Starting Back on Playing Banjo After Years of Not Playing
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Latebeginner - Posted - 12/20/2008: 19:14:02
I was 60 when I started. That was last Feb. I told everybody and myself I couldn't play. Then one day I realized the Lord didn't say I couldn't play. So I started taking lessons and it's been a blast. Except the cat still won't stay in the same room with the banjo, but I can live with that.
Frank
Timing is everything.
rdeputy - Posted - 12/20/2008: 21:46:50
I started in 2005 at the age of 43, however I have played bass and various types of guitars since I was about 15 or so. I played keyboards and trumpet prior to that.
Rob
Keep Bluegrass music alive for all generations
rstieg - Posted - 12/21/2008: 05:54:47
I started in 2002 at 56 and I really don't feel like my age held me back at all. It's mostly a matter of sticking with it, practicing every day, and start playing with other folks as soon as you can.
RICH
Pleasanton, CA
The truth is a moving target... perception is more important than reality... everything is relative...
banjokent - Posted - 12/21/2008: 07:38:16
Started banjo when 38,
now 59, played at guitar from 17 but no practice.
When I found or made the time to practice, I improved,
when practice slowed or stoped, oh my, that's sad, really sad.
From here it looks as if time spent is the best banjo teacher,
not just the age when you started.
And that is where lots of "older" starters have a big advantage.
They have the time to spend, and the desire to spend it playing a banjo.
Here is a personal example : A few years back I thought I had hit
a "brick wall" and just could not improve. Ha !!! had nothin'
to do with my being able to learn any more, instead complications
of everyday life took center stage. NO PRACTICE. no more learning.
SO, if you have the time and the desire,, age should not stop you.
Giving up will.
I want my life to count for something, , let''s see,, I IV V, I IV V, I IV V
Farful - Posted - 12/21/2008: 17:31:09
Started at 65 after seeing a banjo player at a local talent show. Always had a desire to play the banjo but not the courage to try. This is my first attempt at playing anything. My family must like it 'cause they bought me two mutes, and a pair of wire cutters. (for tuning they said)
One of the most fun things I have ever done!!!
10gauge - Posted - 12/21/2008: 19:09:03
I'm was 21 years when I wrote this song
I'm 22 now, but I won't be for long.
And the leaves that are green turn to brown.
From Simon and Garfunkle. You better get started before its too late.
I'm 37. I've been playing 9 months now. I wonder how my playing will sound when I'm 49. I had a dream that I'll die when I'm a young 65. I think my banjo was in the bed of my truck although the case was a lot more beat up. I was driving home from my property in South Dakota that I don't own yet, when a blood vessel went in my head killing me instantly. I remember waking up sobbing, because I knew I was dying and would never see my son again. The funny thing is my son hadn't been born yet. Actually, my son had been born, but I think the story sounds spookier and cooler that way. Banjo isn't like gymnastics in that you need to be able to do an iron cross to have fun. Welcome to the hangout!
The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.
jpiperson2002 - Posted - 12/22/2008: 04:46:47
Hello everyone, this is my first post after a few months of scanning the forum so please accept a bit of rambling observation.
Many of the folks here seem to have taken up banjo later in life. I suppose that's because the banjo isn't a 'mainstream' instrument in most parts of the US. None of my acquaintances played banjo when I was growing up and the 'Beverly hillbillies' image of the instrument didn't resonate with city life up here in Chicago. I always liked the sound though.
I'd had intermittent guitar lessons over the past 40 years but was never good enough or maybe just not motivated enough to get beyond the basics. I played guitar at home with my wife and sons once in a while but there wasn't any fire in it. Last year when the older son turned 13 and started critiquing my guitar technique with increasing regularity (he aspires to be Zeus on guitar) I decided it was time to switch instruments. As mentioned in an earlier post, this was an opportunity for me to start completely fresh on a new instrument and to see what I could accomplish. That's a healthy thing at my point in life where I'm mostly working with ingrained skill sets which were developed many years ago.
So 4 months ago, at age 55, I purchased a Deering Goodtime banjo and started taking weekly classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music. They offers a variety of banjo classes in different styles as well as bluegrass ensemble and bluegrass jamming sessions for when I'm ready to be seen in public with other musicians. Having classes available locally makes learning the banjo much easier and it motivates me to practice more often so as not to embarrass myself too much in front of others.
