Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum It's Never Too Late

Rocky: You've got the right attitude. Having fun and improving along the way is what it's all about.

Gee, ya reckon! :p

The point I was trying to make, which you apparently missed , is this:

If a man can achieve GREATNESS as a composer and musician without ever learning to read music--then it is entirely possible for someone to become a decent and listenable pianist without learning to read music.

I undertstand your point - and I admire them, I would never be able to do that!
But. . . if somebody is so gifted with music - why do not go for the reading?

Happy New Year for everybody!

Hope everone has a happy and safe New Year. I am new to the site and am so happy to find so much info on pianos and playing. I too had lessons a long while back and am now starting up again. In fact, I'm very excited about it. I'm sure "never to late" also refers to me. I was 50 on my last b-day. My youngest son is pretty excited about starting too. I hope he likes it better than my other kids. My oldest now regrets quitting and hopes to start back up after tax return time. Extra money then. Thanks for letting me tell my story. Denise

Please remember that this is the Adult Beginners Forum. Many of the people here are middle-aged people who are just starting, or just starting over after a lapse of many years. Who by their own admission are not "gifted", and fully understand that they're starting too late to become outstanding pianists.

Learning to read music is a daunting task for many people, regardless of their age. In fact, that is one of the main reasons many people quit playing piano.

Most adults have family and work responsibilities that consume much of their time, so they often have even less time to devote to music/piano studies than youngsters. So having to learn to read music properly might turn them off completely.

If they have the time and want to learn to read music, more power to them. But it is NOT a necessity for adult beginners, especially for those who do not have the time and/or inclination.

With proper instruction and practice, adult novices can become good enough pianists to entertain family, friends and aquaintances. Just as importantly, they will be entertaining themselves and achieving a sense of accomplishment.

If attempting to learn to read music is going to prevent them from achieving those positive things, then they should NOT waste time learning how to read it.

AS Mr. Joshua states above, "Let's face the facts, while older beginners may have the desire to play piano, they also have all of the problems of older adults, including joint and finger pain, back pain, flexibility issues, stamina problems, coordination problems, and the list goes on and on.

Additionally, learning to sight read causes the vast majority of people to quit (I know this first hand ) and without learning to read, you're going to be trapped musically (unlike TAB for the guitar) playing songs by ear or lead sheets, (and probably playing the song in a simplified way or even incorrectly.)"

I can definitely support the above remarks. I experience all of them. I am 74 and just started under two years ago. Had I known it was so tough...the theory, the reading, the fingering... I likely would not have started. However I wont quit and I am progressing. I am about half way through Alfred's Basic Adult Level Two and have already bought Book Three. When I showed it to my teacher, who has a degree in music from the University of Vienna, to see how difficult it will be for me, she replied she did not know as none of her senior players ever got that far: they quit!

The point of this post is, it is not easy for many much older people, but it is possible. It all depends on your mind, not your fingers.

Stick with it, DarenO!

Hello, I am new to this forum and pretty new to the piano. My first acoustic piano is supposed to be delivered next week. I am 54. Just wanted to add my two cents regarding being (perceived as) old and beginning anew. When I turned about 45, I started playing the cello. I went to the local academy and sat waiting for my lesson with the mothers - older than me - who were getting there kids a lesson. When I turned 50 I organized a team of four over-fifty endurance athletes and we did a six-day adventure race in the Canadian Rockies. We came in last place, but only 13 of the 23 teams finished. The 59 year old on my team ran four 100 mile races in four consecutive months the previous summer. The summer before he did Badman (run across death valley and up Mt Mckinley in the summer). I've mellowed a bit since then, so I am only doing Ironmans now.
A couple of months ago I bought a digital workstation so I could record (just for myself) and do some synth to accompany my guitar playing. I never really used it, because all that I wanted to do was play the digital piano. It was more than relaxation. I felt transported - I do not want to go 'new age' on you here. My wife worried, as I would play four hours straight.
So a couple of weeks ago, I started selling some guitars and some audio equipment and the digital keyboard so as to get an acoustic grand.
I plan to run a marathon on my 100th, but now I also hope to play as good as any college music major, say, in about 7-10 years. Why not? By the way, a number of years ago I was doing an ironman and I was having a bad day. Sister Madonna (a famous female triathlete), and 72 at the time, passed me with many miles to go. Brian

