I get it, I really do. Most piano students are kids or teenagers. This is true not just for piano students but for anyone learning to play a musical instrument. If you think about it, it’s not just learning an instrument, it’s art, it’s sport and it’s often creative pursuits like knitting or sewing, that these skills are gained before adulthood.
I don’t think, it is a bad idea for anyone to learn just about anything at a young age. However, just because the ideal might be learning to play the piano at a young age, doesn’t mean that you cannot learn when you are older – far from it. I think anyone at any age can learn to play the piano.
I actually believe that there is really is only two personal requirements that you need to learn to play the piano. The first requirement is to have a strong desire to learn to play the piano and the second requirement is that you are willing to put in persistent and consistent effort. That’s it.
We can all probably agree that the best time to learn to play the piano is when you are young. I think the next best time to learn, is actually during retirement. This is because there is, in most cases, plenty of spare time which means there is plenty of time to practice. I must admit that I am looking forward to when I retire because at the moment I work many hours a week and I’m still busy raising 3 kids. Most of the time I feel like I am in a constant state of being busy and that when I do sit and play the piano for my personal pleasure, it has to be limited because I feel like I have just so much other stuff that has to get done.
Not only do people that are retired have time to devote to practicing the piano, but they have a maturity and wisdom to take on a major project like learning to play the piano. I have found with my older piano students, that they are the most teachable and the most committed to practicing, like no other age group is. An older person is also much easier to correct when there are mistakes, compared to any other age group. I think it is because older people know what attitude they need to have in order to reach their goal. As a piano teacher, I have found the retired person so easy to teach and from my perspective, a pure joy to teach.
So while the ideal time to learn to play the piano is when a person is young (and how many circumstances in life are ideal?!), I truly believe that next best time is when a person reaches retirement.