I don't think that live classes are necessary though now that there are so many wonderful training DVDs and manuals and Youtube videos available. I picked up some really excellent Janet Davis book/DVDs sets, the Acutab Power pickin' series with Bill Evans, some 'play along with a bluegrass band' jam session DVDs and maybe a dozen other manuals and DVDs which all cover much the same musical territory but with different styles of presentation. The DVDs provide enough technique info to last me through many years of learning. The main drawback with the manuals & DVDs is that I needed to buy $o many of them to find the ones which I really like.
I've set myself a training goal of watching and casually working through about one DVD per month over the next year. I know I can't absorb that much info that fast but I've always believed that it's very important to skim material through to the end first to get a general overview of how it all fits together. Then I can skip the chaff next time around and focus on what matters.
So the age-of-starting-banjo question really takes second place to the motivation question. If a person takes up the banjo later in life 50+ with the determination to study it seriously and to work at it methodically over a period of a few years they'll be able to slow jam with people within the year if only to provide basic backup. In my mind the real ignition point to success in all of this is to reach the level where you jam with a group of other instruments. Practicing the banjo by ones self can be relaxing and satisfying but interacting with other musicians is the pivot point which turns it from practice to passion.
My 2nd banjo arrived last week, a 11 lb Gold Tone BG-250 with removable resonator, and yesterday I sat in on my first casual bluegrass jam session with mandolins, lap steel, banjos, guitars and fiddles. That was a transition point for me in my short journey with the banjo and it gave clear purpose to all of those hours spent practicing rolls and chord transitions at home. I better watch out or I may find myself wearing funny hats and sporting a handlebar mustache on of these days.
John Piper
John Piper
Kstevensmd - Posted - 12/22/2008: 05:51:18
Started at age 56 out of the blue! One and one half year later, I'm loving it more and more! It is never to late to learn and appreciate music! The banjo is fun!
Merry Christmas!
Ken Stevens
kcking1 - Posted - 12/23/2008: 14:47:58
I started at 50 two years ago with very little experience (my wife tells me that my mastery of one song on the recorder in third grade doesn't qualify as a musical foundation.) I torture my family regularly with my practice though I am no longer met with howls of laughter...from time to time my 22 year old son will say, "gettin' better, Dad!"
I'm having the time of my life on it - what a great obsession!
not2old2pick - Posted - 12/23/2008: 15:52:14
I bought my first banjo when I was 17. My little rother sold it while I was in the Navy. (yes he is still alive) I just bought another one 2 months ago and I will be 53 in a month and a half. Bottom line is I am havin the time of my life. I also try to play at least an hour a day and more on my days off. Just remember your age is only a number, it's what you do in those years that makes the difference.
not2old2pick
TTreppa - Posted - 12/23/2008: 16:10:18
Started playing banjo at age 66 one year ago this past Thanksgiving. I haven't looked back. I play guitar with two groups. Eventually I'll play the banjo with them. The banjo is certainly a challenge over the guitar. With the banjo there is so much more going on with both hands. I love it more and more, actually the better I become the more I like it. Funny thing the more I practice the better I sound. Amazing.
Terry Treppa
Terence F. Treppa
Daddydukes - Posted - 12/23/2008: 18:22:47
I am supposed to be getting a banjo for Christmas. I've always wanted to learn to play one. I've banged around on the guitar for a few years, but nothing serious ever happened. My love has been for the banjo.
Oh, I'm 50 and have every intention of becoming a good picker. You guys provide some great motivation!
Keith
Tablaman - Posted - 12/24/2008: 02:26:24
This is very encouraging. I played in high school and early college. I graduated High School in 1965, so that should give a good idea of my age. I studied many instruments since then including sitar, jazz guitar, classical piano and tablas. For the past 3 or 4 years I've had this hankering to play banjo again, but wanted a decent instrument. Providence provided one when a friend informed me he would be willing to sell one of his vintage Mastertones last year. I view the banjo as a serious instrument. A methodical disciplined practice is yielding some decent results, but it's only been one year. I hope I have a good thiry more years of playing, because I love this instrument so much.
