As a kid, I had lots of musical influences outside of classical musicians, but I was never able to expand on that or to develop my playing with regard to rock and roll. I had been trained differently, solely as a classical artist, which was cool, but not all encompassing and certainly not an accurate representation of the duality I possessed as a musician, or listener, for that matter. There was a whole genre of music out there, beating incessantly through my mind and soul, and I knew I was capable of playing it, if given the opportunity. So, as an adult, I essentially gave myself that chance and it's been a fascinating road ever since.

For the first time ever, I didn't have to worry about performing or answering to an instructor, which consequently fulfilled some repressed needs of finding my own musical future, not to mention, while I loved Mozart and Beethoven, it was Jerry Garcia and Trey Anastasio (Spencer's didn't sell posters of Chopin) who hung from my bedroom walls. Learning guitar as an adult was very freeing and self-expressive because I was able to enjoy the music as a passion rather than a job.

I started by learning rifts and chords based on wanting to jam out to my favorite songs and after the basics, slowly began teaching myself how to play everything, from Clapton to Metallica. Luckily, I had a good ear and plenty of helpful websites at my disposal. The fretboard wasn't that hard to manipulate after all the exposure to violin, although holding a guitar still feels slightly awkward to me. While I took a couple lessons, I found that with my musical background, I was better off just immersing myself in the guitar and exploring it on my own. I knew that was how I would really get to know the instrument and it made me be more diligent in my learning of it because if I didn't find the chord or get the rift, I would only be failing myself. Needless to say, I neurotically practice and soon began playing Tom Petty, Stone Temple Pilots, and a tiny bit of Dave Matthews, as my first accomplishments. I'm still aspiring to play just one Satriani or Vai rift.

The most difficult part of learning an instrument as an adult is that nobody hovers over you forcing you to practice each day. This means you have to be that person for yourself, largely putting you in control of you own musical destiny. I was okay with that notion, but it's because I didn't let the minutia of every day life interrupt my goals. Regardless of what happened in work or my relationship, my focus was on the challenge at hand, which made guitar become an awesome outlet. I think, as adults, lots of people subscribe to the idea that they missed their chance. It's not about becoming a prodigy, it's really just about learning something new, embracing the challenge, and doing what you always yearned to do. Learning a new instrument, as an adult, feels good, and restores a youthfulness and to your every day life.

Learn more about this author, Taylor Divico.
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