I have deliberately held off recounting my own personal of learning to play the piano because I don’t think that my own journey is particularly relatable:
My parents anticipated me and my sister being musical because my Mother’s Father had played the piano (he died before I was born) and my Father’s Mother played the piano, so considering music ran in the family, they were expecting my sister and I would probably want to play the piano. When my sister was eight, she was asked whether she wanted to take piano lessons, which she said yes. To make sure that she was serious, she had to practice after school on the piano in the school hall. At this stage I had no opinion about playing the piano myself. After a year of lessons, my parents bought a second hand piano. As soon as there was a piano in the house, you could not keep me away from it – I was drawn to the piano like a moth is to a flame. I was six years old at the time. My parents could see I was keen, so they were advised that I started to take piano lessons.
My wish to play the piano was never really discussed, it was just obvious that I really wanted to learn to play the piano, so I started and took piano lessons right throughout my schooling and then studied music at university. My passion for playing the piano has never waned.
Furthermore, at the age of eight, I decided that I wanted to be a piano teacher and a school music teacher, both of which I have done (and continue to do!). So I was that kid that started piano lessons at six and decided that I wanted to teach music at the age of eight and then preceded to go ahead and do it.
I understand that this part of my story is not relatable BUT, there is another perspective. I can remember when I was five, I was asked to do a drawing of what I wanted to be when I grow up and I remember drawing a dancer. I wanted to take dance lessons but I never asked and when I started learning the piano at the age of six I figured that there was no way I would ever be allowed to take dance lessons as well as piano lessons. I remember having the desire to have dance lessons all through primary school and high school, but never once mentioned it to my parents because I knew that they couldn’t afford dance lessons as well as piano lessons. Fast forward to today and I still would love to learn some form of dance, possibly tap dancing or Irish dancing.
No-one really knows about this side of me, not even my family because I am not close to retirement yet and I am a busy mum with three wonderful kids.
In some ways, retirement would be a good time, because I would have more spare time and it would be good for my health but I think I might make a fool of myself because I might not be any good and that I would look kind of weird because I don’t exactly have a dancer’s physique. I would really like to take a dancing class or two when I am retired but I just don’t want to embarrass myself. I don’t want people I know try to tell me that it is something that I really shouldn’t be doing. I don’t want to feel like a failure if I have a go and it works out that I’m really terrible.
I get that it takes a sort of bravery to do something that you have always wanted to do, especially when you might be considered ‘too old’. I might not be able to give myself the courage to learn to dance during my retirement, but at least I can encourage you to take that leap of courage and learn to play the piano. I know you can succeed.