3 Advantages Of Learning To Play Acoustic Guitar As An Adult

by Maurice Richard

Learning to play guitar is something many adults have put off for a long time. I see it often as a teacher.

Surprisingly many of them think that they are at a disadvantage compared to children who start playing earlier in life.

Sure, they have time on their side, that can’t be argued. Assuming they start young and keep playing throughout their lives and continually improve they will be much further along at the same age.

However, it takes longer for children, especially before they are teenagers, to learn to play guitar and even more so when it is on acoustic.

Why? That’s because it can be difficult and frustrating at the beginning and kids are still developing their physical, mental and emotional capabilities. So, it’s harder to get them through.

Here are 3 reasons why starting to play guitar as an adult is an advantage over starting as a child.

1. You Have More Determination

These days children have many things that they can do to entertain themselves and have fun.

Because learning guitar is more difficult in the early stages, many children do not progress as quickly as they could because it is easier to do something else more fun. Most are not determined to learn guitar yet.

But you do.

You have a lot more years under your belt now and you know what you want. You are determined to learn how to play guitar. So, you make it a priority.

This is the most important ingredient to learning guitar. If you have this, you will be successful!

2. Your Fine Motor Skills Are More Developed

This is where adults really excel over children.

As an adult your physical development has finished and you typically have very good control over your movements. Children do not.

Sure, playing guitar requires you to use your fine motor skills in new ways and it can be awkward at first but this stage is usually conquered very quickly with proper instruction.

In no time you are feeling more comfortable fretting chords and changing between them. Children can struggle with this for a very long time and why they are not ready to play guitar at just any age.

This means you can be playing your favorite songs much sooner and that makes it a lot more fun and likely you will succeed.

3. You Are Internally Motivated

This is a huge factor.

By the time you are an adult you can motivate yourself to do many things without your parents telling you to do them.

Children are not there yet. They are still learning to be responsible and to motivate themselves. There is a rare young child that will have it figured out but they are one in a million.

Internal motivation is critical to learning to play guitar because as I have said already, it is not easy at the beginning.

This ability will help you navigate through some of the challenges and the frustrations of learning acoustic guitar.

A child will have a lot more difficulty with this because they are so used to instant gratification in the world they usually live in.

Your motivation will also be stronger by now because you will have had to use it to get through high school, university, etc.

You Have All The Advantages So Go For It

I find it interesting that many of the adults that I talk to seem to think they would have had an advantage if they started playing guitar as a child.

The reality is that learning to play guitar is difficult and if you had tried to learn as a child the chances of having a negative experience would have been very high.

Children are not fully developed physically, mentally or emotionally. Unless you had found a very good trained guitar teacher in your youth, it would not have helped you.

So, let’s forget about that. You are older now, you are wiser, you have more motivation and you are ready to commit to learning guitar.

Those are all things children usually do not have and it’s the key to really learning and getting good on guitar.

So don’t delay another minute, find a professionally trained guitar teach and got for it!

About The Author:

Maurice Richard is a professional guitar teacher that operates out of the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He has been a member of an elite guitar teaching mentorship program since 2007 and has taught many people how to learn to play the guitar. Go to his website to learn other reasons being an adult is an advantage when learning to play acoustic guitar.