From the Gibson App Guitar Learning Report 2026
Is it too late to learn guitar? No. Here's the data.
Is it too late to learn guitar at 40, 50 or 60? No. According to the Gibson App Guitar Learning Report 2026, 43% of Gibson App learners are 40 or older and more than 14,000 are 70 or older (396,218 ages given at sign-up). Adults practice on more days and get further, and learners aged 40 to 69 are about 4 times as likely to still be playing a month later as learners under 20. The Gibson App is the official guitar learning app from Gibson: it listens while you play and scores every note, which is how this was measured.
43%
of learners are 40 or older
14,000+
learners are 70 or older
4x
as likely as learners under 20 to keep playing (ages 40 to 69)
5.6days
played a month in your 50s and 60s, the most of any age
By the Gibson App data team. Updated 2026-11-11. Anonymous, combined data from Gibson App learners. Every chart shows its sample size (n). How we measured
00At a glance
What the data says about starting later
- 01
Lots of people start guitar after 40
43%
of Gibson App learners are 40 or older
About 4 in every 10 Gibson App learners were 40 or older when they signed up.
You won't be the oldest one there: 43% of Gibson App learners are 40 or older (n = 396,218 answers given at sign-up through October 2026).
See the details - 02
Older beginners are far more likely to keep going
4x
as likely as learners under 20 to keep playing, at ages 40 to 69
1x
under 20
4x
ages 40 to 69
Chance of still playing a month after starting.
Older beginners keep going: of everyone who played in their first week, Gibson App learners aged 40 to 69 were about 4 times as likely as learners under 20 to still be playing a month later (May to August 2026 sign-ups, n = 19,833 with an age answer).
See the details - 03
People in their 50s and 60s practice the most
5.6days
a month on average in your 50s and 60s, against 1.7 under 20
1.72.94.04.85.55.75.1<2020s30s40s50s60s70+Days played per month, by age. It rises with every decade up to the 60s.
Your 50s and 60s are prime practice years: Gibson App learners in their 50s and 60s played on about 5.6 days in October 2026, the most of any age, against 1.7 days for learners under 20.
See the details - 04
Adults get further than learners under 20
27%
of learners in their 40s have practiced chords, against 5% of learners under 20
Adults are more likely to get past the first single-note lessons: 27% of Gibson App learners in their 40s have practiced chords, against 5% of learners under 20 (skill data through October 2026, n = 10,129 and 15,135).
See the details - 05
Practice works just as well at 60 as at 20
+8notes
more notes out of every 100 by the 5th try at a lesson, at any age
Under 301st try 76%→5th try 84%60 and up1st try 74%→5th try 82%Replaying a lesson helps just as much at 60 as at 20: by the 5th try at a new lesson, Gibson App learners under 30 and learners 60 and up both hit 8 to 9 more notes out of every 100 (October 2026).
See the details - 06
More adults play every beginner skill
2x+
more than twice as likely at 40 to 59 as under 40 to play every beginner skill
Gibson App learners aged 40 to 59 were more than twice as likely as learners under 40 to play every skill on the beginner path within 90 days, and took only a little longer to get there: a median of 5.5 hours of lessons against 4.3 (sign-ups April to July 2026).
See the details - 07
For most learners over 70, it's a comeback
8in 10
learners over 70 have played guitar before
8 in 10 learners over 70 had played some guitar before.
Most learners over 70 are coming back to guitar: 83% had played some guitar before, against 47% of learners under 20 (answers at sign-up through October 2026).
See the details - 08
Older learners practice earlier in the day
61%
of learners over 70 usually practice in the daytime, before 5 pm
8 pmAges 20 to 495 pm60s2 to 4 pm70+Practice moves earlier in the day with age: Gibson App learners play most often at 7 to 8 pm, learners in their 60s at 5 pm, and 61% of learners over 70 usually play in the daytime (October 2026).
See the details - 09
Many people play guitar to relax
36%
of new learners pick mindfulness as a reason to play (44% in their 30s)
Guitar is a way to switch off at every age: mindfulness is a top reason to play, and it peaks in the 30s, where 44% of new Gibson App learners pick it.
