Is it easy to Learn to Play Guitar as an Adult?

Published on April 30, 2021

We all want to learn Guitar and at some point in our life want to start learning and progressing towards our dream. In fact, for most of us, it is a part of our bucket list. But these thoughts always pop into our minds: is it easy to learn to play guitar as an adult, or am I too late?

Firstly, you need to understand that any skill can be acquired at any stage of life if you put your whole heart and mind into it. After all, age is just a number and there’s no perfect age for learning guitar. Whenever you pick up the guitar and say to yourself that you’ve got this, that would be the right time for you.

Learning any new skill takes time, and can be a little difficult at times. Hence, even learning to play guitar has its ups and downs, irrespective of who’s learning it. This guide is for all those who believe that learning guitar as an adult is an impossible task, we’re here to prove this wrong.

Why would it be Easier for Adults to Learn Guitar?

You have more experience in life

Due to having to acquire a lot of skills in the past in different aspects of life, adults have a sense of discipline and determination that sometimes lacks in children. These are the key elements, if you’re able to maintain this, you’ll have a great time with this instrument. Adults tend to have experience with a lot of things in life that, when implemented, can make learning guitar comparatively easier. They have a deeper understanding of how important practicing is. And it’s also easier for them to understand new topics and directions provided to them.

You are more Passionate to Learn

Not all children who play guitar have a passion for it, some are forced by their parents or some have to take it up as an activity in school. But, if someone older is trying to take out time to learn guitar, it means they’re genuinely interested in this instrument, or even better, passionate about doing this. As long as you have a deep desire for learning a new skill, you can be guaranteed to get through it without being demotivated much. Passion is what gets you going when foreign concepts step in, else you might lose whatever motivation you have, and in some cases, even leave playing guitar in between.

Availability of Resources and Knowledge of Music Style

If seriously interested, adults can easily acquire all the required resources. They have the choice of making their own decisions and are independent enough to implement them as quickly as possible. And after years of listening to music, they know what genre they like the best and what they would want to play once they learn guitar. Hence, instead of feeling lost when choosing what to play, they can focus completely on playing what they want to play. This saves time and also keeps the learner inspired as they’re doing something they enjoy.

What could possibly stop you?

Lack of Time

Being an adult means having way too many things on your plate, things that require to be put on the top of your priority list; like career, family, and other commitments. Hence, it might be a little difficult for some people to take time out of their schedule to learn guitar. This has to be the most important thing for you to work upon to learn this instrument as you have to be consistent with learning and practicing every day.

Fear Of Failure

A lot of times, adults usually have a fear of failing. They believe that after a certain age learning a new skill is as hard as teaching a child the alphabet. Even before picking up a guitar, they condition themselves into thinking it’s not possible. But if thought of it, this is just a psychological barrier. Age doesn’t determine this, but your own thought process does.

How could you overcome these barriers?

Time Management

Take out some time from your schedule to play guitar daily. Regular practice, even if it is for a few minutes, can actually help you progress towards your goal. Consistency is the main goal here; the more you practice, the more you progress.

Invest in Proper Equipment

Before you start learning, go out and buy yourself a guitar you’re comfortable with. It’s going to ease you into this process and help you get a little familiar with your instrument as well. You could also get yourself ready by buying other essential equipment such as a tuner, and a capo. You can check out a complete guide of what equipment is required as a beginner to start learning Guitar

Have Some Patience

One of the most important things you need here is patience; you need to go slow with this. Go through the basics thoroughly till you master them, and understand where you need to work on, and spend your time improving them. If you go through this all in a hurry, you’re going to be missing out on a lot of important details. Hence, it’s important to be patient and give time to yourself to get comfortable with this.

Have realistic Goals

Make goals that you’ll be able to achieve. For instance, making a goal of practicing guitar every day for 1 hour, when you can only take out 30 minutes, is like making one such unrealistic goal. Look through your daily schedule and understand how much time you can take out and then make a plan on how you want to go about it. If you think it's not enough time for practice, then gradually increase it over weeks till you find the perfect timings. Also, have a realistic expectation as an outcome from those practice sessions.

Don't skip Music Theory

This step is completely optional but comes off as a helpful one. Going through a little music theory before you get learning is going to help you understand the concepts a lot better when you start playing guitar. By knowing the theory behind what you put in practice, you make it easier for yourself to grasp new concepts easily.

How can learning guitar benefit you?

Learning guitar as an adult can not only help in improving your mental skills but also in stress relief. According to several pieces of research, music can help in reducing anxiety and the physical effects of stress. It helps in the process of healing and helps in improving self-expression and communication. It has helped people get out of several mental barriers, and can also be effective in relaxation after a long day.

Playing guitar recruits almost every part of the brain and hence, improves memory and concentration. It helps perfect eye and hand coordination and in multitasking better. It helps put your energy into a positive activity, making you feel relaxed. Let us try to explain it with a simple example. Remember when you had an empty feeling inside you, you felt like doing nothing but picking up your guitar and run your fingers all through the strings to produce those melancholy chords. Or when you sat by the balcony door and wanted to sing your heart out loud, as you could not express your thoughts in words anymore. We all have been through that phase as a part of our adulthood. And music has helped us a lot in these hard times and acted as a stress reliever to bring mental peace.

We believe all this will help you clearly see that it is very much possible for an adult to learn guitar in an easy way. If you are still not convinced, then we would be happy to share with you that so far more than 3,600 adults (working professionals) have joined our Guitar course for beginners to learn in the easiest way on beAmusician.in and are achieving their dreams to play Guitar successfully. beAmusician provides guitar courses carefully structured by experts, which also include weekly feedback sessions and progress tracking. With the balanced mix of recorded learning content as well as live feedback classes, these are perfect for adults and working professionals as it gives the learner the flexibility to complete the lessons according to their own convenient time without affecting their busy work schedule.

We strongly believe that music is for everyone and can be learned by anyone at any age and our courses prove that learning guitar as an adult is completely possible!