For some of you musicians out there, this article will be irrelevant. For others, it may cut painfully close to the bone.
I’m not speaking figuratively. As musicians, we eventually have to deal with the effects of growing older. For those of us in our 20s, this will seem like some distant nebulous idea. (95 percent of Billboard number one songs are by artists under age 30.) For players in their 70s, 60s, or even 30s, it may mean getting the Motrin out for tonight’s gig.
Like athletes – or any of us – when musicians feel the effects of aging, it can affect our performance. Maybe you can’t play that lightning-fast riff so cleanly anymore. Standing for three-hour sets becomes difficult or eventually impossible. You can’t hit those high notes. You can’t remember the words or chords to a song without an iPad or cheat sheet.
The good news is, it’s usually a slow process that takes decades. The not-so-good news is, playing an instrument when getting older often involves a greater amount of the one thing no musician wants to feel:
Pain.
I’m 71 and have been playing guitar and bass for more than 58 years, so I’m going to speak a lot from personal experience here, as well as relate some examples from fellow musicians. In many if not most cases, for older people, greater difficulty in playing an instrument involves dealing with pain, or decreased mobility and endurance, or all of those. Note that I said dealing with pain, because there are ways to minimize or cope with it.
I have to emphasize that every person is different, as are the situations they find themselves in. If you’re a casual player who can simply decide to sit instead of stand at a bar or restaurant gig when your back is hurting, that may be the logical solution. If you’re a million-selling artist whose show involves a lot of moving around or dancing, that won’t be an option. If you're William Shatner, you can do whatever the #$!%!! you want. He's 95 and just started a heavy metal band.
What’s my story? In my teens through even my 40s, my physical ability to stand on stage and play guitar was something I never had to think about. I just went up and did it. I loaded heavy speakers and amps in and out. In playing guitar, my hands moved without restraint. I could deal with late nights and four-set gigs without getting tired. In my 50s, my back started bothering me more but it was still no big deal to play long sets or hump speakers in and out of my car trunk at 2:30 a.m.
In my mid-60s I began to not want to play those late-night gigs, but it was more of a mental than a physical thing, although I began to feel less energetic in general. I started questioning why I was still doing this, feeling burned out. Then COVID hit and everything stopped. Once gigs started to happen again, I was mentally refreshed, but it was much harder to stay “up” and energetic for late night bar gigs, and in fact our band, none of whom are young, pretty much decided not to do those anymore, which typically involve starting at around 8:00 or 9:00 at night and can go to midnight or later, sometimes much later. (10 or so years ago we played at Otto’s Shrunken Head in Manhattan and as we were leaving, around midnight, there were still two bands lined up waiting to do their sets.)
I turned 70 in June 2025, and since then, dealing with pain and discomfort has become much more of an intrusion. I have been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and osteoarthritis, and my hands are becoming stiffer. It used to be that I would shake my hands vigorously before playing and that would warm them up, but now they don’t loosen up 100 percent. Sometimes I get stabs of pain in either hand.
I’ve been dealing with a bone spur in my left shoulder, possibly the result of having a guitar strap bear down on it for decades, and have to go to physical therapy regularly to loosen up the muscles in the surrounding area so the bone spur doesn’t rub against things. When I was first diagnosed, before PT the pain would be almost unbearable after about half an hour of playing. I had to get a special strap (made by Slinger Straps) that distributed the weight of the guitar to both shoulders and around my waist.
My back gets sore but doesn’t affect my ability to stand for long periods, or hump heavy equipment. The day after a gig, though…oy! And other body parts are getting stiff and sore…knees, ankles, wrists, elbows. I can still “do it” when it comes to playing, but it’s getting tougher. When my hands get really stiff or my left shoulder bothers me (and it’s getting more severe…my orthopedic surgeon says surgery may be in the cards), I can apply Voltaren, which I have to tell you works wonders for me for getting through a gig.
My memory certainly isn’t what it used to be. When I was 22 I could play through a song two or three times and have it down cold. In one band I play in, now I have to use cheat sheets for the chords and words, and in the other group, I remember how the songs go, but it takes a lot of work to get them down.
Oh yeah, I wear hearing aids.
So, what can be done?
Well, a lot of this is going to be common sense that applies to anyone, not just musicians. Please don’t take this as specific medical advice, as I am not a qualified medical professional. You need to consult with your physician about what is best and safest for you.
Try to exercise regularly. After I failed a cardiac stress test, my doctor told me I needed to get into shape. I started going to the gym about three years ago (and my Silver Sneakers Medicare Advantage program pays for it), and since then, I’m able to stand and play for more than two hours at a time. A healthy diet is important. Getting enough sleep helps the body restore itself, although as I’ve mentioned in previous installments, when you’re on the road and/or playing late-night gigs, or if you’re working during the day and playing in a band at night, this may not always be possible. Avoid smoking and if you drink, do it in moderation or not at all, and try to manage your overall stress level. Yeah, easier said than done.
