This dude doesn't just give you guitar lessons, he gives you LIFE lessons, everything in this video, or his videos in general can be applied in non-guitar stuff, that's what I love about his channel.

You've been teaching for 27 years?? Next do a video on how to stop the aging process lol

I’m 51 years old and just picked up a guitar when Covid 19 hit. I figured if I’m gonna be stuck at home I might as well learn something. I won’t lie, it’s not easy. But I see progress. At first I couldn’t hold a C chord even when I focused all my attention on it. But now it’s become much easier. My scales are speeding up, my fingers don’t hurt any more and I find the whole practice calming. It’s like a session of meditation. Focusing on one thing to the exclusion of everything else so you mind doesn’t wander. Now I wish I had picked it up before but I guess I wasn’t ready before. Got a MIM fender Strat but since the pandemic interrupted delivery, I also Got a cheap second hand steel string acoustic. Not gonna buy any more gear till I feel I have earned it with my progress. Blues inspires me the most 😊

I lost by brother to cancer last year, and can definitely say that trauma messed me up. Getting a guitar has been my saviour ever since and ur videos have helped so much ❤

I’m the most humble person I know

Another thing: respect your instrument, it’s an art

In some martial arts systems, the beginner wears a white belt - and the highest level master wears double-white belts. The reason: the master is just another level of beginner.

Revolving my life around guitar for 22 years, I dont understand how the majority of people live their lives without that "something." Whether it's an instrument, or any other art form or hobby. I cant understand how it's even possible.

I remember many times I would get “stuck”, I would put the guitar down, or move on. When I would come back to it, it would all fall in place like I’ve always known how to play it. That is a rewarding feeling

The "long term goal mindset, to lessen pain" advice is very helpful. Thanks Mike

The images you chose are hilarious

Without music, I wouldn't have been able to get through personal ordeals. I play music because I found light in what looked like a dark arduous tunnel, now, I want to make music to inspire people. not just to learn music, but for their passions. to put this shortly, the first one hit close to home.

Exactly , "found a new best friend".

Bro I was so happy when I played master of puppets with the original tempo for the first time.. I remember practicing it for weeks

You hit the nail on the head by saying " be humble".I've been playing guitar for over 40 years ,taught for 10 yrs.I still continue to learn from people that have been playing for only a little while.They might have a way of looking at things different than myself but it can be useful to me to put into practice in my playing or a helpful thing to pass on to a beginner.Just like life itself,we are all merely students.Never stop learning.

This applies not only to guitar but to every hobby in general. I've always been trying to get my friends into guitar, but all of them get discouraged after not being talented at it right away. Definitely feel like every person getting into a long term hobby should watch this video, well said dude

Mike, how old are you? You said you've been teaching 27 years, you must be in your 40s? You don't seem that old.

You've got to want to do it, I look forward to my daily practice , it's so rewarding when it comes together, thanks for the tutorial 😎

Man I lost my dad when I started lessons and my first teacher didn't understand when I said I wanted my guitar to sound sad when I am sad and happy when when Im happy. My second teacher unstudied me and I am still with him today.

You didn't know how to be humble? I thought everyone knew that. In fact, I'm probably the most humble person I know; happy to teach you how to be like me.

I started on guitar to beat the loneliness I felt as a child Pain never came into my head after a short time I’m still learning and feel the same excitement about the guitar at age 50 than as a 12 year old RnR will never die 👍🏻🇮🇪

I'd like to rephrase your 3 traits in more general terms: 1. Interest/passion 2. Grit 3. Humility This is far more universal than just guitar -- applies to almost anything in life!!!

A year ago I was asked to teach two kids guitar/ ukulele, but they were unmotivated up to the point when one kid didn't even want to pick up the guitar in the lesson, so I decided to teach them a riff that was way above their skill level but it seemed to motivate them. So my takeaway is that you always need a goal you want to achieve to stay motivated. (I'm neither a professional teacher nor a native English speaker so correct me if I was wrong)

You don’t even look 27.

