Am I crazy?

[GypsyKnitter]

Hello, I am thinking about learning how to play the mandolin. Here's the thing though, I have absolutely no musical background or experience. I have been thinking of learning the guitar for a while but I just love the sound of a mandolin. Am I getting myself in too deep for just starting out adding any kind of musical creation in my life? (BTW I'm 28 YO)

[OU1]

No sir, not crazy at all...get a mandolin, a beginning book, u-tube some beginner chords and lessons and get it on!

Have fun!

[JeffD]

Everyone who plays the mandolin wishes they started at a younger age. No matter what age they started. Do not delay any longer. Do not wish at 30 that you had started in your 20s.

[EdHanrahan]

Uhmm... Start now and, by the time you finally exit the building, you'll have been making music for twice as long as you've been alive so far. You could get pretty good by then!

Or as Warren Miller always said somewhere in each one of his annual ski movies: "If you don't do it this year, you'll just be a year older when you do."

[Carolina Rookie]

I am 42 and just started playing 6 weeks ago. Like you, I had no musical knowledge at all. I am having the time of my life learning. Wish I would have started when I was 28.

[OldSausage]

If you were crazy, you'd be asking this question on the banjo hangout.

[John Kelly]

Hello, I am thinking about learning how to play the mandolin. Here's the thing though, I have absolutely no musical background or experience. I have been thinking of learning the guitar for a while but I just love the sound of a mandolin. Am I getting myself in too deep for just starting out adding any kind of musical creation in my life? (BTW I'm 28 YO)

I have been teaching a friend mandolin recently who is in the same category as yourself, except he is in his 70s! His grandchildren had got him a tenor banjo and challenged him to learn a tune by Christmas, so he phoned me up to ask for help.
I realised after a short time with him that his hands were not going to cope well with the scale length of the tenor and got him on to a mandolin. He is a very skilled woodturner with strong hands but does not have the stretch or flexibility to finger longer reaches. He is now playing Scottish tunes reasonably comfortably and the tunes are quite recognisable (!) but it is the sheer fun he is having that is so good to see. He loves trying out new tunes and has even downloaded a couple he wanted to try for himself!
In other words, go for it and have fun!

[Denny Gies]

28 years old? Why you are just a spring chicken..........go for it and have fun.

[Bertram Henze]

Sure you are - welcome home! :))

[davidtoc]

Gosh, I wish I'd started at 28.

To paraphrase the advice someone gave to me, "If you start now, in 10 years you'll be awesome. Which 38 year-old do you want to be--The 38 year old who's awesome at playing mandolin? Or the 38 year-old who wishes he'd started playing 10 years earlier?"

dave

[Tobin]

It's all about perspective. At the age of 28, you may feel that you've waited too late. But when you get to, say, 40 or 50 years old, you'll look back on 28 as still having your whole life ahead of you. You'll laugh at the idea that you were too old at 28 to pick up a new skill.

If you want to learn music and play an instrument, do it! It's not crazy at all.

[Timbofood]

I tried to quit at 28 but the infection was too severe! Once you start, you will never regret the time you spend playing mandolin!
Get on with it, and remember, once you start picking it, it will never heal!
It's a wonderful sickness, I hope I never recover!

Oh, and here, I think we are all pretty much crazy so, you will fit right in.

[Randi Gormley]

Sure, go for it. You realize that by posting a question like that on this board, you won't get anybody to discourage you, right? We're all addicts together and are delighted to welcome you to our obsession.

[edandjudy3946]

crazy - NO - just start and play play play until your fingers are sore and then play just a litttle longer ! I'm 67 and started about 2 years ago. It would be misleading if I didn't admit I'd played guitar since I was 16 but mando is different. Enjoy!

[GypsyKnitter]

Awesome! Thanks for all the encouragement! :grin:

[killum]

If you want crazy, Here I am! 54 yo with 2 decent mandolins, and I am able to play a few scales and rock/alt songs and The Thrill is Gone by BB King. What is worse is I played bass guitar for 30 years. Best instrument on the planet imho to get a gig. What is wrong with me?

[TheBlindBard]

Well, if you're crazy at 28, I musst be bat-s**t insane picking up the mandolin at 18.
I started playing about four months ago and don't regret it at all. I have learned more about music in the past four months than I ever had. Above all, enjoy playing, listen to mandolin music (I'm trying to expand my horizons here with electronic music as well as classical and bluegrass) but have fun with it.
After you buy the mandolin (Get some advice and check on the classifieds here) get a case so you can carry the mandolin with you and play where you go. I would bring my mandolin almost every day to school and play at lunch, or when I was waiting for the bus to pick me up in the morning.

[Mike Arakelian]

28...are you kidding? Go for it!!! :mandosmiley: