Am I getting old?

[GuitarIV]

So I am curious what you guys think:

I read about people outgrowing their metal phase in regards to guitar playing and turning more towards "dad music", there's nothing wrong with that but lately I noticed a shift in my taste in music and my gear choices as well and I am asking myself: "Am I finally becoming old?"

I turned 29 last year and whilst I still enjoy the music that made me pick up the guitar in the first place, I mostly play blues and rock n roll. Occasionally I still turn up the gain and riff on some Thrash metal (I'll never stop doing that) but I sold most of my pointy guitars and just have my Marshalls which satisfy my tonal needs, I ride the volume and tone knobs the whole time and sometimes I even play completely clean and finger pick.

So is this just a part of maturing? Musically I mean. I do wonder.

Share your thoughts everyone!

 

[DirtySteve]

Same thing happened to me, but not 'til I turned 45.

 

[Dogs of Doom]

I'm 53 & am more metal than ever...

 

[PelliX]

If you really think you're too old, then you are.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

I think I just mostly get bored unless I'm free-jamming with a band and "in the pocket". Rock and Roll has been around for 70-ish years now, and at some point I feel like everything's either predictable or it's become too eclectic to make any sense, or otherwise just plain boring. Mentally and emotionally I don't really feel much older now that I'm 96 than I did when I was 22, except that I'm somewhat jaded and arguably wiser. It could also be that, in your case, maybe you're just finding your real musical self. I played for a couple of decades - very well if I do say so myself - yet at some point every time I picked up a guitar I found myself playing more in the style I grew up hearing. It was automatic and profound.
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[Dogs of Doom]

although... I was not much of a metalhead until later on. I was a '70s (& some '60s) rock person growing up & throughout my teen years.

I liked Judas Priest & Iron Maiden, but, not much garage metal. Like I've said before, when Metallica was playing early on, there was a million other garage bands that sounded just like them, in California. Even, many in LA, that didn't sing a bit of ingles. But... they sounded the same...

During the '80s, I liked Scorp's, Ozzy, Dio, etc., but, by today's standards, that is considered rock, not metal.

I'd fit right in w/ that style (I do), but, I'm an aggressive player, so...

 

[houseofrock]

metal 4 life (age 57 ) though I do enjoy other genres.

 

[BftGibson]

Knocking on 57 & just got in a Drop C band on Bass.. let's Go !!!

 

[tallcoolone]

Never really considered myself a ‘metal head’ but I will be on stage next week playing a Les Paul with a violin bow through a 100w Marshall. 52 and apparently never ‘growing up’

 

[GregM]

Maybe the music finds us!
I was trying to learn a few dead Kennedy's and siouxsie and the banshees and acadaca songs and now end up playing more Link wray, Rolling stones and Beatles stuff and various other things of that nature.
But I love the fullness of a full barre chord or an open chord, not that I don't love power chords, but I love the sorta sound I get from that music, from clean Beatles stuff, to a lotta distortion from rumble, or mid gains on most stones stuff or from rawhide by the aforementioned Link Wray.
But maybe it's just because I suck, so maybe I'm a teenage girl in disguise cause I love sucking!
Oh and as for the original question, yes you are getting old. Take your skirt off and find your testes Nancy ( jokes).

 

[Nitrobattery]

I'm 35, and in my late 20's I started feeling the same way. Pizza is great, but if all you eat is pizza, eventually you want something else. I experimented with other gear and tones, started getting into other styles, and then eventually got back into heavy stuff as well. I feel like now I'm more well rounded, and have different skills and tools for different jobs. I say lean into it and see where it takes you.

 

[Dogs of Doom]

I used to like more blues-based stuff, but have more seemingly gone towards classical based. I tend to like exotic sounding stuff, when it works...

I was always drawn more towards European rock, probably because it has it's classical roots, but, they also had a blues renaissance, that led to the British invasion pt II (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, UFO, Scorpions, Rainbow, etc.). So, while it had it's blues base, it also had a heavy classical influence...

 

[TXOldRedRocker]

Part of maturing is acquired wisdom.

Seems you are becoming more wise.

Blues and Classic Rock is more intricate and complex, and considered by many to be more artful than many more modern genres.

