Question: Can someone really become a great guitar player when they started playing late in life (ie. around 39)?

Tom Hess's Answer: Yes, of course you can. One of the main reasons why many adults “don’t” become great is because they cannot (or choose not) to commit themselves on a serious level to becoming a great player (because of family, work or other commitments). You do NOT need to practice for 8 hours every day to become really good, or great, but you do need some focused and consistent practice time allocated to practicing.

Another very important reason why many so called “late starters” fail to become good is because they let their age (which is just a number) become a mental obstacle for them, when in reality you should NOT focus on this imaginary barrier. What you SHOULD focus on instead is finding out what you need to practice to reach your specific goals on the guitar, and learning about the best and most effective ways to practice them (ideally under the guidance of an expert guitar teacher). Then, if you apply and practice what is needed to reach your goals, you cannot fail!

If you want to know what things are essential to learn and master in order to reach our musical goals, visit my Musical Goals page and select the goals that apply to you and I will tell you exactly what steps you will need to go through in order to learn to play guitar the way you want.

Bottom line, age is just a number. You CAN learn to play the way you want to, if you don’t let this imaginary obstacle stand in your way, and instead focus on finding out the right things to practice and acquiring the right tools for practicing them.

If you are serious about becoming a great guitar player, and would like my guidance, consider taking online guitar lessons.

Take online rock and metal guitar lessons and start playing guitar how you’ve always wanted.