JoeC
ddale79 - Posted - 01/16/2009: 03:31:11
quote:
Originally posted by FarfulStarted at 65 ............... My family must like it 'cause they bought me two mutes, and a pair of wire cutters. (for tuning they said)
OK....that was very funny. Made me laugh out loud.
goldtopia - Posted - 01/16/2009: 04:50:03
I started late today. I got up at 10am.
Bill.O
minstrelmike - Posted - 01/16/2009: 05:27:34
Either you start new stuff later in life or you don't start anything new once you're past a certain age. A lady wrote Dear Abby once and said she was 45 and thinking of going to medical school to become a doctor but said by the time she graduated in 7 years, she'd be 52. Abby asked her how old she'd be in 7 years if she didn't go to medical school.
Mike Moxcey
Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
http://moxcey.net
mdgodaat - Posted - 01/16/2009: 05:29:32
Hey ddale - Welcome to the Hangout !!
Don't think, just pick ! You'll get it !
Me, started at 45 [a year ago], - Best mid-life crisis I ever had !
Always wanted to and decided if I didn't do it I'd regret it the rest of my life.
Always glad I did it and continue to.
Bluegrass in my blood. Now, if I can only get it to my fingers ?
TR Dockery - Posted - 01/16/2009: 06:54:29
I didn't realize how many "pre-war players" we had on this list!
I will also mention that I heard once that a concert violinist typically doesn't even reach peak skill until around age 60. To me, that means a late start is no real factor. Good on ya' for taking up new endeavors later in life.
Regards,
Randy in Germantown, TN
"Always wear the white belt."
Paul Hawthorne, Banjo Sen-Sei
Tundraman - Posted - 01/21/2009: 17:05:30
i was 35. never too late
Pickin a 2004 Hatfield Special (#4)
from the frozen tundra of Pasadena.
5-stringreiny - Posted - 01/21/2009: 17:13:57
I first started at 15. First really started at 44...
Brian T - Posted - 01/21/2009: 17:48:46
Doug, you're still a young punk. Get at it! I tried in the 1960's. Was able to start seriously when I was 61. The past couple of years have been quite the exciting journey.
We do not know where we are going.
Nor do most of us care.
For us, it is enough that we are on our way.
Le Matelot
Lyn B - Posted - 01/21/2009: 22:16:06
I'm 46 and still trying to decide on my first banjo! I do play guitar, though.
PZBarber - Posted - 01/22/2009: 02:29:20
I'm 36 and started learning on 25th Dec 2008 when I got my lovely MB-250 for xmas.
I practice properly for just 1/2 hour to an hour per day but maybe only 5 days a week. Thing is, every time I walk past the damn thing I have to pick it up and have a quick go so I probably 'play' for up to 2 hours a day.
Cheers
Mat
blackshirtbacker - Posted - 01/22/2009: 07:01:42
Thanks for the thread! I started last january at age 31 and was starting to have the same question: Was it too late for me to learn. Self taught for a year and finally got together with a guy from the site and will start Lessons this coming tuesday! I am excited and eagerly anticipating how much I will learn from him! Never played an instrument of any kind and I will pick a banjo till the day I die! Bank on it!!
Keep on after it!
truffert - Posted - 01/22/2009: 07:35:26
Started at 35 with no other stringed instrument experience. It is sometimes difficult without instructor (there are not many in France), but I have a lot of fun with my banjos !
dgill - Posted - 01/25/2009: 12:43:37
I have loved the banjo for 30 years and wanted to play. I did not want to take away from my family to have one, so I never did. My wife and kids bought me one for Xmas 08 and I am 46. I have my first song down pat and working on more every day. It has taken my soul and I cannot wait to wake up and practive every day before work. I am finding that I am getting happier every day. If you want it bad enough you will find a way, if not you will find an excuse. Just a quote that someone share with me. Pic on partner.
fixdent - Posted - 01/25/2009: 15:32:47
Never thought about 'being to old'...
Got my banjo when I turned 50, and am 54 now.
Best thing I ever did.
--
Gordon
blksmth2 - Posted - 01/25/2009: 15:52:41
Hi all,
This my first post, but have been lurking about 2 1/2 years now. Enjoy everything about BanjoHangout. I've been trying to play the banjo about 3 years now. Great fun. The first tune I played for anyone other than the dogs and my wife was: "Foggy Mountain Top". That was at a church talent show. The more I practice the better I get (I think). Speed ain't that important but it seems when I need it, it's there somehow!?
