Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Is there a certain age where some is too old to learn?

I started at almost 46.. it's going fine. I will never play Carnegie Hall, but I will play with a jazz trio with my brother and in restaurants and piano bars eventually.

Yer probably not even shaving yet, Baby Budd.. go for it.

I have a very different perspective.

I really started to learn Spanish when I went to college. I studied harder than most and when I finally finished, even the natives could not tell I was an American. In fact, they often came to me with questions about their own vocabulary and grammar.

I started to learn Polish when I was 28 and now, most of the time, Poles do not know I am an American when I speak. (I get tripped up in strange topics, like religion, and politics.)

Of course, I used to spend hours, and hours, and hours repeating phrases and grammatical structures over and over and over and over again until I could reproduce the subtle sounds of the language.

I can remember standing on the corner outside in Poland one day and saying violin at least a 1000 times one day in Polish. (The word is terribly difficult for Americans to say.) Everyone passing by must have thought I was crazy.

As you many know, many "experts" think you have to learn a language when you are young or you will not be able to learn it perfectly. I don't believe them. I remember my girlfriend (Peruvian) in college once told me, "When I close my eyes, my ears tell me you are Latin, when I open my eyes--they simply don't understand what they are seeing."

I think if you want to become a concert pianist, then you will have a bigger hurdle wrestling with your own determination and practice habits than you will with fine motor skills. I have no doubt Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt all spent an unbelieveable amount of time practicing.

Now, will I ever become a concert pianist...no. As you get older, life just has too many problems it throws at you and there is really no possible way I can practice more than an hour or so a day.

David

"so it's really too late to become a concert pianist? "

If you don't try you'll never know.
If you do try, you will know that even if you don't succeed then you at least tried.
The possibility is there, and you may become what you hope to become.
But if you don't try you'll never know.
All it will take to find out is to try.

Not all of us had the opportunity in childhood, or we didn't have the interest then.

There was a man down the street where I grew up, our family visited with them fairly often. My mom played piano some, but he was definitely a concert level pianist. For his career he was a shipfitter, and only played the piano because he enjoyed it, he had no interest to play for large audiences nor for fame or glory, he simply played for his own enjoyment and for the enjoyment of his friends. He died at a relatively early age from asbestos poisoning. Not all concert level players play concerts.

Only time will tell how far you'll progress.
How much time you have only you can answer.

Like you, I thought I was "too old" to start piano at age 20, and at 21... and at 30... I finally started as a well-seasoned adult (and I'm actually pretty darned good, much to my surprise). Piano is definitely hard, but nowhere near as hard as I had thought it would be when I kept telling myself that, since I didn't start as a toddler, there was no use trying. Taking up piano is, without doubt, one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced. It has given me so much beauty, so much to look forward to, and dream about. I will forever be grateful that I got past the ridiculous notion that it was too late. As for the issue of never becoming a concert pianist, before you get depressed about whether or not that's true, is it really a main objective of yours? I felt similarly (except for me, it was about being an amazing jazz pianist), but I have become so enraptured by the learning *process* and the milestones of progress... the ongoing epiphanies musically, that I have lost all despair relating to the possible limitations to how far I can go. Every time I sit at the piano, something wonderful is in store. That's one thing I think us adult beginners have over the little tots. I think our ecstasy at each and every musical breakthrough is more intense, and these early learning months and years as beginning pianists represent such a magical time. We have more perspective and capacity to appreciate them than your average 5-year-old. This is your musical journey. Be aware of it, absorb it cherish it, and remember it forever. Just my two cents...

~kat

What an awesome quote! And so true!

Great work James!

I worked in enrollment for a music school and I had a guy who was 75 and signed up. It's never late. Personally I'd reather die at the piano than at my bedside.

Kat,

Wow, what a wonderful post.

In one sentance you have adroitly illuminated why I struggle so to play the piano; something I could not do in an entire, bumbling page.

David

Kat's was an eloquent post, wasn't it? Wow.. and I studied journalism and wrote short stories..

Humbly,

Oh yes Kat, beautiful, thanks for sharing that and articulating so wonderfully what I am sure we all feel.

Couldn't resist sharing in everybody's enthusiasm for the piano.

Had anyone considered the advantage that the keyboard has over all the other single-voice musical instruments? (strings, brass and woodwind)

Whatever the pianist's stage of development, you have the awesome potential of a full orchestra at your finger-tips. You can call up the roles of percussion, cellos and tubas in the bass and bring in violins, oboes and trumpets in the treble - and even, like hilarious Oscar Lavant in "An American in Paris", you can add the role of whimsical orchestral conductor.

Never look back!! Without experiencing the seduction of the piano you haven't lived!

Hi everyone,

Newbie (at least to the forum) here. Not to beat a dead horse, but I have a little twist on the question of being too old. Rather, what are realistic expectations for a late starter.

My background: Took piano lessons in third grade, hated it despite doing well, then played clarinet fourth through eleventh grade, then drums from twelfth grade through college and a few subsequent years, then took a break for a few years, then another one plus year of piano lessons (about 8 years ago), then another break, then about a year ago took guitar lessons for about six months, and, since September, back to piano lessons (whew!)

I like to consider myself fairly talented (don't we all:)), as I've done well on all the instruments I've attempted and had positive feedback from teachers and, in the case of drums, bandmates. I know I'm no prodigy, though. I usually practice 1/2 hour in the a.m., and another 1/2 hour in the evening (basically, before kids wake up, and after they go to bed). When I started again with piano, we skipped the first Faber book, and started with the second. I got through the first half in about a couple of weeks, then slowed down, so that was more of our starting point. I'm finishing up the second lesson and performance books and should be starting the third one soon.

Anyway, my hope is not to be a concert pianist, nor a jazz pianist (although I would love to be able to), but I would like, at some point, be competent enough to accompany the chorus at my kids' elementary school, eventually be able to play in variety-type bands, and *really* eventually be able to play piano bars. But, I don't know how realistic that is. Oh yeah, and I'm 37.

I know there's really no way to judge someone's musical potential just from reading their self-assessment on a message board, but I would appreciate any feedback based on your peronsal experiences.

Thanks, and I apologize for the long-windedness. I promise that any future posts will be more brief!

kateriniparalia,

That is one of the most wonderfully worded responses for playing the piano. I am 32 and just began studying the piano a couple months ago. You are exactly right: while I may dream of one day being 'great', the real joy comes from the little advances that are made each week and the struggles to achieve them. Some days, I will work fervently to hit a specific chord or trio, failing repeatedly. Amazingly, the following day, sometimes I'll find success and wonder how I ever had problems the day before. While every day isn't likely to be like that, these little rewards make it all worthwhile.