Personally, I make sure to get plenty of rest before the gig, and ideally the night before also. I like to have nothing to do during that time – no going out the night before, no mowing the lawn the day of the gig. The older I get, the more I have to conserve energy for the gig. Sometimes I’ll take a nap in the afternoon. Rationing your energy becomes a very real thing.
Like an athlete, you should have a warm-up routine – don’t just go on stage cold, or it’ll take you half a set to get loosened up. I do my warm-up-my-hands-by-shaking-them thing, and try to play my guitar for at least 15 minutes before a performance.
It becomes much more important to practice every day. The famous quote, attributed to Jascha Heifetz, goes, “If I don’t practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it.” This is especially true as you get older and less limber. When you first pick up an instrument after not playing for a day, it might feel awkward and clunky and take a few minutes to even get close to getting up to snuff.
If you play an instrument sitting down, and more and more of us older folks have to do that, proper posture is essential if you don’t want your back to be killing you at the end of the night. There are chairs and stools made specifically for musicians. For guitarists and bass players, wide straps are your friend. I use one from Cable Free Guitar (CFG) that is padded with air pockets. And you may have to switch to a lighter instrument. I know many guitarists who cannot play a Les Paul live anymore because these tend to be heavy guitars. Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad and now a solo act, famously switched to a featherweight Parker Fly guitar some time ago because of back problems.
Although they can tie you down as far as movement and audience interaction, iPads or tablets on stage have become acceptable as memory aids. Even professional acts do it now, or use teleprompters. Just don’t be glued to it. I know a very good tribute band but whose lead singer never takes his eyes off the iPad. It seriously diminishes the band’s stage presence.
Taking an anti-inflammatory or analgesic before the gig can help. Again, make sure this is safe for you. If you are on other drugs, certain pain medications can be contraindicated. Many musicians I know routinely pop an Advil or Tylenol before playing. Including me.
"Please tell me I don't look this old in real life..." Photo courtesy of Tony Carrollo.
You may have to adapt your style of playing or the kind of music you play, and function on a less-demanding level. I don’t know that I could keep up in a thrash metal band these days. An America or Cat Stevens cover band? No problem. And the older you get, the less you want to play at loud volume, which becomes mentally fatiguing, to say nothing of schlepping Marshall stacks. If you’re a vocalist, you may have to lower the keys of songs if you can’t hit the high notes, or change your style of singing a particular song.
I mentioned that I use hearing aids now. Up until a few years ago, I didn't need them when playing a gig, but now, they give me better overall clarity and much-improved upper midrange and high-end hearing. More and more of my peers are wearing them now when playing live. It seems ironic, I know, musicians wearing hearing aids. But I look at it like wearing glasses; they're simply a prosthetic that enables you to get through life better. Mine are the Moment model made by Widex, recommended to me by my audiologist, who told me a lot of musicians like them for their more natural sound. She recently told me that the newer Oticon Intent hearing aids are even better, but I don't feel like paying for them just yet.
You may have to just accept the fact that you can’t play the same way that you used to. One of my doctors, a drummer, had to switch to using lighter sticks after decades of pounding away. (He also developed foot problems because of his unorthodox way of stepping on the bass drum pedal.) My right hand will only strum at a relatively low speed now, so I have to compensate…if I was to play “Misirlou” I couldn’t possibly hope to cop Dick Dale's lightning right-hand picking.
You might have to ask the other band members to carry your gear, or you might have to get a helper. Playing in the extreme heat or cold may not be an option anymore as your body gets less able to endure such extremes, and you may have to become selective in taking summer and fall gigs. I know I never want to do a load-in in 20-degree weather again.
Speaking of loading gear, the way to make that easier is to get lighter equipment. With rare occasions, no one wants big Marshall stacks and bass rigs on stage anymore, and the trend has been to use lower-powered amps and smaller, more efficient PA systems anyway, as it makes it much easier for the sound person to have control over the mix. For us older musicians, lighter amps are a boon. The other day in the music store I tried to lift a Fender Twin Reverb amp. It weighs 64 pounds. In college, I used to be able to lift it. I can't now. It's like the thing is bolted to the floor.
Smaller amps can be surprisingly loud anyway. I use a Fender Princeton Reverb rated at 12 watts and rarely turn it past 3, even at un-miked outdoor gigs. Bass amps have gotten much smaller and lighter, thanks to Class D amplification and lighter speaker magnets. The extremely popular Fender Rumble 100 bass amp weighs only 22 pounds, is 18.5 inches high, and sounds great. You can literally lift it with one hand. Try that with an Ampeg SVT! Thanks to advances in technology, there are plenty of small and surprisingly powerful amps for musicians to choose from now, from companies like Henriksen, Phil Jones, AER, Fishman, and others.
People also don't want to be subjected to the literally deafening volumes we heard in clubs and at concerts back in the day. (Why many sound people mix the bass to be way, way, way, way too loud these days is another subject.)