ONE TIME I FARTED DURING A GUITAR LESSON AND IT STUNK SO BAD THE TEACHER MESSED UP THE CHORDS HE WAS PLAYING

I've had a rough life, so part of me is skeptical, but my guitar teacher is so encouraging. I went to get lessons because he happened to open shop in town, but even though it's only a passing interest, I was open to learning and he could tell I was engaged. Even when the shop closed he'd come to my home to give me lessons. I miss our lessons, damn isolation. I think I'm lucky though in that before PTSD and disability got to me, I spent 20 years doing martial arts, so I know change happens incrementally, like a year into karate I noticed my forearms were really defined suddenly. Back when I started learning aikido I'd watch videos of the masters and my mind would be torn between "I can't imagine being that good" and "I can't wait to be that good." You gotta just keep plugging away and trust that consistant practice will get you somewhere and enjoy making noise ^_^

My childhood was also less than ideal, and I'm learning guitar to channel pain out as well. I find myself tearing up when certain sounds come together and seem to resonate just right, like something inside was released through it after decades of being bottled up. I really appreciate your videos.

My wife is a concert pianist and each point you mention is what makes her great! Thanks for pointing this out.

I teach older students(60 plus) for the U3A in the UK. The most common sentence I hear is "I've always wanted to play the guitar for 50 years..."-when I hear that I die slightly inside these are the students who expect some magic fairy dust to be sprinkled on them without working at practicing. If they give up I suggest the Ukulele which I also teach...usually works.

Absolutely loved the surprise Jem and the Holograms image. So pleasantly unexpected.

I can often feel a bit intimidated when I sit down to play or even think about playing. Even though it's one of the best things I know. Like just knowing I'm holding this really powerful tool that's capable of so much and that I know so little of can make playing feel a little daunting sometime's

dude, you look 27 lol! love your chill videos, they are what i need at this point in my journey

Guitar is def not easy, but it’s still fun! I’m still a beginner, it’s frustrating but still an enjoyable experience! There’s so much to learn, lots of inspiration out there. I don’t think I’ll ever be bored with it 🎸👌🏾

Been “playing” the guitar off and on for 30+ years. You have inspired me to take it to the next level. Thank you!!!

Aw hell, this made me feel guilty- but I needed it. I've been that person who is like "I already know this" and with hindsight I know it was just an attempt to puff my ego up. I still have tons and tons to learn- there's always someone better and they usually live within like three or four miles of you!!

You really seem to be right about kids that haven’t had the best lives wanting to let it out

Playing a guitar, no matter how good you are, it is therapy.

