Slowing down with age.

[ZeeW]

To me it's a matter of workout, not a matter of age.

I totally agree with this statement... I'm 48 (argh) and I have spent the last few months doing what I call speed drills/exercises for hour after hour and the speed is there, getting faster and more accurate.

[GuitarMan86]

agreed on the ...'speed isnt everything' term. I don't look to play fast.....probably all that I was after when I was 18 but as I grew older I didn't look to 'play fastest'....

I now look at execution, note selection, and accuracy while playing. I think the music is whats most important as I get older.....and the tasty-ness selection of those notes is what comes with practice and experience mainly. It seems as we get older our 'style' plays a factor.....you seem to develop that style of what is 'your style' and not so much trying to mimic others.

...although I cant seem to get away from ripping off someone else licks here and there.....I at least try to 'make them my own' by executing them in different ways and familiarizing myself with the scales I used to do it.

[jsletner]

I don’t think the physical limitations of age cause a speed drop as much as priorities do. Not just the demands of life, but often just a change in musical tastes. When I was younger I had the typical gun-slinger attitude and I was very fast. It’s easy to get recognized by many as being a great instrumentalist by being fast. I just found speed gradually becoming more and more boring as the years ticked off. I think it’s boring for a lot of audiences also. Ever noticed you can still sing the best solos years later.

These days (In my 50's now) given my choice of what to listen to I always choose what I (subjectively) consider musical. Opposed to technical proficiency alone. Don’t get me wrong I am a fan of Guthrie Govan and Shawn Lane. They are fast and clean but also quite musical. Creativity and innovation are also important to me. My son is a Periphery fan and I’m impressed by what they’ve got going.

The challenge is, being musical is difficult if not impossible to define and yet many of us recognize it. Where as speed can be measured if you actually were interested, musicality cannot. I know I saw a review where somebody was talking about NPS (notes per second) or something along those lines. Forget about it, not interested.

I guess the experiences that have changed my tastes and therefore desires over the years are the ones where I’ve heard great talents produce beautiful music without great technical prowess. A friend of mine (he is extremely talented, but I’m faster, or used to be, lol)) were at another friends house. He picked up and old broken down acoustic guitar that only had 2 strings (D and B I think) He then proceeded to blow me away by creating amazing music almost instantly.

If I had a genie in a bottle I’d ask to be musical first, then creative and innovative. If I could have a fourth wish it would be to be blindingly fast. Lol some things never change.

Speed tip: If you want to play a run fast and clean you should first hear it in your head that way. If it’s not clear in your head it will probably sound that way.

All right I’ve gone on too long I’m shutting up now.

[clarky]

old men still have fight

https://soundcloud.com/min1stry/metal-clip

very Hed PE...

cool as..

[clarky]

To me it's a matter of workout, not a matter of age.

totally...

also.. age is a bullsht state of mind...
I hate it when folk say "ooooh not at my age" or "I'm too old for...." or "too long in the tooth for that.."
it's all just a pile limitations that translates to "I can't be bothered"
and to me all that means is...
it's time to nail down the lid..

[levipeto]

You probably practiced more back then, than now ...

[jsletner]

You probably practiced more back then, than now ...

I practiced 6 to 8 hours a day back then. Now maybe an hour, 2 on Sat. Like Clarky said "I can't be bothered" and yet I'm enjoying music and my own playing now more than I ever have.

[clarky]

You probably practiced more back then, than now ...

that's actually true.. I did...
but then.. I didn't have a studio back then either..
so I didn't have all the whole programming / production thing to get involved with..

back then I'd write a song on a guitar and work on it with the band..
these days I tend to everything on my own stuff and only guitars on band / session stuff

the other side of this though is that I only practice guitar for two reasons:
- when I'm experimenting with new chops / techniques / ideas
- when I'm prepping for a big recording session / tour
because I don't have the time to stay on top form all the time - so I train to peak for the start of the event [it's about time management]

and of course..
when you're a teenager you have much more time cos mommy and daddy wash the clothes, cook the food, pay the bills and deal with the misc crap of being alive..
so when you're older.. general life crap consumes time

[levipeto]

I was pretty fast back then too (6-8 hours practicing, I even quit my job at 21 just to practice more, foolish kid...), but I don't crave it anymore. Beyond a certain speed you can't digest it. Especially for a non-musician.
I am 37 and "I enjoy long vibrato more than quick licks".

PS: Groove is more important, than speed. <- That's what she said.

[jsletner]

The other great thing about being a musician is that you normally can continue at any age. My friends that were as obsessed with playing basketball as I was with playing guitar, now have bad knees or have broken ankles, etc. They're watching b-ball on tv while I'm still doing my thing.

[Peter Hundley]

I really don't think it has to do with age...........at least not at that age. When I was in my teens I had loads of free time to spend practicing by myself, I could play plenty fast. These days I can't play as fast, but I don't spend anywhere near the amount of time working on that either. I'm certain that if I was sitting in my room practicing 5+ hours a day I could play as fast as I ever could.

[EdgE]

Practice makes perfect,but they say less is more

[maxdown]

I'm eighty-four and haven't lost any speed I think ..... I've lost my guitar somewhere though - think I saw it back in 1978 or so .... hope it's near a toilet if I find it.

What was the question again?

[scruffydoo]

I'm mid 40's and getting faster I think but probably cos I play nearly every day now, before kids I only practised if I had to stay in cos I had no cash to go the pub, after kids... well you know how that go's.

[Coldsummer]

I started off slow, and now I'm getting slower, so what, I'm happy

[clarky]

I started off slow, and now I'm getting slower, so what, I'm happy

you are in fact Eric Clapton..

and I claim my free crate of Stella

[Coldsummer]

you are in fact Eric Clapton..

and I claim my free crate of Stella

Not THAT fucking slow Have a crate of Stella anyway.

[funny_polymath]

I got 'slowed down' at 32 - spinal cord damage, total quadriplegic for awhile. Took 9 years to play again, and I still can't finger pick with more than 2 fingers. Still, I can play fairly fast when I need to. Not uber fast but... who cares? As I've gotten older, speed (and the sheer number of notes that often accompanies it) have been less and less alluring, often even a turn off.

I play with much more feeling now, having lived and lost and regained. And feeling is where it's at for me. My technique will probably never match 80% or more of the people on this board - both due to lingering neuromuscular deficits, but also because I'm a lazy bastard. But I play music with far more emotional content than I did when I was younger, and that, to me, is part of getting older - the sheer excessive exuberance of youth tempered by (one hopes) wisdom and deeper emotions. Or, as Carl Jung would say: we live the first half of our lives hewing to the 'prince' archtype, the 2nd, moving into the 'king' archetype - magnaminity, patience, depth take over from sheer physicality and wide-eyed romanticism. Age has tempered my playing, like a fine wine that has less of a burst on first taste, but an amazingly complex and nuanced finish. I am happy for the change. Change is inevitable. We will all slow down, all lose dexterity to some extent. How we accept change, or rail against it, that is the difference between discontent and happiness. I saw Larry Coryell recently, and there were no massive lightning runs. Instead there were these amazingly complex and delicate arpeggios of artificial harmonics that were lush and incredibly inspiring.

[joel]

Not THAT fucking slow Have a crate of Stella anyway.

its probably warm

[joel]

im glad u recovered polymath