[kstenerud]

Pushing 50 now and my output has only increased over the years (128 public repos on github, over half of them from the past decade).

I started playing guitar 8 years ago under a good teacher (couldn't even play a chord before that), and after a LOT of practice I can now play pieces like Capricho Arabe with deep feeling and skill that gets standing ovations.

It's not about when you start; it's about how much you put into it through regular, mindful practice (sometimes I'll put an hour into one basic technique or progression that involves 5 notes because it doesn't feel automatic and natural yet). Your brain doesn't harden as you age and lose its ability to learn new things; only your attitude towards new things tends to change (if you let it) because the familiar is comfortable. When you're young, you don't have as many familiar things to rest upon so there's more incentive to embark upon journeys of discovery.