Markiplier gives some serious life advice

Wow. As in 'just.... WOW!'. This might be my very favorite video of Mike's, and there are a lot of his saved into my playlists, but this feels the most personally relevant. I've been fascinated by the guitar for as long as I can remember; there are photos of me at about 4 years old 'playing' a toy tennis racquet I had and, later, a toy guitar. I would listen endlessly to Simon and Garfunkle's' 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', Dad's Jim Croce and Wes Montgomery albums while focusing on the guitars. Reading the credits to see the instruments being played and trying to match those to what I heard. As I got older, the interest remained and I wanted lessons but Mom was more inclined towards piano. So.... we compromised and I took classical piano lessons through middle school and high school, but my heart was never in it. My teacher was a fantastic pianist who had been performing since age 13 and played with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and who, sadly, was probably wasted on me. Practice was always a chore and progress was laborious and slow. It probably didn't help that, as a young science nerd, the 'why' of things always helped me more than a 'cookbook' approach. People, upon learning I was taking lessons, always asked if I could play by ear or improvise and it shamed me that I had to say "No." I couldn't even understand how people *could*, not having any understanding of the underlying theory. What I didn't know at that time, and actually didn't understand until late in 2019 (thanks to some YouTub piano channels), was that the classical instruction paradigm traditionally didn't focus on those elements. Several online instructors confessed that they didn't have a clue either until after they'd graduated from college (as music majors) and it was eye-opening to find out that it wasn't just me. Unsurprisingly, I didn't touch a keyboard for decades, but I never really lost my ardor for guitar. Fast forward 35 years to my discovery of a couple of music theory playlists on piano and guitar instruction channels. With the light bulbs going off, my fingers started itching and I finally bought a used acoustic with change harvested from the couch cushions. Since the New Year, I've been laying hands on it every day (with the help of Mike and others) and it's never been a chore. Short stints of 5-15 minutes spread throughout the day seem to have been key, although they've gotten longer as my fingers have toughened and the instrument has come to feel less alien. Over the years, I've been involved in a number of athletic pursuits and some of them feel strangely relevant; particularly gymnastics and rowing. For gymnastics, it took a couple of years of work to develop the strength and flexibility to be able *start* to work on a lot of moves. Concerning rowing, I often think of an analysis I once read that asserted the psychology of rowers was different from a lot of athletes... it can be intensely painful and it's one of the rare sports where you never see the finish line until the race is over. You sit there, legs burning, wanting to barf and just keep pulling. And pulling. With no end in sight until you've passed it. Oddly, those experiences have translated to guitar in ways I didn't expect. I've been focused on learning the fundamentals, developing my conditioning and trying to do things correctly. I'm in no hurry but have a faith that if I keep plugging away I might eventually evolve into a crappy guitar player... with the ultimate goal of becoming a mediocre guitarist. Seeing a post like this fuels my hope that these are not unreasonable expectations. Thanks to Mike for helping to restore reignite my interest and keep my dream alive! And apologies all around for the preceding essay.

4:51 - That's not a pull up, that's a Michael Bolton impression when he sings and says the word Love lol :) Awesome channel dude!!!

the longer i play and learn the more i realize what a baby i am in this journey, and am blown away at others play, you wanna play you've got to stay...humble i love your videos so much🎸 thankyou!

I am amazed. All 3 is spot on about me, especially about not that easy childhood thing. I actually never thouth about it and this clicked in me as soon as i heard it. 10/10 video, everything that was said here is absolutely true

I know nothing. Help me fill my cup. Awesome. After 30 yrs of picking up and putting down the guitar for various reasons. I can't just quit. Just keep going. Be patient with yourself. Don't ever give up your passion for another. Be true to yourself first. Step out of comfort zones. Failing is part of the process for every sucess. Keep challenging yourself. There are no short cuts. Practice and repetition are words that have great meaning. Thanks bro.

interesting point about childhood and dysfunctional family, and I would say that when I was introduced to a musical intrument, first I saw was a SG model (1976) when I was returning from a hockey practice, it was in a store, in a window and it called me to go and see it and also that famous Kiss alive album put the guitars in another perspective, more like a object from the outer worlds, which was practically going hands in hands with some TV shows from that era. So yeah for a couple of hundred dollars, you found a friend, a friend for life, still do music, but more leaning toward jazz, really good for expression

I love these videos. I started teaching as a 2nd job and these stories are just so relatable. You're right in the first lesson or two you can tell if the student is genuinely interested or if the parents are pushing for some reason.

I wish I could be your student I have been playing for the past year and by myself ive learned so much but I feel like ive hit that ceiling and even though I do make distance every once in a while but I feel like I could use a great teacher because I sometimes dont see what can be best for me to learn its mostly been passion to be up on stage like eddie van halen or eric johnson just the beauty of what they do its just the love I have

One of the best messages I have heard for people (trying) to become better at playing the guitar. I have zero talent or musical sense, but I love playing, learning and want to keep doing it. This reinforces my thought process; my line of thinking is on par; keep at it, ask questions, and don't pretend you know things you don't. Thanks for the message, made my day.

Point 3 is big. I recently came to the realization that I don't know very much though I've been playing for years, and that should inspire me. Being insecure about it always discouraged me.

