How old were you when you first started playing an instrument or doing vocals?

I'm feeling a bit insecure because I talk to all these people who are like sixteen years old who are already recording and performing music, and here I am at 18 and have never even been in a band and only have a loose grasp on music period.

Do you think that there's such a thing as getting too late a start?

i was 8 when i got my first guitar and started taking lessons, but I didn't get serious until i was about 13 or 14.

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Got my first guitar at 13.

18 is definitely NOT "too late" if there even is one. Don't be put off by people who started playing so early. You'll progress twice as fast because you're older and probably have much better disipline and ambition (among other things). Either way, you shouldn't be discouraged. Music isn't a race.

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dont be discouraged dude. darko made a good point about discipline. half the bands that start when theyre 14 or somethign write ANYTHING and think its good. once you mature, then you realize whats good and wht isnt then you'll have a strong band going

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i was either 15 or 16 when i got my first guitar and took some lessons. didn't take much from the lessons other than being able to play power chords. which was fine for me at the time, i was on a strict diet of punk and punk alone. i'm 25 now and still haven't ever been in a serious band. best so far was playing some garage shows and messing around in my friends basement while people were hanging out and drinking.

no such thing as too late though..that's one of the things i like about the guitar. you can keep playing all your life all the while getting better and better.

I was 15 when I got my bass and started lessons, and was also the same age when I was lead vocals for my first death metal band.

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I can't ever forget because my first guitar was delivered to my house just one day before my 15th birthday. It was a pretty big deal to me because we were quite poor at the time. It meant a lot to me that my mother scraped together enough cash for the piece of shit, and it's the only guitar I've ever had. I had to teach myself everything, which is probably why I suck so bad.

If I'm still interested in getting a new one by the time I can afford one, this one isn't going anywhere.

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I recieved my first guitar at the age of 12 and my first bass at 15. I still dabble with both instruments and even drums, but my main focus is on my singing which I've been doing ever since I can remember.

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I started singing and playing music as a kid and joined my first band at the ripe old age of 24. Don't worry about it, just get on with it.

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i've started at 15 because my parents didnt want me to play music, but my mother believed in me for the first time in my life and bought me a guitar. I started seriously at 16-17, i've learned all by my self, and now i can play guitar in almost all kind, and jazz bass, im 19...

their is no age limit to start playing music. Your god is dead is right, more mature you are, more your song are mature.

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18 too late? When I started playing keyboard I was almost 22. I played it a bit at school when I was 9, and I remember that time it took very long to learn just a very short piece. Now the learning process is much faster. So dont worry, and good luck with it!

pfft, 6 or 7 when i started the first theory-classes i guess

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17, pretty damn good now .(Guitar that is)

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Don't remember exactly but around 13/14 with lessons. Jezus, ten years ago already

Got my bass at 14, started playing semi-seriously at 15, forgot about it when i was 16 and in the last year and a bit i've started playing again. I'm 17, almost 18 now.

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I started rippin on guitar at 15. I'm 25 now.

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Around 9 when I started singing but it wasn't till I was about 13 when I started to get into the heavier stuff. And around 15 when I started playing drums. Took me 2 years to actually get a drum kit tho.

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15 and quit at 16.

One of my favorite players, Carl Tidemann (he's on the first Arcturus album and in Winds) didn't start taking guitar seriously until he was 18. He moved from Norway to attend GIT in the late 80's, and still practices 8 hours a day. And he's probably the best guitar player I can think of, in every aspect like tone and technique. Also, look at Clapton. He was an art student who took up the guitar at 22 years old.
It really doesn't matter when you start out. The only advantage of starting out is more time to develop your skills. If it's in you it'll show. I'd rather be great and start out late, than be young and not approaching music with the respect and intelligence it deserves.

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12 when I started playing guitar.
15 when I started playing bass.

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I have never had a lesson. I had an shity acoustic guitar from the time I was born and tried to play on it for years but didn't learn much except that I needed more practice. I grew up around music. My uncle plays guitar very well and I have many other family members with a huge musical back ground. I grew up listening and watching blues/rock jam sessions. Its a part of my family and I had reasons for hating it for many years until I discovered metal. I was 10 years old when that sound and message shook my bones and found me.

