Dad Too old and son too shy help nedded.

manarocket

I am 37 and have always loved my music, and I really enjoyed singing from a young age and have been given plenty of compliments on my singing voice. I would love to be able to play the guitar and sing but someone told me its very difficult to do both.
How long does it take to learn how to play the guitar and does it take ages before you can sing and play?
My son seems to be the same as me loves singing and knows quite a few songs but wont sing in front of people I bought him a guitar and tried to bring him to lessons but he's just too shy. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Alanstrainor

No.

If you can sing already, then playing guitar and singing is no big deal. So long as you learn it early on, rather than later.

You never stop learning guitar, but if the question was changed to be "how long does it take to play a few chords", then I would say a few weeks with a lot of practise. The longer you play, the more comfortable you will get with the chord shapes, and your strumming technique.

If you have guitar in the house, just pick it up, jump on the computer and find some lessons on youtube, if you are motivated you can learn without any teachers quite easily.

As for your son being shy, I'm going to guess he's quite young? Maybe start by the two of you learning to sing and play together, if he can play infront of you, then he can play in front of others.

Best of luck

seamus

I think the biggest cause of shyness in terms of singing/playing in public is the fear of making a mistake and people laughing or thinking you're crap. This creates a fear of "letting go" and actually causes you to make mistakes while playing

Really the only way to get over it is to bull on through and play in public and realise that most people don't notice and other musicians understand. Especially in a small relaxed atmosphere where people are just jamming together, mistakes are part and parcel of the fun of it and you quickly learn to enjoy the mistakes

I think in this regard it would be most helpful for both of you to try and learn together. Find a quiet room in the house and tell the rest of your family not to disturb you. Nothing more off-putting for a beginner than to have someone come in and sit down and listen to them. Encourage your son to go in and give it a go on his own even when you're not there.

Once you both start to really pick it up after a couple of months, you will enjoy the "jamming" aspect of it and hopefully learn to let go while playing and relax.

slavetothegrind

good advice above.

you are never too old, i am older than you and am currently getting lessons

singing and playing together comes with practise and to some it comes hard but most can manage it ok, keep at it is the main thing

I would say playing with people better than you will bring you along much faster than you on your own

remember this when your son hits youtube and practises and passes you out at the speed of light :P

Go for it OP!

martinedwards

so true!

I've been playing guitar and bass for 30 years. Leading in church etc for most of that so I'm reasonable at strumming and singing together.

My 14 yearold has overtaken me on guitar.

he's also an excellent drummer, has grade 5 piano & cello, and also plays banjo, mandolin and keys.

tonight we're leading the Maundy Thursday service in church with the first public outing for his new cello. with me singing and playing guitar.

we practiced this afternoon, with just the chord sheets, and his improvised harmony lines nearly had me in tears!

absolutely wonderful, and SO humbling!

slavetothegrind

really nice martin, great to hear of such young talent, lets hope he doesn't ditch the lot for girls :P

BostonB

Maybe a class or something?

manarocket

thanks for the advice folks especially the 1st 2 replies, good sound advice. Will keep u updated on our progress.