When it comes to my playing, I always think 6 months ahead. I dont get mad that way. It's a good confidence builder for people that love to play and practice a lot at home like I do. I learned spirit of radio last month and gosh I sucked up that crazy fast intro so bad at first wow. You gotta just keep at it over and over and over. I got it where its like buttah now and I am so stoked when i nail that. Its so much fun when that happens. Have a great day😁

This is one of my top 5 guitar channels if not the first..there is just something about your aura i could listen you for hours. Another thing..you are giving most valuable lessons, you are really looking a wider picture all these small things that people dont't realise importance of: posture, arm angle, rhythm being more important than shreding and so on.. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!

I'm late to guitar like I'm late to this video. I originally picked up bass and I was that apothetic guy who just got on with it but didn't particularly enjoy it until I put the instrument down and stopped entirely. Mid 20's now and just picked up my first guitar, a Jackson JS32T Rhaods and I'm like a kid again, excited to play after work and just going into my own world learning stuff slowly but surely, it's fantastic.

Wow, I like this guy you can really tell he loves and cares about his students!

Speaking of traits, did you know that diarrhea is hereditary? It runs in the jeans.

I've been play about 25 years now, and these messages hold as true now as they did back then. Excellent video and excellent message Mike.

Wise words......humility and hunger drive me.....plus if I could give any advise it's to be happy for others who play better or differently than you.....its not a competition and also,I think the childhood trait thing is bang on!

I picked up guitar about 7 months ago, and have seen pretty good progress throughout the start of my guitar journey, even though I'm self taught. Your videos help keep the fire burning, as well as others in the guitar community, which is a great place. Thanks for the great advice and videos, they keep the drive going so I can progress and hopefully get somewhere with guitar.

Hey, I played the flugelhorn! Chuck Mangione for life! ☺ However, trumpet is definitely not an instrument that is fun to play without a band, so guitar it is! Loving it so far. Keep up the great vids.

Thanks so much, I'm 56 and an finally getting better on guitar because up till now I wasn't willing to have a long term mindset, man it feels good

I also heard that the first think Randy Rhoads used to do when they arrived in a town was for him to find a guitar teacher. Likely, it was classical guitar only. But it makes sense because every teacher can learn something from every other teacher. It may challenge them both, though.

i think the best way to motivate someone to play guitar is to start on electric. even a cheap squier. for me, when i started, i only had this little acoustic guitar someone gave me, and i started looking up videos online, but i was never that much motivated, until my uncle let me borrow his strat, and all of a sudden i felt like i was a real guitar player and not some stupid begginner, and it really helped with my confidence and motivated me to learn more

Old new begginer here. Found out that I don't see the progress from what I did today until tomorrow. So I'm always excited for tomorrow with the guitar! Only been playing 4 months but nailed 3dg never too late. Working on Breaking Benjamin Angels fall. All your videos help me. Even the ones I can't do yet. It still gives me something! Love the guitar can't get enough.

I came to guitar in a round about way. I was first struck by a mandolin/violin group name Barrage. Something clicked and I new I wanted, and could learn Mandolin. After that I figured why not try guitar? That was a long time ago and I mainly play guitar now, but I still love my mandolin. Kevin O'Rourke

Very refreshing with a teacher on KZfaq who just doesn't promote short-cuts and "3 riffs that will take you you through anything", because it takes time and real effort to get good at anything.

Picked up the guitar after my exams this year (feb?) I already knew a few chords but I've started learning some lead stuff, I've practically been glued to my guitar for the last five months and when I'm not with it I'm watching guitar videos... I got my first electric last month and I'm so excited to learn more things! Your videos are great dude, I'm currently watching all of them lol

I've been playing guitar professionally for 33 years now and I still love learning new things. If you always want to learn, you will stay humble enough to become good. You can always spot someone who can't play very well by how much they talk. Never stop learning!

These are great basic traits to LIVE by! I agree with EVERY bit of this.