My best friends brother was 18 and a metal head. I was hanging out at my friends house when his brother bought the new Metallica And justice for all album and had to play it loud! It was unlike anything I had ever heard before.
I had no ideal how to play that type of music on guitar but in time figured out parts and shared what I knew others my age that could show me things I didn't know. It got pretty badass at guitar in no time because I was having fun and I enjoyed learning more.

Today, I meet people that have been playing guitar for 3 years, are my age, and display solid skill that sounds great because they practice. I have had a lifetime of playing but when I don't practice for a month or two... I have no one to blame but myself for sounding like a pure shit. I might know more or at one time been able to play better than I do now but yesterday doesn't mean shit. I don't play everyday and its painfully clear when I do.

No one is to old to start doing anything. Its a matter of devotion, dedicated time, and happiness in yourself.

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Thanks for the input guys.

I'm feeling a bit better about my situation now.

Got my first guitar when i was 11 or 12 and had some very basic lessons at school, didn't really get into it much. Then I played piano for about 3 years, really enjoyed it, passed four AQA examinations and a basic theory exam. (I still play every now and again for a laugh.) Then I started to realise it was metal that I really liked, dropped the piano and went back to guitar at 15. Haven't played much for the past 6 months though.

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The only way to get too late a start is to start so late that you have time to die before you reach the level you want.

I also started out with guitar at about 18 or 19. That quickly spiralled into keyboard, bass and vocals as well; now I'm almost 22, have had a bunch of gigs - did more than music though - and have had my first offer to join a band just a few days ago. I practice on average 4 hours a day, took lessons for a few months but grew tired of it. The first few months I didn't have any structure in it all, just downloaded tab after tab and tried to learn what I could; however, focus and discipline will take you there alot faster.

There are two things that I think all of us who start out late with an instrument have to face and that you have to ignore. The first is that when you're about 20, people in general expect you to be badass at your instrument and if you're nor simply consider you, well, dumb.
The other is that - a guess of mine, feel free to challenge - you're more aware of every step of the way, which in essence will give you a feeling of not getting anywhere at all.
As I said, ignore this and you're well on your way!

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Started at 12 with guitar, started taking jazz lessons a couple years ago, stopped shortly after due to a move out of the area, but I guess the best advice I can give learning it is to train your ear. Try to pick out songs before reading the tabs and such, it will come in handy in the long run. I wish I had concentrated more on that when I was taking lessons, it would be paying off right now...had an experimental pop band come to me in the mall the other day and ask me to fill in for their february tour and summer tour, but I gotta learn the songs from the cd and such within the next week...progressing...but much slower than had I better trained my ear earlier on with my teacher. The music ain't exactly my cup of tea but its a hundred a night in guaranteed money, and that could well further my education next fall.

I was in 4th grade when I joined the Jr. Church choir. I still remember singing "He" back then. I think I sang about the time I talked though. We always had music around and I had a little black transistor radio --AM, of course, that I had on my tricycle handlebars.

My first exposure to a guitar was a circa 1930's antique Hawaiian I found in my grandma's attic, but we played El Kabong (that was a 60's cartoon) with it more than tried to play it. (Oh, if I could only locate it now! It was BEAUTIFUL!) My mom had a ukulele, but that was just fun to pretend with. My first real playing experience was a Sears Silvertone I got in 7th Grade. Kinda cool to know me and Phil Keaggy both started out on the same kind. I wish I could play like him!!! My wanting to play guitar came from exposure to a music teacher at school who used that with the choirs because he stunk at piano and admitted it. He played "Joe Turner Blues" on his Gibson Es135 and I was hooked. That's also why I have a 1976 Es335.

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Started playing drums somewhere near 9-10 years old

Started playing guitar at 17

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On the money.

It's a bit more easy when you're young but hey, lots of things are

Yea, don't feel bad. If you sixteen year olds are anything like the ones I know that have recorded and stuff their music is utter crap so it doesn't matter anyway. I've never been in a band either but I know my chops are a hell of a lot better than the kids with actual cds in my area. Just keep playing and keep it fun.

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At first I thought this thread would be a "how old where you when you first wanked it" thread

Anyways i started piano at 10, drums at 14. No need to start much younger

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Started guitar at 9, bass at 12.

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Started guitar at age 14 and have been playing seriously ever since.

First time I rubbed one out was about 11.

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I was 16, and I pretty much got straight into a band from there. Been going stong ever since

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11 for guitar, 16 for vox

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