See the details
01Find your age
It's not too late at 40, 50, 60 or 70
Is it too late to start at 40, 50, 60 or 70? No: 43% of Gibson App learners are 40 or older. Pick your age to see what learners like you do in the app.
Starting at
40?
Good timing. Learners your age are among the most likely to stick with it.
What learners in their 40s do in the Gibson App:
- 15.5%of all Gibson App learners, more than learners in their 20s
- 4.1xas likely as learners under 20 to still play a month later
- 27%have practiced chords (under 20: 5%)
Starting at
50?
You'd join the most dedicated age group in the app.
What learners in their 50s do in the Gibson App:
- 5.5days played a month, the most of any age with the 60s
- 24skills practiced on average, the most of any age with the 40s
- 1 in 4rate themselves intermediate or advanced at sign-up
Starting at
60?
You'll fit right in, and you'll probably play before dinner.
What learners in their 60s do in the Gibson App:
- 5 pmmost common practice time, not 7 to 8 pm
- 4.4xas likely as learners under 20 to still play a month later
- 77%had played some guitar before
Starting at
70+
Plenty of company, and for most it's a comeback.
What learners 70 and older do in the Gibson App:
- 14,000+Gibson App learners are 70 or older
- 61%usually practice in the daytime, between 5 am and 5 pm
- 16skills practiced on average, about as many as learners in their 20s (14)
From the charts below. "As likely to still play": May to August 2026 sign-ups, compared with learners under 20. Days and practice time: learners who played a lesson in October 2026. Skills: skills practiced so far.
02Who's learning
Will I be the oldest beginner? No
Far from it. More Gibson App learners are in their 40s (15.5%) than in their 20s (15.3%) or 30s (12.9%), and more than one in four is 50 or older. And older learners are often coming back: 83% of learners over 70 had played some guitar before.
More Gibson App learners are in their 40s than in their 20s, and 43% are 40 or older
Share of learners by age.
Under 20
29%
20 to 29
15.3%
30 to 39
12.9%
40 to 49
15.5%
50 to 59
14.2%
60 to 69
9.5%
70+
3.6%
n = 396,218 answers given at sign-up through October 2026. Excludes "prefer not to say".
For most older learners it's a comeback: 83% over 70 had played before
Out of 10 learners, how many had played guitar before, by age.
Sign-up answers, n = 395,577. People rounded to the nearest whole person out of 10.
From 50 on, playing both acoustic and electric is the most common answer
Share who play both acoustic and electric, by age.
From 50 on, "both" is the most common answer to "acoustic or electric?". Learners under 20 mostly start on one guitar.
15%
under 20
37%
70+
Share who play both acoustic and electric. Sign-up answers, n = 394,542.
03Who keeps going
Older beginners stick with it
Do older beginners stick with it? Yes. Of everyone who played in their first week, Gibson App learners in their 40s, 50s and 60s were about 4 times as likely to still be playing a month later as learners under 20, and about twice as likely as learners in their 20s. They also start stronger: about 3 times as many play on 3 or more days in their first week.
Learners aged 40 to 69 are about 4 times as likely to still be playing a month later
Chance of still playing a month later, by age (under 20 = 1x).
Learners who joined from May to August 2026 and played in their first week (n = 19,833 with an age answer); "still playing" means they played a lesson on day 28 to 55 after joining. 70+: n = 289. For the 40s the ratio was 5.0x for May and June sign-ups and 3.5x for July and August.
Adults start strong: about 3 times as many play on 3+ days in week one
Playing on 3 or more days in the first week, against learners under 20.
3 or more practice days in the first week
3x
Learners aged 30 and up were about 3 times as likely as learners under 20 to play on 3 or more days in their first week (3.1x to 3.5x in every decade from the 30s up; 2.4x in the 20s).
Same May to August 2026 learners: 3 or more different days in their first 7 days.
