If you're keen and committed, it's never too late to start.

I got back into guitar at the age of 39, three years ago, and haven't looked back. In my youth, I never progressed much beyond a bit of basic three-chord bashing, but thanks to some excellent books (David Mead's '10 Minute Guitar Workout' is the best I've ever found - had me playing better in a month than I had in the previous 20-odd years), I found myself actually making progress.

Latterly, I've been taking lessons and can now bash out a passable 'This Charming Man' - the idea of getting anywhere near to replicating Johnny Marr's style would've been unthinkable four or five years ago.

So it's entirely possible, and highly recommended, as long as you're prepared to push through the bits where your fingers feel like big fat sausages uncooperatively slithering about over razorwire. The early discomfort while the fingers toughen up is well worth it for those moments when you suddenly realise you can bash out a favourite tune.

As for the guitar to start on ... that's entirely a matter of taste. Freshman do a very nice range of high-quality affordable acoustics. The big thing is to make sure you get your hands on a few different instruments before you choose. The right guitar for you is one that sounds good and feels comfortable in your hands. Get one that doesn't feel right and you're just going to scupper any hope of progress. You have to WANT to play the thing, and you don't want anything that'll put you off in any way.

Bit of a ramble, I know, but just my tuppenceworth...

Never too old. Go for it! That's the first question.

Molesworth...

Never too late!! If you want to learn then you'll learn.

Advice? There are lots of pretty good quality guitars around for very reasonable money these days. First advice is, if you've got a guitar playing friend then take them along on the shopping trip as they'll be able to try out the guitar and opine on whether it's set up OK (i.e. that the "action" - the distance of the strings from the neck is set right). Too high and it'll just be difficult to play and put you off.

What guitar? Depends on the depth of your pocket but I'd say budget maybe around £150ish and make sure you go for a guitar with a "solid top" (probably spruce). You'll find it'll sound better than a cheaper guitar with a laminated top and be a quantum leap better quality than a £100 guitar. Good brands include Yamaha, Washburn, Aria, Vintage, Cort, Crafter, Epiphone and many others

Expect your fingers to be sore for a bit when you start playing - they'll soon toughen up and you'll probably learn quickly you don't need to press the strings onto the neck so hard.

Lessons are a great kick start but there are lots of good book+DVD tutors around these days for guitar - go for an acoustic guitar based one rather than an electric or general guitar one. Have a look at the kind of songs that they'll have you practicing to see whether they float your boat (i.e. for me: Dylan and Eagles - good. Oh Suzannah, Go Tell Aunt Sally - bad). They'll have chord charts in the back so you won't need a separate chord book.

Have a go and don't worry if it takes you a bit to pick up things like the rhythm and finding & changing chords. It comes with the dreaded word... practice.

Once you've mastered a few chords check on the internet for some fave songs and see whether the chords for their songs are available (again, erring on the side of Dylan, the Eagles and the like may produce better results than King Crimson, Jan Garbarek and Yes!).

Buy an electronic tuner - they're only about £15 - £20 and will save you a LOAD of hassle/grief. Buy a spare set of strings.

Hope that helps - have fun and enjoy it!!

of a letter I saw in a newspaper where a woman was asking whether she should start a law degree. She said "In five years I'll have a law degree but I'll be 53." The reply said "How old will you be if you don't have a law degree?"
In other words, just feckin' do it. I'm 46 and started drumming lessons 4 months ago. I'm rubbish but I'm less rubbish than I was 4 months ago. But that's not the point. I'm not expecting Neil Peart to vacate his drum-stool for me, it's just something that gives me tremendous pleasure, doesn't cost much and has actually got me a little fitter without having to near a bloody gym. And as for lack of time? You'll find it, because you'll be hooked and there's no better way to unwind.
Choice of guitar? I'm not the best person to ask but I believe Yamaha, Takemine and Epiphone all do decent beginner guitars at reasonable prices. I'd have thought it's best to go into a shop and see which one feels most comfortable in your hands. But there'll be plenty others here who'll know better about that.
I tried learning guitar as a teenager in order to become a rock star, which didn't go to plan. Learning for pure pleasure at this age is a hell of a lot more enjoyable, without the temper tantrums or fears that you're not as good as that guy on the album.
Good luck, enjoy!

