Or Guitar? Or Mandolin? Guess again.
It’s a rather long read, but if you’ve ever become frustrated because you’re not picking it up fast enough, maybe it’s time you get your mind right!
“As you set about learning a new skill, there will be frustrations and moments of failure – but these may in fact be the most important experiences of the whole process.”
I started learning banjo at 61.
Started learning mandolin at 47…
I purchased a banjo just before Christmas and started with Banjo Ben about the same time. I have progressed through Cripple Creek and Worried Man Blues, both at about 130 beats a minute with accuracy. I guess my questions are:
I think you’re doing great @rjlambert for just starting in December especially if you can already play cleanly and smoothly at 130bpm. I think you’re progression is normal and you should keep playing the ones you know as well as learning new ones. So every time you practice, run through those songs you’ve mentioned, and try to learn a piece of a new song as the majority of your practice.
Started in Jan 2019 at age 41 and I’ve had so much fun learning!
Hi @rjlambert Robert 
to @BanjoBen 's Forum
My advice for what it’s worth is to forget about speed for now and focus on learning the fundamentals. i.e. Work your way through the beginners learning path that @BanjoBen has put pains to create. Speed will come in time. I think your doing pretty well to have Cripple Creek and Worried Man Blues under your belt. Sticking with the programme you’ll learn a lot which will help you later on when you start tackling the more advanced arrangements.
As a Beginner, (age 67), here’s my Expert advice:
Do what Archie says. He’s never given me a bum steer.
67… the new 66!
The Proverbs I adhere to, is: 1) Pick without Ceasing, and 2) Believe in yourself. You can do it!
I started at 67. Learning new things helps keep us young.
You’re doing great!! I say keep progressing on the path and let speed take care of itself! Congrats!
A-men to that Archie. Speed destroys and is probably one of my greatest pitfalls in practicing. I find it’s always tempting to practice faster because we’re anxious to get up to tempo but ironically, it slows down the learning process and worse, solidifies bad habits. At least for me, I practice only as fast as I can play perfectly clean with a metronome. One more thought:. Never turn down a chance to perform. This is good practice too. Happy Picking!
Thanks for the encouragement!
Great article- thanks for posting