Your age is on your side
Join the 43% of Gibson App learners who are 40 or older. Lessons from real artists, famous songs and feedback on every note you play.
04How they practice
Your 50s and 60s are prime practice years
Who practices most often? Learners in their 50s and 60s. They play on about 5.6 days a month, 3.3 times as often as Gibson App learners under 20. Almost one in five plays on 11 or more days a month; under 20 it's fewer than one in 50.
Learners in their 50s and 60s practice most often, 5 to 6 days a month
Days played per month, by age.
Learners who played a lesson in October 2026, local days, n = 13,558 with an age answer. August 2026 looked the same.
Learners in their 50s play longest and have practiced the most skills
Practice days, minutes, skills practiced and usual practice time, by age.
| Age | Days a month | Minutes a day | Skills practiced | Usual time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 20n = 2,364 | 1.7 | 5 | 7 | 6 pm |
| 20 to 29n = 2,297 | 2.9 | 11 | 14 | 8 pm |
| 30 to 39n = 2,608 | 4.0 | 13 | 21 | 8 pm |
| 40 to 49n = 2,798 | 4.8 | 14 | 24 | 8 pm |
| 50 to 59n = 2,119 | 5.5 | 15 | 24 | 7 pm |
| 60 to 69n = 1,047 | 5.7 | 13 | 20 | 5 pm |
| 70+n = 325 | 5.1 | 11 | 16 | Daytime |
Days, minutes and usual time: learners who played a lesson in October 2026 (n per row), local time; minutes are time in play-along lessons per day played. "Skills practiced": average number of skills a learner has practiced, from the skill tracker through October 2026. "Usual time": most common practice hour; over 70 it moved between 2 and 4 pm from month to month.
The older the learner, the earlier they practice: 61% over 70 play in the daytime
Each age group at its most common practice hour, noon to midnight. Gold: 60s and 70+.
Share who usually play in the daytime, 5 am to 5 pm
Each learner's most common practice hour in October 2026, local time (n = 13,317 with an age answer). No hour is wrong: play when it suits you.
05What they learn
Older learners miss a few more notes, and get further anyway
Do older learners play less accurately? A little, and they get further anyway. Gibson App learners in their 20s hit 86% of their notes, learners in their 60s 81% and learners over 70 76% (October 2026). Timing holds up best, at about 90% for every age. And 27% of learners in their 40s have practiced chords, against 5% of learners under 20.
27% of learners in their 40s have practiced chords, against 5% under 20
Share who have practiced chords, by age.
Under 20
n = 15,135
5%
20 to 29
n = 9,491
15%
30 to 39
n = 9,588
23%
40 to 49
n = 10,129
27%
50 to 59
n = 7,451
26%
60 to 69
n = 3,763
23%
70+
n = 1,237
18%
Learners with skill data and an age answer, December 2025 to October 2026.
Timing holds up at every age: about 90% clean, youngest to oldest
How cleanly each skill is played, lowest to highest age group.
Note timing
89.8to92.2%
About the same at every age.
Notes on one string
80.7to84.6%
A few points between youngest and oldest.
Chord changes
55.3to60.4%
Learners over 70 (59.0%) change chords more cleanly than learners under 20 (55.3%).
"Clean" means played right and on time. Share of tracked attempts across all 7 age groups. Bars start at 40%.
06Getting better
Practice works the same at every age
Does practice still work later in life? Just as well. Play a new lesson five times and you hit 8 to 9 more notes out of every 100, whether you're 25 or 65. Learners over 60 start a little lower and improve just as much.
Playing a lesson again pays off at every age: 8 to 9 more notes out of 100 by the 5th try
Share of notes hit on the 1st and 5th try at the same lesson, by age.
Lessons new to the learner, played 5 or more times in October 2026, n = learners. Under 20 and 20s, and 60s and 70+, are combined so every group has 300+ learners.
07Learning the basics
More older learners play every beginner skill
Do older learners get through the beginner path? More often than younger ones. Learners aged 40 to 59 were more than twice as likely as learners under 40 to play every skill on the Gibson App beginner path within 90 days, and needed only about an hour more of lessons to play them all. The path covers the basics: single notes and melodies on the three thinnest strings (G, B and high e), with a famous song after every step.
2x+
as likely at 40 to 59 as under 40 to play every beginner skill
5.5h
median lesson time to get there, ages 40 to 59 (n = 298)
4.3h
median lesson time to get there, under 40 (n = 383)
Sign-ups April to July 2026 who played at least one beginner-path skill (3,736 aged 40 to 59; 11,280 under 40); "got there" means played all 22 beginner skills within 90 days. Lesson time is counted up to that moment. Learners aged 60 and up (n = 41) were too few to report. Everyone learns at their own speed. How long does it take to learn guitar?
Start the beginner path today
Go from your first note to famous melodies at your own pace. The Gibson App listens while you play and gives feedback on every note.
08Why they play
People of every age play guitar to relax
Why do people start guitar later in life? Often to relax. Mindfulness is a reason to play at every age, peaking in the 30s at 44%. And dreams don't retire: 1 in 16 learners over 70 picks "go professional" as a goal.
Mindfulness peaks in the 30s at 44%; going pro fades with age
Goals picked at sign-up, by age.
| Age | Mindfulness | Jam | Go pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 20 | 34% | 31% | 34% |
| 20 to 29 | 41% | 33% | 30% |
| 30 to 39 | 44% | 32% | 26% |
| 40 to 49 | 37% | 29% | 19% |
| 50 to 59 | 32% | 26% | 12% |
| 60 to 69 | 30% | 22% | 9% |
| 70+ | 28% | 17% | 6% |
n = 394,993 sign-up answers, more than one goal allowed.
Life getting in the way is the top reason older players stopped: 46%
Why learners over 40 stopped playing the last time.
For returning players over 40, life is the top reason they stopped (46%). Next come feeling no progress (30%) and hitting a plateau (24%).
Life got in the way
46%
Felt no progress
30%
Hit a plateau
24%
It wasn't fun
16%
Felt overwhelmed
15%
n = 1,098 learners aged 40 and up who had stopped playing before, more than one answer allowed.
See your progress, every time you play
The Gibson App listens while you play, gives feedback on every note and chord, and tracks 270+ guitar skills. Try it free for 7 days.
09Starting later? Start like this
Four things that help you keep going
20x
Play on most days in your first week
Beginners who played on 5+ days in week one were about 20 times as likely to still be playing a month later as those who played once.
13 min
Short sessions count
Learners in their 60s average about 13 minutes per practice day and still rank among the most regular players.
+8 pts
Play it again
Five tries at the same lesson add 8 to 9 percentage points of notes hit, at every age.
5 pm
Pick your own time
There's no right hour. Learners in their 60s most often play at 5 pm, learners in their 40s at 8 pm.
10FAQ
Learning guitar later in life: questions people ask
Is it too late to learn guitar at 30?+
No. 12.9% of Gibson App learners are in their 30s. Learners aged 30 to 39 were about 3.5 times as likely as learners under 20 to still be playing a month after they started, play on about 4 days a month, and are the age group most likely to pick mindfulness as a reason to play (44%).
Is it too late to learn guitar at 40?+
No. 15.5% of Gibson App learners are in their 40s, more than are in their 20s. Learners aged 40 to 49 were about 4 times as likely as learners under 20 to still be playing a month after they started, and 27% of them have already practiced chords, against 5% of teenagers.
Is it too late to learn guitar at 50?+
No. Learners in their 50s are 14% of all Gibson App learners and, with learners in their 60s, the most regular players of any age: about 5.5 days a month and about 15 minutes a practice day (October 2026). With learners in their 40s, they have practiced the most skills, about 24 on average.
Is it too late to learn guitar at 60?+
No. 9.5% of Gibson App learners are in their 60s. They practice as often as learners in their 50s (about 5.7 days a month, the most of any age), were about 4 times as likely as learners under 20 to still be playing a month after starting, and most often practice at 5 pm.