I first picked up a guitar at 19. Ok so it's still fairly young - and certainly feels like aeons ago - but the point is, you don't need to have started at primary school. If you have any interest in Neil Young I suggest you start playing along to the Harvest album (or for that matter anything by him). Simple stuff, and you'll start to notice the interesting variations you can get from simply lifting a finger off a string at certain points (what I believe the experts call 'hammering on').

As for what to start with, I'd recommend going for the most expensive guitar you can afford, with a narrow neck and low action. You will find it easier to play and the investment will give you extra motivation to learn! Epiphone do good entry-level guitars starting at around £200.

I didn't have any lessons, just a chord book and a guitarist friend who would occasionally point me in the right direction. In this age of Google and Youtube I doubt even that is necessary these days. Most guitarists say "I taught myself" and it sounds like they're passing themselves off as some sort of musical genius but it's actually not that hard, especially if you're content to just strum a few chords (and it's surprising how impressive the most elementary guitar parts can sound to the non-guitarist).

The other thing that helps, I find, is putting your guitar on a stand somewhere you have to walk past it several times a day. I'm trying to learn the bass at the moment and I keep it at the foot of the bed. I can't resist picking it up, and it's a useful reminder that I spent the money on it so I'd better bloody learn to play the thing.

Www.totallyguitars.com. I've been playing since I was 14 and this is the best on-line site i've seen to date. Check out the free lessons either on site or on YouTube. Excellent tuition. Really.

when I started.

Trevor's advice to take a guitar playing friend along is right. My friend John had as much fun as I did, taking me on a tour of the guitar shops of north London one Saturday. He showed me a couple of chords to strum just so I could get an idea of how the guitar sounded.

What astounded me was that after we'd been in a couple of shops, and I'd blindly strummed a few guitars, was being handed one by a guy in a shop, was being able to start making choices. I strummed it and found that I just didn't like the sound of it. It really surprised me, but you very quickly pick up that guitars have distinctive timbres and you know what you'll like.

I found a local guitar teacher. It helps that he asked me about the music I liked and accordingly shapes lessons around that, rather than saying "OK, lesson 1, you'll learn how to…".

The tuner, as Trevor says, is also a good investment. I still find changing strings a bugger though.

I agree with all of the above Molesworth . I have a mate who is 44 and he started about a year ago. He had never played anything and now he is playing away no problem. Joe is right what he says about teaching yourself. You might feel a bit self concious sitting playing nursery rhymes with a bunch of 8 year olds on a Saturday morning. My advice would be about strumming. Try and learn it by ear rather than a book. Strumming is as important as the chords and but some give up when they cant get a song to sound right even with the right chords. try to practise at least 20 minutes a day and you will progress. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

And play along with them. Very theraputic. If you have a decent ear, it's a help. Lots of songs aren't in concert pitch and being able to tune a guitar by ear is a useful skill.

..I find people over 40 the hardest to teach, not because they're uninterested, but because their fingers think that they've learned all they have to learn (This is people starting from scratch)
Once they push past that muscle memory hurdle however, they have been some of my best results.
As to whether you NEED a teacher or not, it's completely down to what sort of person you are..some of my adult students come just because they love to come, they could easily do it themselves, others would be lost without the guidance.
Yes you can do it with books and the internet, but I do seem to spend large amounts of time straightening bad habits that people have picked up along the way.
I can teach someone everything I've taken 39 years to accumulate in a couple of years, that's what you pay a good teacher for.

