Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Retiring soon at 60, still time for much improvement?

I urge you to take part in many of the online ways to share your playing here. There's the monthly piano bars, the quarterly recitals, the themed recitals, and so forth. All you need is some way to generate an mp3 or video of your playing. There is something for every skill level and style of music.

It has helped me a lot to share my playing. The comments are supportive and encouraging, no matter how poorly I play!

Sam

Nothing else matters.

Find a teacher you can work with, on whatever you think (and he/she thinks) needs work. You'll improve -- maybe slowly, but you'll improve.

I'm 68, and took my first singing lesson about two years ago. Piano soon followed - I haven't played seriously since I was a teenager.

. Charles

Back again; I do this whenever I happen to get a break here at work.

Sam mentioned playing for online recitals and such; this brings up a trepidation I seem to have for playing for other people. Didn't used to be like that but now I have to confess to being slightly self-conscious to do this, probably because of my technical insecurities. It's not out of the question in the future though.

And yes, the ultimate aim is to play better. Not just in a purely technical sense but more importantly, to convey a piece in a manner that communicates musically.

The nice thing about these on-line recitals is that they are not real-time. You aren't sitting in front of an audience but, instead, are facing the dreaded red-dot recording button.

I record with a lot of trepidation and nervousness. But - you get to do it hundreds of times if you want! Eventually you get a take that you can live with and post to the forums. The feedback is universally supportive in the Adult Beginners Forum.

Well, that's comforting right off the bat. Maybe in a few months I'll pluck the courage to do this. Thanks so much.

ditto. I will be retiring next month, I'm 56, and only now am I learning how to play without tension.

I had a friend, 46 years old, who was contemplating getting his PhD and was talking about being too old... that it would take another 3 or 4 years and then he'd be 50!!! (egads!)

I asked him this... 'how old will you be in 3 or 4 years if you don't earn your PhD?'

think about it.

and trust me, there is a way to play without tension! It's a LOT of fun, but hard to relearn and retrain. SOOOOO worth it.

Forrest

One key aspect to recording is to try to get an early take that you can 'live with'.

Save it. Then perform as many times as you want trying to get that perfect take. Having one you can live with takes a lot of pressure off.

Well, I'll be out of town for about 5 or 6 days but I want to say how much I've enjoyed reading every response to my concerns. I really appreciate you all and it's comforting to know a lot of you people go through the same issues. Thanks.

Before work I get up extra early to be able to have time to play the piano and there some times at 5:00 a.m. while I play that I think, "Right now, all over the world there's a lot of people playing and practicing on a piano." What a privilege to be able to do this even if we just play for our own enjoyment.

I don't know how true this is but I heard someone once asked a virtuoso concert pianist how he became such a master of the piano. He replied, "Before you can become a master, you have to be a slave." I've never forgotten that. Anyway, thanks again.

Your avatar reminds me of my improv on a song in the play: Cats.

Touch me... you will know what happiness is....
Unless I'm hungry... (shrug)... then you're lunch....

Cute avatar...

retiring? I agree