So when does age become detrimental to playing

Barney

Just a thought tonight i have been having ..as we get older things dont function as well as they used to ...it happens with sports persons ..some academic types and musicians in some cases....the mind maybe isnt as sharp as it was . .fingers maybe not as loose ..can we improve by practise or playing or when we do are we just preserving what is already there.....just thinking out loud here...can we reach a limit then go backwards the older we get 

Jalapeno

When we let it !

Barney

Jalapeno said:

When we let it !

Do you not think it could be a physical thing though that is unavoidable

sweepy

I have noticeably slowed down but I think my note choices are better, so getting older isn't necessarily a bad thing in guitar playing terms

ToneControl

between 14 and 20 as far as I remember

Hoof

With a few rare exceptions, not a note you play after 40 will be worth a damn anyway so I wouldn't worry too much about any blunting of the skills.

FelineGuitars

Watched Michael Schenker last Spring supporting Judas Priest and his playing was as fiery and shred-tastic as it's ever been . In fact the fluid runs going on in Rock Bottom staggered even me and I've followed him for 30+ years.
Michael is over 60........

sweepy

FelineGuitars said:

Watched Michael Schenker last Spring supporting Judas Priest and his playing was as fiery and shred-tastic as it's ever been . In fact the fluid runs going on in Rock Bottom staggered even me and I've followed him for 30+ years.
Michael is over 60........

He is also probably sober these days, 

Roland

The good news is that, as the body slows or gets damaged, the brain compensates. Whether it's different fingering patterns, better note choice (that gets the right effect without so many notes), technique changes, or playing different types of music.

Barney said:

... can we reach a limit then go backwards the older we get 

Some of us might not be able to play as fast as the average teenager, but most of us can play things that they haven't learned yet, and won't learn without considerable practice.

Hoof said:

With a few rare exceptions, not a note you play after 40 will be worth a damn anyway so I wouldn't worry too much about any blunting of the skills.

What does drop off is our musical invention. Most new scientific ideas are dreamed up as the developing brain meets established thinking. It's similar with musical ideas. I don't buy any ageist crap about being over the hill or, conversely, too young to appreciate something.

Jalapeno

Pat Martino is 72 - still playing like a demon (though looking frail, probably v.healthy though with his vegan diet)

ToneControl

most  guitarists don't start playing until they are teenagers, and so even the gifted ones have little chance of mastery until their 20s, unlike classical players who start at 6

slacker

I'm 54 with a family history of arthritis and my fingers are starting to ache sometimes . My inspiration is Keef. If you look at recent Youtube footage of Honky Tonky Women the no longer bends the note on the intro he slides it. 

There's always a way. 

Rocker

Hoof said:

With a few rare exceptions, not a note you play after 40 will be worth a damn anyway so I wouldn't worry too much about any blunting of the skills.

A 40 note solo! Wow. 

slacker

Rocker said:

Hoof said:

With a few rare exceptions, not a note you play after 40 will be worth a damn anyway so I wouldn't worry too much about any blunting of the skills.

A 40 note solo! Wow. 

I play of of them.

koneguitarist

To be honest, I am not sure you can put it down to just age, but more a combination of things. How you have looked after yourself, but also using correct technique when you are younger will help you later in life. 
Notice how guitars seem to get higher the older you are, stops you having to bend your wrists so far. 
Think of it with your voice, Tom Jones always sings well if not better, than he did 20 years ago, yet Elton John and McCartney sound awful now, due to possible damage they did playing with chemical sets when younger!

guitarfishbay

Depends if you get arthritis I guess

Plectrum

koneguitarist said:

Think of it with your voice, Tom Jones always sings well if not better, than he did 20 years ago, yet Elton John and McCartney sound awful now, due to possible damage they did playing with chemical sets when younger!

I think that's just the natural loss of the ability to hit the high notes that comes with age combined with a refusal to transpose to a lower key. Agree that Tom Jones still sounds great.

dindude

I think it's as much mental agility as physical agility - if you physically slow down it's no bad thing in my book, although if you're Steve Vai you might struggle to cover your back catalog at some point, but it's those players who have kept pushing themselves that are the inspiration.

Jeff Beck is a fine example here, I think he was just getting better and better up until he was about 65 (he's 70 now), really pushing his playing, not necessarily with notes per minute, but with expressiveness. Only in the very last few years has he stopped progressing I think, yet still a mighty fine player.

The other end I think is someone like Gilmour, still a fine player but has been inspirationally defunct for a while now - appreciate such an opinion may upset a few people on here!

koneguitarist

Not sure it's all about speed and dexterity, though some of the metal boys and country Pickers may disagree here. A player like Gilmour does nothing truly flash yet what he does is right for song and to me that's the epitome of a musician. 
I have been lucky enough to have seen Albert Lee at his peak and also last year on his 70th birthday tour. I felt so sad for the latter concert as he was so reliant on tremolo and small flurries of notes, not what he was known for. He is a classic case of a guitarist that cannot do his own back catalogue, though his legacy as a trail blazing country player is intact.
age catches up with us all, our reactions get slower so we try and compensate in other areas, such as choice of note, tone and expression.
getting old has its advantages as well, and major one is you don't really give a shit what people think about your playing as you become the final arbitrator. You learn to understand when you play well or badly that that is not the only requirement, and that was it a good night for the audience and band, if so, who cares about some bum notes here and there, work on it next time. 

TheBlueWolf

Hopefully I'll never be too old or infirm to play guitar. I'm not a very technical player and, if I'm honest, really can't be arsed putting the amount of time in to be a virtuoso.

I really enjoy playing what I do and guitar has given me decades of pleasure

HAL9000

When you're pushing the daisies.