Good video, love your last point. I'm a teacher too and I see this a lot, the student who doesn't seem to know what they don't know. It's the Dunning-Kruger effect, where people way overestimate their ability, constantly telling me "they already know that" even as I watch them struggle to execute it, rushing through things and not taking the time to master one thing before moving on to the next. It's frustrating as a teacher to try and slow them down and teach them humility, in some cases it just doesn't work at all. It's unfortunate because all they're really doing is sabotaging themselves. If you ever have any tips on how to handle that kind of student, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for the reminder that all the struggles on the guitar are only a hurdle in the big picture. Right now feeling a bit frustrated stuck learning the same solo section for weeks.

Damn, I love your work. No bs, you only speak the truth. Bravo!

I'm in my fourth year of learning guitar. Along the way, there were certain songs or riffs I wanted to learn that I couldn't quite play. I told myself: 'I'm not ready yet' but I'll try again when I feel a bit more confident in my ability. For instance, it took me a while to learn the intro to "Revelations" by Iron Maiden but I finally got it down. I think it's important to set goals and visualize yourself playing those riffs and you will get there.

Good to know that I have the three traits you mentioned. Always wanted to learn guitar, but for one reason or another I couldn't, but with the dawn of the Internet and its many resources, there's no reason to not learn now. The best thing that anyone ever said to me was that learning how to play guitar isn't easy and will take time. My love for music leads me to be patient, and it's so cool when you learn something that you thought was impossible. Since I love to listen to music, it's always humbling to hear fabulous musicians like EVH, Al Di Meola, and others play something. Then if you really want to be humbled, listen to someone with disabilities play the guitar, like Django Reinhardt and Tony Iommi. Whenever I'm struggling and feel the discomfort and pain, I think of Django and Tony. Yes, there is much to learn, and it is a long journey, but it is so rewarding.

It helps greatly if you have a good teacher as well as good support. There's nothing worse than having people discourage you from playing and saying things like..."you're not good" and "you don't know what you're doing" and "that sounds like noise" "it's taking too long for you to get good" etc.

Check, check and check - as a beginner but an older person I've been able to understand "what it's all for". It's true what you say when you are a beginner, you've got all this enthusiasm that inspires others - harness this feeling and use it as your man reason to play. I've been guilty of that attitude, though it was before I started playing. Because I've been into music alot more than the average person I felt like I had a right to belittle others opinions, especially comparing mainstream music to less well known but better made music. Luckily enough I shut down all that bad behavior long ago before I made a fool of myself or hurt someones feelings.

once i heard a bassist say "I don't always like practicing, but i always like getting better" I think about that a lot and shared it with most students.

Well done to your friend for calling you out, and MASSIVE props for owning and sharing that, a lot of whats wrong with this world is people who can't admit theyr'e not perfect or right all the time. You rule, and you look like John Cusack.

Dedication to an art often encompasses two sympathetic elements. 1. Escape from your thoughts in the practice. 2. Expression in the execution. When you spend hours practicing and progressing, you aren't thinking about the bad or unhappy things. Then, when you perform, you find a voice to express, in a way that is comfortable for you, what those things you have been avoiding are. It's really therapeutic. It's also why so many great artists, from Van Gogh to Cobain are troubled people. They NEEDED the escape of their art.

"A cup that is full cannot be filled", that is some wisdom right there.

I started playing guitar because I saw an anime and saw how fast they learned and how clumsy they were when they first picked up a guitar. I had an acoustic and I learned my first few songs. Fell in love immediately

Awesome video. Thanks. I'm back to playing again after a long hiatus due to constant work and school learning.

This described me almost perfect mom and dad got divorced mom stayed in Florida we came back to Michigan. 3 yrs in I’m still sucky but I never gave up no matter what bcuz people made fun of me and it at first it hurt but then it fueled me.

You’ve been teaching for 27years? I thought you were 27?

I didnt think I would relate to this at all Ive been playing guitar for 4 days and this really solidified my idealization of becoming a great guitarist. Kinda scary tho how much I related to this thank you for getting me thinking.

