How many years have you been playing guitar?

[WormHoles]

I hear this all the time – “I’ve been playing guitar for X number of years” usually means, I’ve heard about the guitar for X number of years and I've played it now and again over X number of years.

The real question is “how many hours have you logged playing the guitar over X number of years?

In my personal calculation, I log (+-) 4 hours/day -> (+-) 1,460 hours/year (on a good year).

Arithmetic gurus post your personal estimation.

 

[stephen sawall]

46 years. I play different amounts all the time and have no idea how many hours.

 

[JackBootedThug]

i don't play, i just beat on it...

 

[FourT6and2]

19 years. But I sound like I've been playing for 1.

 

[Viper]

Since 1989. If I could only swap the amount of time fapping for playing guitar, I'd be a much better player now.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I don't know, don't care anymore.

 

[WormHoles]

i don't play, i just beat on it...

Come on now JBT, this is supposed to be a family board.

 

[lyres requiem]

Since 1970.. i have NO CLUE how many hours.. lol

 

[Chester Nimitz]

Stole my post ^^^^

My dad bought my mom an acoustic in 1970 and within a couple weeks i figured "Down on the Corner" by CCR by ear.

The rest is history.

I toured from 1982' to 1991', raised 2 kids and ran a business in the 90's, missed the whole grunge thing.

Never stopped playing but played more since 1996 til now.

Gigging in my city for a Rock/Hard Rock slinger is non existent.

Most bands want you to play Indie Pop stuff on a 15 watt amp.

Plus i don't want to get whacked doing 3:30am loadouts.

I get up at 4am & bed by 10p anyway.

If i found the right fit i might play out but nothing worth a feck in the last 11 years.

I just traded emails today for a band, when a described my rig the female freaked out.

 

[ElectricVoodoo]

19 years. But I sound like I've been playing for 1.

Great answer. I feel the same way.

 

[ampjunkie]

36 years.... I should be a zen master by now.... but....

 

[ampjunkie]

I just traded emails today for a band, when a described my rig the female freaked out.

Which rig were you describing?!

 

[311boogieman]

8 years

 

[sjk]

44 years old and trying to play guitar for 31 years now, but it's been a fun time!

 

[Red_Label]

I'm 48. Started playing when I was 16. I was immediately obsessed when I "discovered" Yngwie's first Rising Force album in '85. It changed my life. I was practicing 8 hours a day on many days. One day I went into the "woodshed" at noon and came out at 1AM. I was learning all that stuff note-for-note by ear and wearing-out tape decks doing it.

Anyways... I did that for several years and then tapered to about 3-4 hours a day for several years. And then to a more reasonable 1-3 hours a day ever since. For the first decade or so, I wouldn't miss playing for ANY reason. HAD to play every day. Through the flu and mono, you name it. Later in life I learned that sometimes I might have to put the guitar down for a day or two here and there just to recharge the batteries. Obsessively doing just about ANYTHING gets old after a while. Hell... even having "too much" sex got to be a chore when I was with my first wife!

Anyways... I'm a much more well-rounded person all these years later. I still try to play nearly every day, but playing is just another aspect of my life, and not my entire being. But it will always remain my first and longest passion until the day I die. I put in the woodshedding early on and have been playing on stage since '85. I've paid my dues.

 

[Red_Label]

36 years.... I should be a zen master by now.... but....

I'm not even a shadow of the shredder I used to be. But I actually have my own style, care about tone, and can play just about any style now. I wouldn't trade my experience and maturity for all of the buzz-saw testocerone and technical ability that I used to have. Was pretty one-dimensional.

 

[sixstringking713]

15 yrs.. probably about 30k hours. doesnt include I played piano 4 years prior before starting guitar, so I skipped all the intro music info

 

[WormHoles]

8 years

Typical answer.

"8 years" what? In prison, or . . .?

 

[Chester Nimitz]

I just traded emails today for a band, when a described my rig the female freaked out.

Which rig were you describing?!

Its all the same.

 

[mooncobra]

I am 41, been playing since I was 12. I always have tried to put in at least an hour or two every day. I LOVE playing the guitar. When I am away from my house, I am thinking about my guitar and going home and playing. When I sit down to play, I don't end up wanting to stop. If I have a dr apt, or Physical therapy, etc. I am always a little late because I keep telling myself, "just 5 more minutes." To me guitar is so much fun, yet utterly fascinating. I love hearing different people play, the styles they play, how they actually play, etc. If I hear a solo or riff I like I still sit down and learn stuff. To me, even that is a lot of fun. When you are done it is very satisfying to bust out that new riff or solo. When I was young, my weekends were guitar marathons. I put in a ton of hours. Do you guys ever start playing, and you just don't want to stop? You put off meals, appt's, friends, sleep, etc.

To me, guitar never gets old or tiring. No matter what, there is always something else you can learn, the world of guitar is so vast and never ending. Just plugging in, firing up some killer distortion, and then striking a fat chord, its awesome, my day is instantly better and on track!