Cool And Inspiring Story |
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Mar 1 2012, 05:59 AM
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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 ?
-------------------- My Sound Cloud Profile: http://soundcloud.com/casinostrat
Gear I Use: Guitars: Gibson: Les Paul Custom, ES-339, and Faded Flying V Fender: American Stratocaster Deluxe (I think?) Epiphone: Les Paul 56' Gold Top and Les Paul Standard, Casino Yamaha: FG720S Accoustic Amps: Fender Champ, Peavey Bandit 112, and an ancient Epiphone Amp:) Effects: Digitech RP 500 Effects Pedal Picks: Dunlop Jazz IIIs Practice, Practice, Practice, and remember Every Artist Does Get Better Eventually!  |
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Mar 1 2012, 10:21 AM
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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!
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Mar 2 2012, 02:35 AM
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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!Yeah man I thought it was awesome to see someone like that want to learn to play guitar. He probably will never be famous or make money at it, but he still is willing and has more drive to suceed to than some people do who are half his age. 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 ? Yeah I totally agree Ben. Its all a matter of perspective really, and age should not be seen as a handicap. I have seen a lot of people say, "I'm too old to learn guitar....piano....rock climbing......whatever". They use age as an excuse to not put forth the effort to learn. ......Speaking of growing older, happy belated birthday man, hope you have many happy returns! 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. That would be a cool band to be in! I have a friend who plays guitar and he is like 60 or so. He is an old SRV and Gary Moore fan and we get together and jam once a week, usually over blues stuff. Guys that age usually are great to jam with because they grew up around that kind of music and absorbed so much of it that it seems to come more naturally to them than to us young guys. He can play circles around me if he wants to, but thats ok, since I don't mind just listening when it comes to blues! 
-------------------- My Sound Cloud Profile: http://soundcloud.com/casinostrat
Gear I Use: Guitars: Gibson: Les Paul Custom, ES-339, and Faded Flying V Fender: American Stratocaster Deluxe (I think?) Epiphone: Les Paul 56' Gold Top and Les Paul Standard, Casino Yamaha: FG720S Accoustic Amps: Fender Champ, Peavey Bandit 112, and an ancient Epiphone Amp:) Effects: Digitech RP 500 Effects Pedal Picks: Dunlop Jazz IIIs Practice, Practice, Practice, and remember Every Artist Does Get Better Eventually! |
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