Learners in the fifties age group, engaging with the stimulus of music - making for the first time, often find the experience thrilling. In many cases these learners have experienced some of the disturbance, associated with ‘mid-life’ – children leaving home and a re-evaluation of their own endeavours – only a short decade ago life was (apparently) ‘starting at forty’. My own experience turning fifty confirmed some of my suspicions about late starters, leading to my Master of Music studies focusing on the needs of adult learners and endeavouring to understand more about the 50’s phenomenon.
Late Starters need to be encouraged on several fronts: musical concepts, body movement for rhythm and personal esteem and confidence to step out. Late Starters Guitar is about providing suitable musical education, arranged and explained specifically for those in mid-life. The aim of this material is to promote self-directing learning, enabling the student to pursue the music of their choice. 
Seldom are the guitar’s virtues as an educational instrument praised. The ‘abacus-nature’ of strings tuned in ratio with frets marking the notes beneath, makes the guitar unique in assisting musical calculation and understanding musical structure. This also means that the guitar can have its own grid-based simple notation.
For the last ten years I have been teaching late starters, witnessing the gradual victories that lead to achievement – many have battled with rhythm, yet eventually have come to know the joy of musical flow. Such achievements can redefine late starter learning – the joy falling to both student and tutor. I enjoy these students because they are serious self-directed learners, taking responsibility for what they learn and committing for the long haul.
Learning guitar is so much about technique – bad posture or a bad sitting-position can ruin your best efforts. For this reason you will probably make greater progress with someone to observe you and guide you – if you don’t have a regular teacher then get an opinion from an accomplished player as you begin to learn the basics. Although my books detail the discoveries I have made concerning successful late starter learning, a teacher, sympathising with the needs of 50-year-old learners, would be a wise investment.
The free information on this site is part of a study of the diverse, yet interwoven topics that I believe relate to learning music at mid-life.
Bruce Stewart – guitar teacher