Congrats on being a person that becomes smarter and more thoughtful with age.

(To the flames headed my way. )



[Seriously: Everyone is entitled to their own taste in music. No one is wrong. No music is better than other music. People may believe one genre is better than another. Or wish a genre never existed, like I feel about RAP. But that's all personal preference. I just couldn't resist because the OP was moving towards MY taste in music. I'm a big time smart ass.]

 

[Sapient]

I think for "most" that's probably the age you kinda get more mellow. I listened to Maiden mainly in my mid teens. I think you're running a typical course that can be judged more by beginning to think more like you parents do about things more than you did as a kid - you start thinking like the "old" people. You see it all made sense when they didn't want you out in our creepy society at 4:00 am without maybe a phone call.

You're gonna get old so there ain't stopping that. Enjoy what you enjoy as you enter different stages in life is all I've got to say.

I don't really listen to any music anymore because I've actually grown to hate it for the most part. I blame that most on hearing the same shit for 40 ...50 ..70 ..years now. They say repeated music is a form of torture. How is this any different? Most music is just torture to be to be honest. This part is just me though and I don't attribute it to "getting old", per se.

Oh, and bftgibson has some pretty long hair!

 

[Vinsanitizer]

...

I don't really listen to any music anymore because I've actually grown to hate it for the most part. I blame that most on hearing the same shit for 40 ...50 ..70 ..years now. ...

LOL!
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[PelliX]

I think for "most" that's probably the age you kinda get more mellow.

Sounds about right. On the other hand, if you retain your 'fist in the air, live fast die young' (tm) attitude when growing older, it becomes more credible. Maybe 'sincere' is a better term. As a teenager most of us here probably rebelled, lived for the moment and didn't care about tomorrow. I know 'my bunch' did. Couple of years ago, I was at a best friend's wedding and I was the only one still unchanged. Matured, older, more knowledgeable, perhaps even wiser (ok, that's pushing it) - but still the same attitude. It was interesting to see how surprised some of them were that I hadn't seen for some years. With most people, that's all an act, albeit one they believe themselves for a while. A small percentage actually mean it.

"I never did what I was supposed to, why would I start now?" -- Rick Parfitt, R.I.P.

Oh, and bftgibson has some pretty long hair!

Hell yeah!

 

[Sapient]

Sounds about right. On the other hand, if you retain your 'fist in the air, live fast die young' (tm) attitude when growing older, it becomes more credible. Maybe 'sincere' is a better term. As a teenager most of us here probably rebelled, lived for the moment and didn't care about tomorrow. I know 'my bunch' did. Couple of years ago, I was at a best friend's wedding and I was the only one still unchanged. Matured, older, more knowledgeable, perhaps even wiser (ok, that's pushing it) - but still the same attitude. It was interesting to see how surprised some of them were that I hadn't seen for some years. With most people, that's all an act, albeit one they believe themselves for a while. A small percentage actually mean it.

"I never did what I was supposed to, why would I start now?" -- Rick Parfitt, R.I.P.



Hell yeah!

I think when you're older "live fast die young" feels a little different when one has 20-30 years into drugs or alcohol. It's like "I need to slow down because I could be dead real soon". I guess it's just different what one sees when you takes into consideration the currently reality they are facing. Lol.

 

[Sapient]

LOL!
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And like yourself, I loath TV. So we won't even get started there.

 

[El Gringo]

Age is just a number . I am still rocking as hard and as often as when I was a young whipper snapper .

 

[PelliX]

I think when you're older "live fast die young" feels a little different when one has 20-30 years into drugs or alcohol. It's like "I need to slow down because I could be dead real soon". I guess it's just different what one sees when you takes into consideration the currently reality they are facing.

Yeah, exactly that. I have deep respect for anybody who decides to change path in life and makes something (better) out of it, honestly. I've seen plenty of people end up in poor shape or dead because of attitude/drugs/ignoring sound advice/etc, including my own parents. I can't rule out that I'll regret it when my time comes, but I know that I would certainly regret looking back and not having done or tried to do what I wanted. Perhaps my life changing moment will come one day and I'll grow up.

OK, that was a little deep. Whatever you do in life, just make sure that you're enjoying yourself or working towards it.