Yeah!!! I also had students of all sorts. The ones that do make it, or at least stay with it for a long time, were the ones that went to get guitar lessons out of their own will. Whenever parents intervened it almost always meant that it was a lost cause. I've taught guitar for 12 years in this small neighbourhood music school, and in there I had two very iconic cases. One was that the mom really wanted her kid to play the guitar because the mom's father (the kid's grandfather) played classical guitar, and she was completely in love with it. So she imposed upon the kid to learn the instrument. Through a tough negotiation, she agreed that he could learn the electric guitar (tough because he didn't want to learn any instrument, and since she was forcing him to, at least it should be a cool looking one). Though the kid liked listening to music he was much more into sports. After a few months of very stale guitar playing and very little improvement (on songs that he himself chose to learn), the mom visited me at the school, and we had a conversation. Both mother and son were present and I asked her if she had ever asked her son if he actually wanted to play an instrument... at that point, out of the mom's field of vision, the kid cracked a BIIIGG SMILE. He definitely didn't want to spend his time learning an instrument. I suspected that her wanting him to learn an instrument was actually her projecting her desire onto him. So, after that conversation, she changed her son's guitar teacher (LOL). A very close friend, also a teacher at the same school started giving him guitar lessons, but nothing changed the kid didn't really want to learn the instrument. So the mom again went to have a conversation with the current teacher... and it went pretty much like the one she had before with me, with my friend confronting the mom as to if her kid really wanted to have those guitar lessons. Guess what happened! The kid dropped the guitar lessons and SHE, THE MOM picked them up. (Projection is a real psychological thing, my friend). But after noticing that she would only achieve the guitar playing that she perceived as acceptable after a relatively long period, she dropped out of the lessons too. So in that story two elements were present. The original guitar student didn't actually want to learn the instrument, an the mom who wanted didn't feel like investing her time on doing so. The second story is the weird one. Also involving a mom and a son. She enrolled the kid for guitar lessons, with me, but the kid wasn't learning or improving much (ok, nothing new under the sun). But the plot twist came upon meeting that parent, and she asked me why wasn't her song improving much. To that point, I asked her if she has been seeing him practice at home, and she replied with an emphatic NO! That SHE DIDN'T LET THE KID PRACTICE GUITAR BECAUSE HE TO STUDY FOR THE SUBJECTS OF HIS REGULAR SCHOOL. Well... I told her that In reality, she shouldn't expect much improvement for someone that only picks up the instrument for a 1 hour once a week (at the guitar lesson). That things would move really slow if he didn't have a practice routine outside of class. Eventually, that student also stopped coming. But that was SO WEIRD. I'm still wondering to this day what went through that person's head about learning a skill without practicing it, putting that oxymoronic burden upon her own kid.

Mike is a great teacher and is wise about many things

Spot on fella. Well said. I dont think those traits are exclusive to beginner guitarists. I think a lot of people think they are going to be naturally gifted and its going to come to them effortlessly. And its a bit of a shock when it doesnt! It can also be a bit shocking how much it hurts! Fingers, hands, arms, shoulders, back, neck etc. And there is always something new to learn no matter how long you've been playing for. Just another part of what makes the guitar so rewarding to play. Good vid man x.

Eh man, big fan of your channel. I actually picked up bass guitar about a year and a half ago and genuinely enjoy these kinds of videos because they motivate me to keep learning about my instrument. Thanks for doing what you do.

Long-term thinking is something I’ve noticed I need to work on. I’ve dedicated my time recently to trying to play faster and I find myself getting so frustrated when I can’t get a certain lick, reach a certain BPM, etc. I just feel like it should “click” immediately for some silly reason. Thinking about reaching my goals in months instead of days or weeks will help me not feel so stressed out. Thank you for opening my eyes, great video as always!

I self teach, so I’ve always been trying to get those small victories. Maybe this chord is hard on this song but when I get it right it feels amazing to play a song I love cleanly. Perseverance is key, and to not listen to the people in your house that say you suck, failure leads to victory

Training in Karate taught me long term mind set. The feeling when I got my black belt was unreal. I find every little breakthrough in guitar is the same as that. They talk a lot about those little breakthroughs in Karate.

I LIKE UR PERSONALITY OMGGGGGGGGGGGGG

You sound just like my martial arts instructors past and present. I love it. Thanks for all the videos, they have been a huge help. I am only 11 weeks in to playing as I picked it up once quarantine started and I love it! I absolutely suck, haha, but the journey feels just the same as when I started martial arts.

I found that not lying to myself about my ability and current playing is very helpful. Recording yourself can help with this, as painful as it can be. Are you playing cleanly, with no buzz, fuzz notes, or ringing strings? Do you understand time, and are you playing in time? Etc. Etc. Etc. I had to say "NO! I am not playing cleanly, I don't REALLY understand the timing of that phrase, I'm not really fingering that chord correctly." Once I did that, I went back and corrected my little faults; it did not pay off right away, but after a few weeks, I DID hear a difference.

Ive done the "you didn't know that" before and have been tried to be hyper aware of it and pass that to my students (and friends). Great video man.

I'm definitely still an amateur, but when I would first start playing I would get a lot of flack/beat myself up because I primarily liked punk rock music among a lot of other genres, but I had that fast aggressive energy in me, and combined with some of the simplicity of it, it was perfect for me. It's what I primarily do right now (just began learning maj7 chords and breaking/moving scales) and working up starting a band. It took me quite a while to have some humility in what I was doing; to recognize I don't have to limit myself and I can learn other things, but also to not let anyone make fun of me for my skill level and what I wanted to play.

Mike, you are absolutely right, as always. However, for a guy who looks so young, I can’t believe you have been teaching guitar for 27 yrs! I’m too old to remember how much I wanted to learn guitar. I do remember spending every spare moment learning to play, so I guess I qualified as keen, at least. Best wishes, stay safe.

For all you young folks out there:Couple of weeks ago I (42) decided to pick up my guitar and build up speed. I always wanted to sweep pick, or get some really fast songs to play. Now, after nearly eight weeks I'm not quiet there, but looking back I see where I started back then, knowing it's going to be a long journey. As for sweep picking, I actually started with 35, and there were times when I couldn't pick up my guitar for a month or so. But then I see - now, where I had eigth weeks I could at least play each day one hour, I am really getting somewhere! So don't let frustration overcome you - it is never too late. I think all you need is the right mind set.

My guitars have been my therapist for 37 years

How you doing? 27 years ago. You only look 27. Anyway I just started playing in August and I'm 63. I played a little when I was sixteen but didn't have the time. Now it feels great. I started off with a Yamaha f335 to get my wings, I mean callouses and just got a Squier classic vibe stratocaster and a fender mustang 25 amp. Getting better all the time. I really like Ritchie Kotzen and can play a few songs. Thanks for your sincere thoughts and support. Peace.

27 years - dude was born holding a guitar and after he could breathe, he looked at the doctor and said "Today we are going to discuss the enharmonic frequencies of the major scale".

Trait #4 Be willing to spend. I'm a beginner, and one thing I've learnt is that guitar isn't cheap. You don't just buy one and then that's it. You need to buy a bag/case, a stand, a tuner, a capo, and more. You also preferably need to pay for a teacher. I feel like this is one of the ways to know who's serious and who isn't. Even just a guitar itself is quite pricey. I am really struggling financially, and it's been like this for a while. But I still pay for lessons every week with a guitar teacher who is actually a specialist, (very expensive!) I have bought a case and a tuner, and last week I took my guitar to a professional who customises them specifically for each individual. (Don't know what you call it) So even as broke and as unhappy as I am, I still make a lot of effort and I invest in myself and my guitar. I think stuff like this can really make a student as well.