You have my vote. Your story is similar to mine except I kept my digital when I bought an acoustic. I also have been learning for about 3 months and I am 64. I have to say, it sure is a challange, much more so for me than guitar or brass that I played back in high school, but it is also so enjoyable. Sometimes I find myself at a deadend, but then I will make a little progress and then I get kinda "cockey" and srut around feeling proud of myself. As far as your signature goes,you may want to start wearing spandex britches.... Good luck and Welcome.
Ray

I agree it's never too late just like it is never too late to start playing basketball or most other sports games. However expectations should of cause be set correctly - if you stop playing after certain age and don't play for a while, I'm not sure if there is a way to get your fingers and ears back to the same level. And certain pieces cannot be played by some people period, young or old, just like not all people can dunk. So playing for your enjoyment is fine, but please don't kill yourself trying to impress your neighbours

There is the same sort of stigma with playing chess. A lot of players use the excuse that:

"I'm too old to become a Grandmaster so I won't study or try to become better. I'll just have to be content with being mediocre."

It's fine to not want to put in the effort to improve, but using a reason like "I can't become as good as..." is utter BS in my opinion. Do it or don't do it but NEVER use excuses.

Playing the piano is a mind exercise. Playing or starting when older keeps your mind sharp.

When you're older is a great time to start...earlier is better because you get more time to enjoy the music that you make....ANYTIME is a great time to start.

It also makes for a great meditative practice too - once you get beyond the frustration of fingers not doing what brain wants them to do.

When I'm in the middle of playing a piece, suddenly my back doesn't ache, my fingers aren't sore, and I'm weaving along on the bench, happy in the music. ("To play once is to pray twice.")

I like the mind-sharpening bit of it too: who needs Sudoku when there's Menuette in G?

I feel so much better after reading Scott's article. Just started to play again after life got in the way. Bought a Vogel grand and looking forward to my new past time. Hey, any opinions about the Vogel 5'4" grand?
Thanks,
Nick

[/QUOTE]Please remember that this is the Adult Beginners Forum. Many of the people here are middle-aged people who are just starting . . . [/QB][/QUOTE]
I did not want to hurt anybody. . .
I am middle aged (+?) too, and I am sure, I would no be alble to play without reading the music. . .I need that, I am not talented enough.
This site helped me:
Music Theory

Now I have to learn to count and play at the same time

I started playing at age 49 (June 2006) with absolutely no music background. I learned where middle C was just days before I bought my new Charles Walter 1520.

A couple weeks ago, a childhood friend of mine (and his wife) dropped by my house. We hadn't seen each other for a couple of years. Their youngest boy came by a few minutes later. He stepped into the house, saw his parents, saw my wife, but not me, and heard the piano.

He knew me all his life and knew I had never shown any inclination toward music...he said "I heard the piano and just assumed it was a player-piano..." because I was the last person he could imagine playing the piano.

I do have one of Scott's music books and am currently learning "Moon River" from it. I do find it very convenient to have his chord charts at the top of the pages.

Bill

I envy you. . .! I started in October 2006 - also, no music in my background. I hope, one day. . .

My teacher uses Bastien books, I love the classical themes at my level - very motivational.

I would say that as adults we chose to play piano for our own benefit. I have always had a desire to play, but never thought we could afford a piano. So I never asked. Now, as an adult and first starting at 42 (47 now), I play when my time permits. As already said, I "play" piano, as opposed to "practice". I won't be playing a concert any time too soon. So, I am my own audience (as well as my 3 cats.... I miss having a piano teacher and regular schedule of lessons, but I continue on my own until I find a good teacher again.

I am assuming that when people mention reading music here, they are trying to describe the activity of reading sheet while playing.

But they seem to see themselves limited to the fake books etc if they don't have this ability.

But there is a middleground to this, i for example can read & understand everything on a complex sheet music but can't do that while playing so i just study on the sheet section by section and memorize it until i can play all of it. So lack of ability to read while playing doesn't affect my ability to learn from sheet music.

Personally i think that trying to achive a fluent sheet reading ability (while reading) is somewhat time wasting for me considering the time it will take to be fluent. I prefer to spend all of my time on piano to develop my actual playing ability.