Is it too late to learn guitar at 70?+
No. More than 14,000 Gibson App learners are 70 or older. Learners over 70 who played in October 2026 did so on about 5 days that month, and they have practiced 16 skills on average, about as many as learners in their 20s (14). They were about 3 times as likely as learners under 20 to keep playing after their first month. Most (61%) practice in the daytime, before 5 pm, and 83% had played some guitar before.
Do adults learn guitar slower than kids?+
A little slower, but they go further. Gibson App learners aged 40 to 59 who played every skill on the beginner path needed a median of 5.5 hours of lessons to get there, against 4.3 hours under 40 (sign-ups April to July 2026), and accuracy drops a few points with age (86% of notes hit in the 20s, 81% in the 60s). But adults aged 40 to 59 were more than twice as likely to get through the beginner path, play on about 3 times as many days a month as learners under 20, have practiced about 3 times as many skills, and every age hits 8 to 9 percentage points more notes after 5 tries at a new lesson.
How long does it take an adult to learn guitar?+
About as long as for anyone else, with a little more time in lessons. Gibson App learners aged 40 to 59 who played every skill on the beginner path (single notes and melodies on the three thinnest strings, G, B and high e) got there after a median of 5.5 hours of lessons over 11.5 practice days, against 4.3 hours over 9 days for learners under 40 (sign-ups April to July 2026). They were also more than twice as likely to get that far. Across all ages, learning every beginner skill to the app's learned level took about 13 hours of lessons over about 5 weeks. See how long it takes to learn guitar.
Can you learn guitar with arthritis or stiff fingers?+
Many people do, but check with your doctor or a physiotherapist first, and take a break during a flare-up. The Arthritis Foundation says regular hand exercise can improve range of motion, and advises avoiding squeezing movements during an active flare. Learning an instrument also trains fine motor control: in a 2023 trial with 156 healthy older adults (Worschech and colleagues), a year of piano lessons improved fine motor skills more than listening to music. Start with easy shapes: the Gibson App teaches beginners a one-finger version of G.
Is guitar easier than piano?+
Guitar is often described as easy to learn but hard to master (Yamaha). The first weeks on guitar ask your fingers to build strength on the strings, while a keyboard lays out the notes in a way many find intuitive. Guitar gets you to songs quickly, though: half of new Gibson App learners who played a famous song in their first month did it within 2.5 hours of signing up. See the easiest songs to start with.
11Method
How we measured
All figures are anonymous aggregates from scored lesson plays and sign-up answers in the Gibson App, queried on 2026-11-06. Age, goals, guitar type, experience and reasons for quitting before are answers learners gave at sign-up; "had played guitar before" means they did not pick "first-timer" as their level. Notes hit by age is each learner's average accuracy in October 2026. Practice days, minutes and practice hours come from lesson plays in October 2026, in each learner's local time. Skill figures come from the app's skill tracker (December 2025 to October 2026). Replays come from lesson plays in October 2026, songs from lesson plays in August to October 2026. The beginner path comparison measured learners who signed up April to July 2026 over their first 90 days. Sign-up answers are those given through October 2026 (reasons for quitting: through October 2025).
"Still playing" measured learners who joined from May to August 2026 and played in their first week (a lesson on day 28 to 55 after joining), and is shown as a ratio, checked month by month. Groups under 150 learners are not reported. These are correlations: older learners who sign up may be more determined to begin with, and more of them have played before.
More from the Gibson App data
Guitar Learning Report 2026
693 million notes and chords: who learns, what keeps them playing, how long it takes.
How long does it take to learn guitar?
Real hours, weeks and milestones from Gibson App learners.
Easiest guitar songs
Famous songs ranked by how often beginners hit the notes.
Guitar chords ranked
The most played chords and the hardest ones, from 191.6 million chord attempts.
The best time to start was years ago. The second best is today.
Join the 43% of Gibson App learners who are 40 or older. The official guitar learning app from Gibson, with lessons from real artists and feedback on every note. Try it free for 7 days.
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