Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Is It True That You Are Never Too Old To Learn To Play The Piano?

By Adriana Noton

Piano teachers know that you are never too old to learn to play the piano. Adults ask them about taking lessons all the time. It is often one of the most frequent questions asked of any piano teacher. Adults either want to complete lessons begun when they were children, or they want to start lessons because they never could. There is something magical about playing the piano that makes it a secret dream of lots of people. Here is what piano teachers will tell you about it.

You actually may start piano lessons at any age. Teachers often disagree about the best ages to start, but most will agree that an average starting age may be around 6 years old. The reason? This is when you start to read and write, and learning to read piano music is simply another language. You can learn to read and write your own language and music all together at the same time. And, the coordination it takes to navigate over piano keys starts to form around that time.

Starting when you are an adult means that you will basically need to acquire a new language, except that the language of music includes not only reading it, but playing piano too. This is really the most difficult part for adults, usually. The understanding of how to read the music comes very easily, but the coordination problems of actually playing the keys is often quite frustrating. Adults need to develop their piano skills at about the same rate as young children. Just keep that in mind when your fingers get tangled.

The frustration that adults feel when they practice piano is that their intellectual abilities are in stark contrast to their physical ones. Adult fingers can feel very clumsy when starting out on the keys. Adults simply need to be patient with themselves when developing their piano technique. Lots of slow and steady practice is important, but most adults master their fingers well enough to enjoy playing favorite tunes.

For older grade students and adults, finding time to practice is one of the biggest challenges. School and work obligations frequently take up much of the weekly schedule, making it difficult to keep up with lesson assignments. But motivation to acquire piano technique and play piano pieces can help learners to work around schedule problems.

Once you have made the decision to become a pianist, you will want to devote enough time to yourself to be able to do it. Just as with any other exercise plan, you should schedule time for it, and not allow other appointments to undo your practice time. Retired adults often find extra time to practice piano much more easily than working adults. So this is a plus for a very late start.

Students who are struggling in other areas of their lives may find studying piano makes them unique. Often, they discover that other students are surprised at their abilities and are drawn to them. Friendships can develop around the piano that were not possible in other activities. Older adults find pleasure in playing songs from long ago with their companions.

Desiring to take up lessons can surface when your children or grandchildren start their studies. This can be a springboard to creating shared learning experiences that last a lifetime. It really is true that you are never too old to learn to play the piano. - 40727

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