Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Self-Teaching Support Thread

Welcome to PW, Joshua! You're never too old to learn to play. I think you'll find that the longer you've played, the quicker you'll learn. And there are plenty of smart people here who can help you.

Welcome to the forum, Joshua. If you are playing Ballad pour de Adeline (lovely piece, by the way!) after only one month on piano, you are NOT "very slow" at all! Quite the opposite. And you are most definitely NOT too old! We have people on AB forum who started piano in their 60s or even older and are loving it.

Correct and, in fact, the older the better...

The temperament of "seasoned citizens" is perfectly serene and thus ideal for the ups and downs, the frustrations and joys of piano study - it's a matter of knowing how to be patient and how to keep things in perspective - and, as a bonus, if you're retired you certainly have a lot more time available to devote to this highly commendable artistic pursuit...

But, there's something older the the 60s?

JF

Thank you guys, that double my confidence end eagerness to learn more.

What I mean with slow is relative compared to the younger, in this case it is me compared to my nephew.

Yeah, older people can manage their emotion better and usually have a narrow target. That's help. However in the context of 'speed of learning' I believe the younger is better, even it not always mean 'reach the target'.

Slow but focus vs Fast but scattered. Is that the comparison of how the younger and older learn?

JGL

I think you are trying to compare two people and from that conclude that everyone is the same. Don't compare yourself to your nephew. He is one person you are another. Perhaps he will make a flying start and you will be slow but steady. Hare & Tortoise!

But you could easily find one older person who rushes off, using their experience to sail through the early stages while a younger less confident person stumbles at the beginning.

But basically, don't over think things ... just play and have fun!!!

Stereotyping people is fraught with problems. Everyone is different. You can find exceptions to every "rule".

Currently, I have as students a 12 year old girl who is as steady and methodical and dedicated as any student I have seen. She acts like a focused, quiet and mature adult.

And I have an older (well north of 60) self-taught man who has been playing all his life, but just recently came for lessons.

He acts like the stereotypical (yikes! it is very easy to stereotype!) 8 year old high-energy boy, without the high-energy. He cannot stay focused on-topic for more than a few moments, interrupts what I say, doesn't listen, rarely practices his assignments, has a very erratic and disorganized practice regimen.

Joshua, enjoy your piano journey. You are an individual...just do your best and enjoy the ride.

Joshua, I'm 40 and just started to learn to play the piano about 7 months ago. I'm enjoying it a ton and have really progressed steadily. It's been a dream I've always had and now is the time for me to learn.

Enjoy your journey. It's not a race.

Wrong. It's a race-journey.

;p

Rocket, that sounds like the difference between the genders there!

(Course in reality, there are no differences between the genders. There are only two types of people. Those who stereotype, and those who don't.)

Along the same lines:

There are two categories of people: those who categorize people and those who don't.

In reality? In reality it would appear that there are some significant differences.



But isn't this - the categorization of all people into one group or the other - a "stereotype" in and of itself?

JF

Thus, placing yourself in the 1st category...

JF

I'm not sure, but I think he meant those as a joke.

I do believe that very irony the whole point of the joke.

Dangit, I've hand a long thoughtful post to this thread percolating in my head for ages, but we're entertaining a wonderful houseguest, so we've either been out and about doing fun summery activities, or having nice long conversations. I've been getting in some good piano time because our guest is a fellow musician, and our conversations have been inspiring. But I've only had time for a few drive-by forum posts.

You don't get it. It's a kind of logical fallacy (does it have a name?) used as a joke. My favourite is in Life of Brian. Brian says to a crowd 'You are all different' One person says 'I'm not'.

Hmmm, I've always read there are 10 different kinds of people. Those that understand binary and those that do not.

I get the idea from this fun discussion. Every individual is difference, comparing our self to some one else is useless. But it is true?

We always need a benchmark to know are we doing thing right and to know where we are. Self teaching miss the most important aspect of learning from a teacher. The teacher will tell us where are we, what to do next, and are we doing thing right or not.

I can be seems very stupid when I feel confidence and then try to perform in hi-school reunion. What I think right can be found that all is wrong, what I feel good can be totally bad. Sound pessimistic? Maybe..

Maybe this is obsolete question that already discussed thousand times. But it will be good if you can share how you measure your self when you do self-teaching. We not only need to measure the end result, we also need to measure the process it self.

-JGL

My biggest benchmark, the way I measure my playing, is: Do people want to dance to my music? I play with a band for contra dances, Irish step dancing, sometimes swing and other kinds of folk dancing. I also play for some nursing homes. If people at the nursing homes are clapping in time with the music, or dancing, or nodding, or smiling, or whatever, then I know I've accomplished much of what I want to do.

I also get feedback from other musicians I play with - is my rhythm good, are my dynamics good, is my phrasing good, etc.

As for measuring the process itself - have I gotten immense satisfaction out of learning something? Can I play something easily now that was hard for me a year ago? Do I play without pain? Can I accompany other musicians on a tune without having sheet music, at least more often than I used to be able to? Can I play more pieces by heart (from memory) than I used to? Can I recover from mistakes as I play a piece through (I also, of course, practice short sections of pieces - but when I'm playing for dancers or performances I need to be able to play through my mistakes)?

Those are some of my measures. They aren't the same measures other people will use - for one thing, not everyone plays dance music

So, for me, there are ways to get feedback without taking formal lessons. I also go to occasional workshops put on by visiting musicians - there's one on polyrhythms coming up soon that I'm really looking forward to.

As for not doing so well when playing at your high school reunion - all of us here know the nerves that go with performing! But that, too, can be practiced - practice playing your piece in front of family and friends, or just with the windows open so the neighbors can hear Or record yourself and post it here. Don't try playing your hardest piece - play something that is easier and play it well instead.

Welcome to the ABF, Joshua. This is a great place with lots of like-minded people.

Cathy

I did, thankyou rocket.

I am a she-pianist, of the female sort. Just for reference.