent stage of my life where I’ll no longer feel overcome by curiosity or passion.
  - QuercusMax 5y ago
    That's actually not been a problem for me. I don't know whether I have a touch of ADHD or I'm a bit on the autism spectrum, but being able to seriously focus on things hasn't really been an issue for me. The real issue are distractions - including my wife who I love hanging out with. She's been traveling a lot, so I've had more time to spend hours practicing my guitar scales and fingerings, and watching a TON of youtube guitar videos.

nhlx2 5y ago

Why the delayed interest in guitar?

QuercusMax 5y ago
Just never clicked with me when I was younger. My younger brother was super into guitar so that was kind of "his thing" and I had other interests. I spent a lot of time playing keys in my late 20s / early 30s, including being in 2 different bands, one which played several shows every weekend. ...but a piano or keyboard is not very portable, and not everything is a good fit for keys. I especially love the portability of the tenor uke.

tastysandwich 5y ago

Tell me about it! When I was younger I'd tunnel vision on things and get insanely good really quickly. The price was that everything else in my life was totally neglected. But I could totally afford to spend 6 hours after school, and entire weekends, on whatever I was into. I just picked up guitar last year as an adult. I'm consistently practicing, but man progress feels slow! It feels weird not being able to tunnel-vision on a hobby

danielvaughn 5y ago
That’s what hurts the most about aging, to me. The loss of obsession. Obsession is the sole reason I’ve ever been good at anything, and I’m scared that I’ve entered into a permanent stage of my life where I’ll no longer feel overcome by curiosity or passion.
- QuercusMax 5y ago
  That's actually not been a problem for me. I don't know whether I have a touch of ADHD or I'm a bit on the autism spectrum, but being able to seriously focus on things hasn't really been an issue for me. The real issue are distractions - including my wife who I love hanging out with. She's been traveling a lot, so I've had more time to spend hours practicing my guitar scales and fingerings, and watching a TON of youtube guitar videos.