-Vic-
-Vic-
bayviewrr - Posted - 01/25/2009: 16:16:27
After 38 years of playing guitar, I started pickin' a banjo. Been pickin' now for a year (I'm 48) and can't get enough of it!
"If the girl''s alive at the end of the song, it ain''t bluegrass"
Unplugged - Posted - 01/25/2009: 17:47:08
I started 7 years ago, when I was around 54. Thank goodness I started early enough! 
I also think that I have become a better learner because of it. There's a deeper appreciation of the learning process - and its value and importance.
Enjoy!
- Steve
"If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn''t seem wonderful at all." - Michelangelo
tombrien - Posted - 01/25/2009: 18:28:09
I started 2 years ago at age 50. And after having played numerous other instruments throughout my life, I have to say I have had the most fun with my banjo
Thank GOD my wife loves bluegrass,
Tom Brien
qkmbr - Posted - 01/26/2009: 20:59:12
I'm almost 55 and have been playing a veryshort while
navchief - Posted - 01/27/2009: 12:41:56
I just started a couple months ago, myself. At age 43. I enjoy practicing and reading and learning everything I can. I practice every night after work and on weekends as well. My wife isn't real worked up about it, though. She's says I need to put it down and spend more time with her or she's going to leave me.
Lord, I love my banjo!!
5strbanjo - Posted - 01/27/2009: 13:52:44
I picked up a banjo for the first time in my life at age 53. Ten years later, I'm still no pro. Progress has been slow, but the fun has no limits. I think that age may make the learning slower, but persistence pays off. My favorite banjo-related quotation is from Steve Martin: "Obsession is a great substitute for talent." 
Mitch
dhwhite - Posted - 01/27/2009: 18:51:02
I started playing at 66, and have been enjoying it for 3 years. My only regret; I didn't start sooner! I'm not too fast yet, but am working on my speed. Good luck to you. Actually, you're a spring chicken!
Don
big bird - Posted - 01/27/2009: 22:40:07
quote:
Originally posted by ddale79Hello Forum,
I'm curious how old a lot of you are when you started playing. I know there are tons of you that have played 20 years (+). But, I'm curious if there are many like me that started late? Im 49
Just now starting with lessons. Loving it for the past few months and practice at least 2 hours a day.
Doug
Hey Doug, Smart move you made by taking lesson's. Book's, DVD's and CD's are good, but can't answer question's that you will have while learning, and the learning never stops!---to answer your question, I took my first lesson in 1980 and was thirty-eight (38) years old, now I am sixty-six (66)---------------------- you do the math!
Big Bird
rkidn9 - Posted - 01/28/2009: 09:20:33
ill be 71 next week, i started playing banjo 5 weeks ago.having fun.
pcfive - Posted - 01/28/2009: 18:05:57
I was about 53 when I first got a banjo (3 years ago), but didn't get a bluegrass banjo until last summer. I played guitar since I was 11, but playing bluegrass banjo is very different. I love it and hope I'll be good in 20 or so more years.
pcfive
banjomole - Posted - 01/29/2009: 01:50:28
Tried first in my 20s. Gave up and concentrated on other instruments. Returned aged 52 after seeing Frank Skinner (UK comedien) learning bluegrass from scratch on a BBC TV programme. Decided if he could do it, I could do it. Haven't looked back. Every day brings new challenges, setbacks and victories.
Frank
caloscalzo - Posted - 01/29/2009: 07:54:37
58 and started last year. Great instrument to drive people crazy in the nursing home!!!!!
vallofru - Posted - 01/29/2009: 08:56:59
I'm 51 & 1/2...I heard a friend of mine (also a BHO member) play last year and I wanted to try it. He showed me a few rolls and I picked them up...it was like follow the leader, he would play something and I would copy him. (I own a Taylor guitar, 'my first love'...know about 15 chords & play by "ear") I asked him to take me "banjo" shopping (he eagerly agreed) so I could hear him play different ones and as of the 10th of this month..I am the proud owner of my first Fender banjo! He got me to join BHO and I've learned quite a lot already from its members.