1. get the best guitar you can afford, and on the whole you get what you pay for. If you can't afford the £1000+ for a Gibson, a Yamaha or Epiphone will be fine. Millions of people have started with Yamahas.
2. learn chords (and if you have an iPhone or similar there are plenty of apps). Once you have an idea of how chords work within particular songs you know well (chords easy to find online, mostly more or less accurate), you're off to the races.
3. it will hurt. I've been playing since I was 12, and it still hurts if my fingers soften up.
4. have fun! Oh, and if this still matters to you (as long as you don't have rock god pretensions and make a tit of yourself), women seem to like it when you sing to them...
5. you can get a teacher if you want, but it's much more satisfying to figure it out for yourself.

Many thanks to all who have contributed some words of wisdom. I'll be digesting all of this again and again over the Christmas break, and will be taking the plunge in January.

I especially like the point about it being therapeutic which is what I'm after - 60 hours a working week with one deadline after another leaves you wanting to get away from it all now and again!

I didn't buy my first guitar until I was in my mid 30's which is quite late too but I had the luxury of living on my own so I got a cheapish electric guitar and spent hours sitting in front of the television with the guitar unplugged playing chords to harden up my fingers and get them doing the right thing without seeming to waste hours of practising. It's almost like playing a dummy guitar to get hours of finger exercising under your belt.

For £30 you can get a very playable instrument. Its a great way of getting some right and left hand coordination going. You'll learn chord shapes that will make sense on guitar at a later date and also get the hang of some basic rhythm.

I suspect that after three months on a Ukulele you'll be able to make some very informed decisions about your next steps as a strummer, and all for 30 quid! (Loads of instructional material available on line)

I'm in the same boat (and age bracket) as you Molesworth -- and have a craving to learn for the same work / life reasons you hint at. Was thinking of self-gifting myself a ukelele in the new year, so was very interested to see your comment, Martin. For 44 years I have exhibited zero musical accomplishment, so is a uke probably the best option, ie least risky in terms of financial outlay (in case I truly am crap). Then, later on, I can take the stabilizers off the bike and perhaps graduate up to a guitar?

Compared with the plywood tanks I learned on, today's guitars - even at the bottom of the market - are made remarkably well. For a two to three hundred quid you can get a very decent acoustic indeed, especially if you don't need the fancy binding and pearloid inlays. I'd recommend the aforementioned Freshman, entry-level Takamines and Yamamha. I'd also echo what was said above - using a tuner and learning to develop your own ear is the key. Having mangled a finger in a not-so-bizarre accident five months ago, I'm in your position thirty years on: learning to make the shapes; punching the air when I finally manage a G chord.
Best of luck.

You won't regret it. I'm 46 and bought my first guitar (electric, a Yamaha Pacifica) last May with an unexpected bonus from work. I don't practise as much as I should but I can now mangle some simple four chord songs which is ludicrously satisfying. I found that the beginners course on justinguitar dot com was excellent for getting me started with the basics, but I feel I need someone to start showing me stuff now to help me progress, so that's my new year resolution sorted.

It's a great stress reliever and firmly believe everyone should learn something - whether it's an instrument, a new language, wine tasting or whatever. Preferably something entirely unrelated to your work.

... you're far too old.

I've been playing since I was 15, I'm still some way off Hendrix, but some way above beginner.

Having learned initially by learning chords and a few simple songs (Dylan's an excellent bet for this), I spent most of the intervening time practising and using my ear. After a while you get to recognise key/chord progressions and work out how the different pieces of songs are bolted together.

One question: guitar hero or songwriter? For me it was always the latter, and I figured a basic level of competence was enough. I'm now just good enough to write my own stuff (not necessarily disciplined enough to finish it...) but by no means a guitar god - and I don't feel the need to be.

At some point, preferably sooner than you feel ready, I'd definitely recommend playing (and singing) in public. I did this for the first time aged 40 - it was terrifying but I've continued and it does (slowly) get better. It's also great for the ego!

Best of luck and - above all else - have fun with it.