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If you are thrity years old and start playing the piano today, when you are 40 years old you will have been playing for 10 years.

Time goes fast and life goes fast with it. Few things in life are sadder than looking back and saying ' I shoulda did this, or I shoulda done that'.

Start now and soon you will have been playing for a year, 5 years, 10 years...

My problem is -- I don't know where I belong !!
I started playing when I was 5 years old -- finally "graduated" from my first piano teacher and studied with Mr. Gould (this was in Iowa) who was a Julliard student and who had come back to Iowa to take care of his elderly parents. He set up shop with his Steinway in his parent's house and students from 3 states traveled to take lessons from him. I studied with him through high school, and was inspired to actually "major" in music when I went to college.
But I didn't want to be a "music major" and hated music theory -- so I switched majors. Over the next many (Many Many) years I played occasionally -- but not much. Then just last year after not having a piano for over 20 years -- I BOUGHT A PIANO! I was actually a pretty good pianist in high school and college -- and was amazed that it all seemed to come back to me. I bought a piano in September 2003 and in January 2004, I gave a recital. I was scared to death -- but I figured -- what the heck -- it's now or never! I'm playing as much as I can while working full time. I'm not really a "beginner" -- but yet I AM A BEGINNER! I'm beginning AGAIN !!! I don't feel in the same league as most of the folks on the regular Pianists Forum -- so it is really great to have this "adult beginners" forum.

I hope the really advanced folks from the regular "Pianists Forum" won't abandon us "adults beginners" over here -- and will check in on us from time to time.

You are right, Chris -- time really flys by.

Virginia (from Virginia)

Virginia,

My story is a little bit like yours, with two notable differences: 1. I never studied with any one famous; 2. I gave a recital before I bought a piano.

I think there are lots of re-entry types. I played briefly in my late teens and abandoned it and returned when I was 27. At 42 I still consider myself a beginner because life as an adult has so many distractions that it is difficult to give piano study the time it requires.

Ax, that sounds a bit like my acting 'career'. I had a pretty big speaking part in an indie feature before I decided to become an actor!

As a child, I was unfairly labeled "prodigy." I was pushed and prodded and didn't live up to the title. I quit when music became more work than fun. I have regretted that decision my entire adult life. The thing that gave me the impetus to resume music lessons after squandering so many years of potential was reading this:

"The artist is a servant who is willing to be a birthgiver. I believe that each work of art, whether it is a work of great genius, or something very small, comes to the artist and says 'Here I am. Enflesh me. Give birth to me.' And the artist either says 'My soul doth magnify the Lord,' and willingly becomes the bearer of the work, or refuses.

Whether or not we serve is entirely our choice. God's first gift to us is free will. We can always choose to say "No. Sorry, find someone else." And Spirit will.

So God moves on until a willing artist with an open heart offers to become the creative conduit. This scenario goes a long way toward explaining why you are heartbroken, bewildered and furious when, after diddlying around for years, someone else takes out a patent on an article that resembles the one you designed; nationally syndicates the same column topic you've been writing in your head for the last five years but never got around to marketing; or composes a Grammy-winning song that sounds like the one you've played over and over in your head.

How on earth could this be possible unless somebody read your mind? Well, it wasn't your mind that was tapped. It was Divine Mind. Remember, before anything exists on earth, it exists fully formed in Spirit. God does not play favorites; each of us came into being to carry on the re-creation of the world through our gifts. And while you are offered many opportunities in a lifetime, Spirit only comes once for each Work seeking creative expression through you, then moves on.

The bottom line is that the Work must be brought forth. If you don't do it, somebody else will."

--Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art.

(..a wrinkle in time.)

Sorry if this is slightly off topic, but Plays88keys got me thinking about the Divinity of music. I remember the day I read the cover of one of my father's Vivaldi reords and found out that Vivaldi was a priest or something like that. I thought to myself, how is this "holy man" creating something so romantic and beautiful? Maybe he was tapping into the Divine inspiration that is available to all of us. I feel the same way when I play something beautiful and it finally comes out right, it makes you feel "touched" in some way.
Sorry to ramble.
Jon

I made the same calculations when I started piano at age 45. If I start now, at age 55 I'll have 10 years...

I decided that if I was going to start, now is the best time!

"I think there are lots of re-entry types. I played briefly in my late teens and abandoned it and returned when I was 27. At 42 I still consider myself a beginner because life as an adult has so many distractions that it is difficult to give piano study the time it requires."
one of you said the above and I agree totally. It is very very difficult to give piano the time it really requires to progress quickly and at a level of quality.Summertime is a perfect example. If you live in Canada like I do the summers are 'very brief' and I want to be outside when I can. I love music and I want to feel confident in my playing ability but I have other interests in my life...i.e. a wonderful new grandson. Regardless, it's great to be back at work with a superb teacher that I fortunately found after over 40 years of nothing.


--------------------

I thought I'd have a lot more time for the piano after I retired. But, if anything, I'm busier now then ever.

Much of it is because I now consult from my home and effectively work, on average, about 15 hours a week. (If I'm posting on PW, the odds are very high I'm taking a break from working on my computer. I suspect many of you do most of your posting during similar breaks )

Also, there are far too many interesting pursuits to focus on just a few. Then there's grandchildren, aging parents, more "available" friends and relatives to hang with because of their retirement, all those beckoning travel destinations, etc. etc.

I realize this dilution results in mediocrity in those pursuits involving skill learning, including the piano. But I also realized a long time ago that the only activity to which I could devote enough time to master was my career. I'll settle for that while adjusting my expectations for all my other interests to allow me to pursue as many as possible.

The tradeoffs and compromises of life.

Great topic. A while back I posted a remark that a friend made to me when I was getting ready to go back to school in my thirties and was thinking about how old I would be before I finally finished a degree. The remark was..."How old will you be in 4 years (answer) - well, how old will you be in 4 years if you don't go back and finish a degreee." That clinched it. Same goes with the piano. If you start now and play for 10 years your age is still going to be the same with or without learning piano. What I regret is starting late, then letting it slide for about 12 years. My big problem now is I have so many things in my life - remodeling (so there's room for the new grand I am going to get!), horseback riding, bike riding, 5 dogs, 2 cats, a husband, etc, etc. Achieving balance is a biggie for me because I tend to be a tiny bit obsessive. Right now I am obsessed with the piano again and have to keep it in balance. I am currently reading Charles Cooke's "Playing Piano for Pleasure". It is a great book to help put amateur piano playing in perspective. He talks a lot about the role of piano playing in the non-professional's life. Meanwhile - I can't wait for my hubbie to leave the house, so I can play every minute he's gone!
Instead of mowing the lawn of course!