So, this ole' dog is learning a new trick -- I love it, it's fun and I now know about 8 chords!!
Thank you 'members' for your vast knowledge and thank you "Matt" for your patience, sense of humor and introducing me to the banjo!
Val
=^..^=
Lansingburgh NY
Banjak - Posted - 01/29/2009: 10:44:45
Started 7 months ago on my 42nd B-day.
Having more fun with it then I ever Imagined
wish I started long ago.
WK - Posted - 01/29/2009: 12:25:57
I started playing banjo at age 54 ( 61 now) Prior to that I had very little music experience. At age 10, I was given a trombone and told that I was going to take lessons and be in the school band. At age 11 I quit -- the only person happier than me was the music teacher! From age 11 until 54 I pretty much only played the radio -- and it usually had a lot of static! So after seven years I still ain't very good - but I don't care - cause I'm having FUN!
I'll also pass on something from an elderly (90+) lady from West Virginia. She saw a banjo in my shop. "Do you play?" she asked.
"Well I'm trying to learn, but I'm not really a banjo player, yet." I answered.
"You own a banjo and you pick!" she said. You ARE a banjo player!"
If I practice - I gotta get better --- Heaven help me -- I can''t get any worse!
SlowToFret - Posted - 01/29/2009: 13:32:58
Doug,
That's almost exactly what I did. I started a year and a half ago and just turned 50 yesterday. I have only taken a few lessons and mostly have been learning from books. I don't practice enough and am not nearly as far along as I should be, but I still love to play and look forward to each new thing I learn. I know that I can pick my banjo up after a hard or stressful day and mellow right out. I doubt you'll ever regret the decision to start playing.
Best of luck!
Carter
SlowToFret
Bizdoc - Posted - 01/29/2009: 16:14:51
Started a year ago at 52. Have wanted to play banjo for many many years. Glad I did. Challenging and frustrating, but a great ride.
kitefan - Posted - 01/29/2009: 17:27:58
Late 49 for me. I'm still not very fast but REALLY enjoy trying to play.
Matt
Mopick - Posted - 01/30/2009: 13:14:52
I'm 50. I started playing banjo in 1993. I had two teachers. Rick Scoles in Orlando in 93. Then I moved to Tampa and got a new teacher, Dave Maynard. I took lessons from Dave for about a year. Then I changed jobs and moved back to Central Florida. Life and work got in the way and somehow or another 11 or 12 years went by with my banjo spending most of it's time in the closet. I would drag it out every once in a while and buy a new teaching DVD. They didn't have that in 1994. But I never really made any progress.
To make a long story shorter, I got word that my banjo teacher Dave Maynard passed away on Oct. 1. He was 57. I freaked out, realizing that time was passing and I wasn't getting any younger. I decided that since I had a nice Gibson RB-3 (1994 reissue), I was either going to learn to play it or get rid of it.
I found my current teacher, Fiddlin' Al, on the Banjo Hangout. I have been taking lessons from Al now since November. I turned 50 in November. Al is great, I highly reccomend him and he gives lessons on line also. I have made a lot of progress since Nov. and I'm happy. I'm practicing more than ever. Just last week Al told me I have made more progress in a short time than a lot banjo students. I said, "I don't have a lot of time to waste." LOL!
This is funny. I was having trouble with a part on one of the songs. Al asked me why I kept fingering on the 9th fret. I said, "where should I be fretting." He said, "That's open." Well, I pulled my glasses out of my pocket and looked at the tab. I thought that little zero was a nine. That'll teach me not to wear my glasses.
Pick on Seniors. Pick on! By the way...my wife signed me up for AARP. I can't believe it, but I got a card. Jeeeeez.
Edited by - Mopick on 01/30/2009 13:27:23
r.brandon - Posted - 01/31/2009: 18:14:41
I just started and am 51. Been playing the guitar for about a year, taking lessons for that, teaching myself the banjo and having a great time! The guitar is getting jealous! Thiinking about lessons for banjo also but am having good results with the Janet Davis YCTY book so far, Keep it up!
Mrogan Monroe Cascade
Martin OM 21
Larrevee Parlor
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Starting Back on Playing Banjo After Years of Not Playing
Source: https://www.banjohangout.org/archive/132631/2
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