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Posted by: casinostrat Mar 1 2012, 05:59 AM

Hey guys just wanted to share something that I saw today. I take regular lessons in piano and guitar as well as the lessons here at GMC. I had a piano lesson today, and I got to the studio early and was sitting there talking to my piano teacher, and there was an old man sitting there reading a magazine, I had never seen him there before and I figured he was waiting on his grandkids to get finished with their lessons or something. About that time the guitar instructor came in, and it turns out that the old man was a student taking guitar Lessons! The instructor had to carry his case for the old man and I noticed he had to use a cane to hobble along, following the guitar teacher down the hallway to the room where they practice. I asked about him later that day and it turns out he is a retired coal miner, 82 years old, and has been learning to play guitar since he was 71 years old. He normally comes in on a different day and that is the reason I hadn't seen him before, and the instructor said that rain or shine, summer or winter, he is just about always there. To me there was just something awesome about a man who has worked hard his whole life, and now he wants to learn to play guitar and is not letting his age be an excuse or a handicap for learning to play. Even though he doesn't walk all that well, and has to use a cane, he is learning something he has always wanted to do. I hope if I ever reach 82 years old, I will be doing the same thing! How about you guys? Any cool experiences in being around older musicians ?

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 1 2012, 10:21 AM

Wow mate! What a story You just brought a big smile upon my face feels good to know there still are people like these around!

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 1 2012, 02:55 PM

Thanks for sharing, that's a great thing to hear

I recently (well, for about a year) had an attitude change about getting older. It was reading the autobiography of Gichin Funakoshi, a Karate Master that did it for me. Just reading about the different life changes & different challenges he was facing in each different decade of his life made me feel that anything is possible at any time of your life. People feel that 50 or 60 is old.. well Funakoshi was still enjoying new avenues of life even at 70, 80 up until his death at 88 (or 90 depending on the source !).

It's a modern Western-ised view that you reach a certain age and you're done, you've only got retirement to look forward to but I think that's wrong. Of course we're only mortal and we're going to die someday but the trouble starts when your mind says 'that's it, got nothing to do now' so your body thinks 'Ok, I'm not needed anymore'. If your mind says 'We;re not done yet, your body listens'.

We can apply this to learning the guitar. It's all about demand. Place a demand on yourself and then you have to step up to it, physically or mentally. If there's no demands on you, you will atrophy mentally and physically.

It's exciting to think you can still be starting new things when you get older. If you want to start running at 60, why not ? Rock climbing ? Learning a new language ? An instrument ? Why the hell not ?

Posted by: Gitarrero Mar 1 2012, 07:52 PM

Age is just a number, don't let yourself fool by it! You can be 30 and still behave like a teenager sometimes (yeah...that's my excuse, I admit it).
I've played in a Coverband called The Rocking Sixties for 8 years with guys who could all have been my dads, and it was always fun. Some of these guys were over 60 and were still eager to learn new songs, like Metallica stuff and such. They told me great stories about the concerts they went to when they were younger, and guess what: they went to the Ozzy concert with me last year, jumping around in the moshpit
You just have to stay young in your head, be interested in different things and don't be afraid of change.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 1 2012, 11:00 PM

QUOTE (Gitarrero @ Mar 1 2012, 06:52 PM)

Age is just a number, don't let yourself fool by it! You can be 30 and still behave like a teenager sometimes (yeah...that's my excuse, I admit it).
I've played in a Coverband called The Rocking Sixties for 8 years with guys who could all have been my dads, and it was always fun. Some of these guys were over 60 and were still eager to learn new songs, like Metallica stuff and such. They told me great stories about the concerts they went to when they were younger, and guess what: they went to the Ozzy concert with me last year, jumping around in the moshpit
You just have to stay young in your head, be interested in different things and don't be afraid of change.

Posted by: casinostrat Mar 2 2012, 02:35 AM

QUOTE (Cosmin Lupu @ Mar 1 2012, 09:21 AM)

Wow mate! What a story You just brought a big smile upon my face feels good to know there still are people like these around!

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Mar 1 2012, 01:55 PM)

Thanks for sharing, that's a great thing to hear

I recently (well, for about a year) had an attitude change about getting older. It was reading the autobiography of Gichin Funakoshi, a Karate Master that did it for me. Just reading about the different life changes & different challenges he was facing in each different decade of his life made me feel that anything is possible at any time of your life. People feel that 50 or 60 is old.. well Funakoshi was still enjoying new avenues of life even at 70, 80 up until his death at 88 (or 90 depending on the source !).

It's a modern Western-ised view that you reach a certain age and you're done, you've only got retirement to look forward to but I think that's wrong. Of course we're only mortal and we're going to die someday but the trouble starts when your mind says 'that's it, got nothing to do now' so your body thinks 'Ok, I'm not needed anymore'. If your mind says 'We;re not done yet, your body listens'.

We can apply this to learning the guitar. It's all about demand. Place a demand on yourself and then you have to step up to it, physically or mentally. If there's no demands on you, you will atrophy mentally and physically.

It's exciting to think you can still be starting new things when you get older. If you want to start running at 60, why not ? Rock climbing ? Learning a new language ? An instrument ? Why the hell not ?

QUOTE (Gitarrero @ Mar 1 2012, 06:52 PM)

Age is just a number, don't let yourself fool by it! You can be 30 and still behave like a teenager sometimes (yeah...that's my excuse, I admit it).
I've played in a Coverband called The Rocking Sixties for 8 years with guys who could all have been my dads, and it was always fun. Some of these guys were over 60 and were still eager to learn new songs, like Metallica stuff and such. They told me great stories about the concerts they went to when they were younger, and guess what: they went to the Ozzy concert with me last year, jumping around in the moshpit
You just have to stay young in your head, be interested in different things and don't be afraid of change.