More and more, the trend in live sound, especially on a pro level, is to go to a "silent stage," which eliminates amplifiers and floor monitor speakers altogether. This achieves a quieter, more manageable stage volume. It's also a lot easier to carry an amp modeler, a small device that sits on the floor and offers multiple sounds, than a big heavy amp.
And now we come to the inevitable question hanging in the air:
When do you get to the point where it’s time to quit playing live?
There’s no simple answer.
It’s up to each individual person, and their circumstances and judgment.
There are older performers who are lucky enough to have voices that are as good as ever. A friend and I recently saw Jon Anderson (81) and the Band Geeks, and we were amazed at Anderson’s ability to hit those ethereal high notes on Yes songs. He is as good as ever, maybe better. The same goes for Colin Hay (73) of Men At Work – in a recent concert at the Tilles Center on Long Island, he absolutely soared on the high notes to his songs, a balding older guy completely killing it, with everyone on their feet for the last five songs of the night.
Johnny Echols (79), the original lead guitarist of Love, had to alternate between standing and sitting at a show at The Cutting Room about a year ago, but when he played, it was that sound of the lead guitar from 1960s Love classics like “7 and 7 Is” and “Your Mind and We Belong Together.” No one else can sound like that, and it was thrilling. Same with Randy Bachman (82) on the recent The Guess Who tour. To hear that thick, moaning signature guitar riff on “American Woman” done by the guy who owns it…hair-raising.
Some performers work around their late-life limitations. Les Paul had severe arthritis in his hands later in his career, losing mobility in some of his fingers. I saw him in the early 1990s and he could not blaze like he did in the 1940s and 1950s, yet had such a commanding aura when he played that when I saw him at Fat Tuesday’s with my wife, she said, “he could have any woman in the room.” Every note sounded like Les Paul. At an outdoor concert in Manhattan’s Damrosch Park in 2017, Dionne Warwick shied away from some high notes and dropped the keys to a couple of songs, but still sounded like a goddess. The jaded New York crowd flocked to the front of the stage to take videos and pictures. Burton Cummings can’t or won’t hit the high notes to The Guess Who songs like “These Eyes,” but no one expects him to, and he still has one of the greatest voices in rock music, to say nothing of writing or co-writing all those iconic songs, and playing piano like a demon.
Then there are other performers who simply don’t have it anymore, and it can be heartbreaking to see them. When one of my favorite bands got together for a reunion a few years ago – I won’t name them out of respect for past glories – the singer had to seriously drop the keys of many of their songs, and the show consisted of far too many slow songs and not enough rockers. I left not only disappointed but betrayed. And we’ve all heard stories of performers who are lip synching and playing to backing tracks, a trend that is not becoming less prevalent. When does this cross the line between performance and karaoke, or fraud?
Most of us are weekend warriors, or play in bands on the side. What about those professionals who do it for a living? It’s much harder for them to stop – this is how they earn their money. Surf guitar legend Dick Dale performed with excruciating back pain and suffered serious health issues in his later years, but had to keep performing because of unaffordable medical costs.
For professional acts, is it the audience who ultimately decides when a performer can no longer deliver, and word gets around that they suck, and people stop going to their shows? But who decides if a band is past their prime if people keep going to see them? For me, there’s nothing sadder than seeing an aging rocker dressed up like they’re 40 years younger and croaking out the hits in some club. And there are professional situations where if you look too old, you are simply not going to get hired. But I am not one to begrudge any musician from trying to make a living in a brutal business.
Sadly, sometimes Mother Nature makes the decision for you. I’ve had friends develop carpal tunnel or back problems or serious illnesses and they simply can’t play anymore, no matter how much they want to. Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine recently announced he is retiring from touring and playing guitar because he's been diagnosed with Dupuytren's contracture. Some musicians are no longer with us. Which only provides more impetus for those of us who can still play to keep doing it.
So…the fight against aging is counterbalanced by the desire, the need to keep playing. After all, as I’ve said before, we are musicians. This is what we do. If playing a big part of your life, it’s very tough to give it up.
Like I said, there’s no simple answer.
For me, personally, I’ve always felt that when I can’t deliver to my personal standards anymore, it’s time to stop. I’m not close to there yet, Voltaren and heating pads and early bedtimes and stiff little fingers notwithstanding. But jeez, it ain’t getting any easier.
Well, when I told one of my bandmates that it was getting harder to play as fast as I used to, he said, “Well, you play too many notes anyway!”
Which brings me to my last point. You may not be able to play as dexterously as you used to, but after years and decades of playing, you have almost certainly become a better musician. The 21-year-old me could play fast and loud with adrenaline-fueled intensity, but I didn’t know one-tenth of the licks and chords and songs and techniques I know now. I didn't have the feel and the intuition of 50 years later. I wasn’t as good at making music.
So, maybe getting older is, overall, a big advantage. Even if I always keep a bottle of Tylenol in my gig bag.
Header image: Willie Nelson, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/joshbg2k.
0 comments