Starting to play the guitar as an adult.
Why it can be so difficult for some.
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One of my subscribers, who just so happens to be one of my students, sent to me a list of a few topics she thought might be interesting articles for me to address. This one stood out to me. So, per her suggestion, here is what I came up with.
So, why is it that adults have a more difficult time learning how to practice and play their guitar?
What do people say about adults trying to learn a new language, and how difficult it can be? Why do children learn so much faster and easier? I can only guess from my own experience. I have so much in my brain as an adult, that I don't have any more room for new stuff. I think most adults struggle with an entire full day of things to remember and obligations to maintain. Who has time to learn a new language? I know that I don't.
I started taking lessons when I was 13 years old. What else did I have to do except go to school, do a paper route after school and finish my chores and my homework? I didn't have to think about the daily bombardment of “domesticities“ found in everyday adult life. I was a kid. I had kid problems. I had plenty of room in my head to learn the guitar. I had zero preconceived notions about what I should or shouldn’t learn, or how fast I should learn it, or what was too difficult for me to practice, etc. None of those things entered my mind about playing the guitar.
I had one goal - and that was to be the next Peter Frampton. Nobody ever had to tell me to practice. In fact, my spending so much time on my guitar interfered with many other important things, like homework and chores around the house.
At one point, I even made my friends wait for me outside with their football, so I could finish my guitar lesson first. They didn't like it, but they understood that I was serious about my guitar; and no “after school pick-up game of football” was going to deter me from accomplishing my goals.
You see, most adults don't have that sort of unconditional passion. The kids usually do. In fact, some kids can be a little too overzealous. I have a few rare adults who are incredibly passionate about their lessons. Believe me, that makes all the difference in the world. When the kids are excited, it's just a matter of guiding them to do their lessons correctly and making sure they practice their guitar everyday. When I get adults who are excited about their lessons, well that's a lot of fun for me too.
So, why is it that so many new adult guitar students have such a difficult time learning, practicing and being unconditionally passionate about their guitar lessons?
I honestly think that it has more to do with physicality than anything else. When you're a younger teenager, your body is growing. In my case, at 13 years of age, my fingers and hands literally grew with the guitar. My left hand fingers are just slightly longer than my right hand fingers. That's because my fingers had grown and stretched out from hundreds of hours of practicing as a kid. The bones in my right hand are also shaped differently from my right hand. With so many hours of practicing as a kid, having muscle memory in my hands and fingers, was something I always knew was there. It was just the confidence I had.
It’s much more difficult for most adults. It just is.
Many years ago when I was only a couple of years into teaching lessons, I was doing lessons at the local music store in the afternoons. I never really had to do any advertising. People just showed up. I might start one or two new students every week.
One day, I was supposed to start a brand new guitar student. This large man walked through the front doors of the store, with guitar case in hand. I met with him and we went back to my lessons room. My immediate concern was his very large, and I mean “large” hands. Imagine Santa Claus. That's who this guy resembled. Within a few minutes it was abundantly clear to both of us that there simply wasn't any way that he was going to be able to use his giant fingers to play those thin, tiny strings on the fretboard of a six string guitar. His finger tip covered three of the strings. Yeah, that's how big his fingers were.
Then, I had an idea.
We put our guitars down and we walked to the guitar department of the store. I walked over to one of the bass guitars and plugged it into an amplifier. I played it and showed him how to place his fingers on the strings and frets. Then I handed it over to him and he was able to actually play the bass guitar. A big old smile came across his face. He had no idea that he was supposed to play the bass guitar. We used that guitar to do the rest of the lesson. I think he came back and bought a brand new one the very next day. It wasn’t that he couldn't play the guitar. He just needed to play the right guitar. His hands were big enough that they were ideal for the bass guitar. He took lessons with me for a few more months. I found out later that he ended up being the bassist at his church.
Adult hands are already grown, the way they are is the way they will stay.
However, with practice, and I mean really, honest, unconditional practice - adult hands and fingers can learn that same muscle memory and confidence. It means, instead of binge-watching Netflix, you practice your guitar for an hour every single day. Be honest, how much TV do you watch in a day? Now, imagine watching half that time, and practicing your guitar.
When small children want to learn an instrument, their hands are somewhat limited to the kinds of instruments that they can play. They simply don’t have the strength in their hands to play the guitar. This is why my cut-off minimum age acceptance for students is 12 years old. Even some of ,my teenager students struggle with having enough strength in their hands.
So, yes there is an ideal time frame to start learning the guitar, but it's not written in stone. Adults can learn just like the young kids, but it's going to take a lot more time, effort and practice for an adult than it would be for a kid.
I will never tell any of my students that they cannot do something on their guitar. I will always be honest with them and tell them what they need to do to attain the goals they have in front of them. I can't do it for them. I can only guide and coach. If I see that an adult student simply doesn't have the right hands for the guitar, I will suggest the bass guitar. I never want my students to give up on themselves because practicing is too hard or it's much more difficult than they anticipated. Everyone can play something, as long as they commit to practicing unconditionally, every day...and having a good teacher!
So, I hope that covers the topic of discussion. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment.