Think you're too old to learn the guitar? Think again!

Although many guitarists started learning the instrument at an early age, there are also many spectacular guitarists who picked their first string in their 30s, 40s, 50s, or even later.

There are many reasons for this. Maybe they weren't interested in the guitar when they were younger. Maybe they couldn't find a suitable teacher or couldn't afford lessons. Or maybe work, school, family, or other commitments simply got in the way of pursuing a musical ambition.

Whatever the reason you might have put off learning the guitar, the good news is that you're never too old to start. The fact is, you're never too old to learn, you simply grow old when you stop learning new things. Learning the guitar doesn't require young fingers, just passion and persistence.

Every guitar student encounters obstacles along the way. The key is to maintain your motivation, remember why you wanted to learn the guitar in the first place, and then keep at it until you overcome the problems and master the technique you're trying to learn.

Fortunately, guitar offers a number of features that can help keep you motivated.

1. Unlike some musical instruments, it's relatively easy to start making music with the guitar. After just a couple of weeks of study and practice, you can already play a few songs. And things only get better from there.

2. The guitar is one of the most fun instruments to play, and one of the most popular. So playing the guitar is a good way to get to know and hang out with lots of different people. You can interact with a huge community to talk about guitar playing and music in general.

3. As you develop proficiency, you'll find guitar playing opens your creative side and also is a good way to relax and relieve tension. While guitar playing is about getting the right chords and strumming technique, it's equally about passion and hitting the right emotional notes.

Additionally, adult guitar learners have some definite advantages over younger learners:
1. Whereas kids tend to have shorter attention spans and move from one activity to another, more mature learners have developed persistence and goal-setting. It's that persistence and stick-to-it attitude that results in real progress in guitar playing.

2. As an adult you have more life experiences to draw on in your guitar playing and songwriting. These experiences and emotions come out in your music and appeal to audiences more than sheer technical wizardry.

3. As an adult learner you have deeper motivation and passion for the instrument. Many kids pick up the guitar just because their friends or siblings play, or they want to imitate someone they saw in a video. This motivation will keep you going through the inevitable rough patches in learning the guitar.

So it's never too late to learn. The sooner you start, the sooner you'll be able to fulfill your ambition and entertain your family and friends with your musical skills.

Eight Steps to Learning the Guitar

1. Study and learn the instrument. Learn the parts of the guitar, what each part does and how it interacts with the rest of the instrument. Learn how the guitar produces sounds and what changes and affects the sound. A solid understanding of the guitar is crucial to becoming a skilled player and will reward you throughout your musical career.

Here is a video that explains the parts of an acoustic guitar.

2. Once you're familiar with the instrument itself, you should learn the chords and hand positions. These will eventually need to become second nature to you, so you should practice them over and over until you can move smoothly between different positions.

This video describes some basic guitar chords.

3. In addition to hand position, you should know the optimum positions for your body (this will be personal to you). This includes leg, back, arm, and shoulder positions. You will also need to practice your fret hand technique and strum hand coordination. You will need to develop muscle memory in your fret hand.

4. Learn the different ways to play chords. There may be up to 10 ways to play a certain chord. Each may be appropriate for different situations, pieces, and styles. To be a well-rounded guitar player you should be familiar with all of them.

When starting out, you will likely need to look down frequently at your fret hand to make sure it's in the right position. This is appropriate. You should make sure your positioning is correct so you develop muscle memory with the right positions. You can practice this even when you're away from the guitar. For example, when watching TV you can simulate moving and placing your fret hand on the guitar. Over time, your fingering position will become more familiar and you will not need to look down so much.

This video introduces a system for learning the fretboard:

5. Practice daily. As your brain gets a regular diet of guitar, it will quickly absorb the techniques and make them second-nature. You should aim for at least a half hour of practice per day, for at least five days per week. A short practice session each day is better than a long session one day followed by a several-days lay off.

6. Learn the proper techniques. Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Look up on the Internet for good instruction videos and websites. If you know an experienced guitarist, try to get together with them regularly to jam together. By watching and playing alongside them, your technique will rapidly grow. You can also check your local library for beginning guitar books.

7. Realize this will take some time. That chord you've been struggling with will eventually become clean and smooth as you work at it. Frustration and roadblocks are normal; don't let them discourage you.

8. If you're practicing frequently, remember to replace your strings regularly. This will make a dramatic improvement in the sound quality.

Good Cheap Acoustic Guitar

It seems many people are in the market for a good, cheap acoustic guitar. The guitar is possibly the most popular, and most fun, musical instrument to play. Most everyone plays or knows someone who plays the guitar. Whether you're into rock, soul, jazz (like me), R&B, or even classical, you can likely play your favorite songs on the guitar. That's what prompted my decision to learn the guitar.

When starting my search for a guitar to start learning with, I asked around, and also did some research on the Internet. People told me, when you're just learning, an acoustic guitar is a better choice than electric, because you can concentrate on the chords and strumming technique without getting distracted with getting all the knobs just right.

Also, you're smart to look for a relatively inexpensive instrument. After all, you don't want to put down thousands on a high-end guitar, only to find out after a few weeks that it's not for you.

But you still want to look for quality. Springing a little extra for a quality guitar will give you a good learning experience, and worst case, you can sell it for a decent price, if you eventually decide that maybe the saxophone is more your style.

Here are several good guitars I found:

Best Cheap Acoustic Guitar

My choice in this category is the Jasmine S35 Acoustic Guitar.

I really liked the Jasmine S35 because it looks, feels, and sounds like a quality professional guitar, but is priced like a beginner instrument. The spruce finish and rosewood bridge and fretboard are solid and well-made.

Unlike some other beginner guitars, the S35 has finished joints and edges that make the sound come out smooth and nice. It uses an advanced X-bracing system, which helps the soundboard to resonate more freely.

The S35 is easy to play, which makes it a good instrument to learn with. Its quality sound and construction make it suitable for intermediate players, or as a backup instrument for advanced guitarists. So you won't soon outgrow it.

Although the guitar comes with strings, they may not be the best quality. You might do well to get a good set of strings, to really bring out the potential of this instrument. Also, the distance between the fret and strings is a little larger than many other guitars. But that just means you'll need to do some setup before starting out. It's all part of the learning experience, right?

Click here for a closer look and to see the best price.

Acoustic Guitar For Sale Cheap

I found the Rogue RA-100D to be another choice to consider if you're looking for a quality, inexpensive acoustic guitar. Like the S35, the RA-100D is dreadnought body type, which means it has a larger body and consequently a louder and bolder tone. In fact, the RA-100D's spruce front projects sound clear across the room.

The rosewood fretboard gives it a distinctive appearance, and adds good sound clarity to each note. The RA-100D comes with nickel hardware and tuners. The sound quality is comparable to Yamaha guitars at two or three times the price. And durable? Well, people have taken them overseas and given them to people in impoverished areas. Even in dry climates, with little care, they still last 4 or 5 years.

You should keep in mind, though, that the RA-100D is not a small instrument. It's quite large - the only size larger than the dreadnought is the jumbo size. So if you're looking for a guitar for a child, or a small-frame person, you're better off looking at smaller guitars.

Click here for a closer look and to see the best price.

Good Beginner Acoustic Guitar

If you're looking for a true starter guitar, especially one suitable for a younger student, you might look at products like the Beginner 38" Pink Acoustic Guitar. This is an Austin Bazaar brand, 38" acoustic guitar that's just made for beginning students, as young as seven.

Although it's not a top name brand, it projects sound clearly and plays nicely in a variety of styles. At 38" it's suitable for younger kids, and even older ones, who just want to have a working guitar to get started with.

The guitar has a wood frame and linden binding and comes with a bag, guitar pick, tuning pipe, and guitar strap, as well as extra strings. The steel strings play well in rock, country, or various other styles.

Click here for a closer look and to see the best price.