Even though I am not of retirement age yet, one thing I very much understand is that as we get older, out bodies can’t quite do the same things they used to do when they were younger. Unfortunately, the older we get, the more physical limitations we get.
However, I’d like to think that while our bodies are not exactly what they used to be, our maturity, flexibility and creativity can actually increase. In other words, I think the older we get, the better we are at problem solving.
As I have mentioned in earlier blog posts, I have arthritis in several major joints in my body and I know that there are things that I can no longer do because of the arthritis. One of those things that I can’t do because it causes too much pain, is to slide up or down the piano keyboard. I am fortunate that this is not an essential technique to play the piano, so I simply don’t do them (although I do get jealous of my husband being able to do them with ease!).
I also have got to the point that if I sit down for too long, I get stiff. Fortunately, this is easily solved by making sure I have breaks where I stand up and move around fairly regularly.
What I am trying to explain, is that while I’m not of retirement age yet, I do understand how bodily stiffness or aches and pains can force a person to get creative on how they do certain things.
If you are wanting to learn to play the piano, or return to playing the piano after taking a hiatus for several years, don’t allow physical limitations prevent you from taking the plunge. For instance, if a piano stool is too hard – grab a cushion. If your feet can’t flex up and down to play the pedals, then try lifting your whole foot. If that doesn’t work, then you can skip using the pedals entirely.
If you have a weak hand, say from a stroke, then you can do some extra exercises, both at the piano and away from the piano to build up strength. I know this is possible for at least some, because I had a piano student that did mange to build up strength in his hand after a stroke.
If you get sore wrists, then a wrist brace may help, or sit up higher than you normally do to put less strain on your wrists in the first place.
The point here is that just because your body might not behave the way it used to, doesn’t mean you have to give up on playing the piano, it might just mean that you need to get creative in how to make things possible for yourself.