It is obvious that because I write a blog aimed at retirees or older, that I write for that particular audience, taking into consideration the unique circumstances that can happen with these age groups.
While this is exactly what this blog should be about and focused on, it might be useful to remind you of the perspectives and challenges other age groups face.
With adults that are in the workforce or are still of the age of being in the workforce, their special circumstances usually revolve around lack of time. Being busy with work and simultaneously raising a family is hard work and time consuming. Let’s face it working OR raising a family is enough to make any adult busy and probably stressed. You know exactly what I am talking about and some of you have waited to learn to play the piano in your retirement for these very reasons. Needless to say, trying to learn to play the piano on top of other responsibilities is a tricky balancing act. Adults that I have taught that are in these circumstances often really struggle to find the time to practice and sometimes these students, no matter how hard they try, don’t always practice which does slow down their progress. When there are valid reasons for not getting any practice done, I have to be understanding and flexible, even though I also know that gaps in practicing do slow the progress made by the student.
Teaching the piano to teenagers can be challenging because while they might have the time and talent, they don’t always have the focus. Teenagers can be distracted from practicing by their peers and social group. Sometimes when they have big assignments or exams coming up, they can be really stressed and their music practice can suffer. Obviously understanding can go a long way, but they can sometimes need me to help them by keeping their motivation up and looking at the bigger picture, as well as sometimes helping them develop a plan where they can get some reasonable practice done, while juggling studying and an all important social life.
With younger kids, the challenges can be around getting them to practice regularly, even though they don’t really have a thorough understanding as to why this is important. Also there are times when school or friends or an argument with someone will impact on their practicing or their piano lesson. I have certainly seen a number of kids burst into tears during their piano lesson for reasons that have got nothing to do with their music. Kids don’t have the maturity and brain development to always handle situations and sometimes I need to be a compassionate person and deal with why they are upset before continuing with the lesson.
So yes, older adults can have some unique needs, but I hope you can see that so does everyone else. If you have special circumstances, like arthritis, for instance, don’t let it put you off learning to play the piano. Just do it regardless.