I started playing guitar when I was 20, and am now 32. For the first 4 years after I first picked up a guitar I played a lot, however I never felt like I was progressing like I should have. A lot of that was because I never took lessons or watched what other players were doing, and my practice time consisted of nothing more than noodling on the guitar. I regret that. After about 5 - 6 years of playing, I quit out of frustration. I went from "noodling" for 2 - 3 hours per day to not picking up my guitar again for another 5 years, until this past November when I decided to give it another shot. I decided to really *practice* this time around, and so far I've learned more in the past 7 months then I did all those years of noodling. I can play hold my own playing blues at open jams for the most part, but I really am studying jazz and it is proving to be really difficult. But I keep at it!