Unless a medical doctor or specialist tells you that playing the piano would be ill advised because you have a certain condition with one of your hands, then anyone has the physical capability to learn to play the piano. I get that some people can have all sorts of issues or injuries with their hands but it doesn’t have to prevent you from playing the piano.
I know that it doesn’t prevent playing the piano because I have heard of people who have arthritis in their hands who play. Obviously there are different types of arthritis and different levels of severity but there are people playing the piano with arthritis. I have had my own issues, not only braking my wrist at the base of my thumb when I was a teenager but I have also developed tendonitis in both of my wrists when I was in my 20’s and it took about 5 years to become mostly pain free.
During those years of having tendonitis, first in the right hand and then a couple of years later in the left hand, I was certainly limited in what I could play. I couldn’t play anything that required for my hands to stretch out to play a lot of notes quickly and I couldn’t play anything that took a good deal of force. In a lot of ways, it was difficult and definitely limiting but I enjoyed playing what I could. I was not going to let the tendonitis in my hands prevent me from playing the piano.
Coincidentally, it was during those years that I had tendonitis, that I met a violin teacher, who would have had more difficulty than me. She had the top part of her middle finger on her left hand removed because of an accident. I didn’t quite comprehend how difficult it was for her to play the violin, until another music teacher that we both knew pointed out that it would be very difficult for her to press a violin string down with the stub of her finger. I know that it can hurt the tips of your fingers when you first start learning a stringed instrument like the violin or the guitar, but learning to use the stub of a finger would be a different matter entirely. This lady with the top of a finger missing once told me that the only difficulty she had was that some violin pieces of music were just too fast that she couldn’t get the required speed.
The other part of this story to note is that the top joint of her middle finger was removed well before she learned to play the violin as an adult. Obviously, she not only learned to play the violin as an adult, but she progressed far enough to actually become a violin teacher.
I know that its easier for all of us to find a reason why we can’t do something or learn something new but sometimes these quite legitimate reasons are really a mask for what the younger generations refer to as FOF, which stands for fear of failure. Only you can decide whether your desire to play the piano is bigger than any issue with your hands.
Please remember that there is no point in waiting for all of your circumstances to be great (unless it is against medical advice) because it probably will never happen otherwise. Even now as I am sitting here at my laptop typing, I am noticing that my right hand looks considerably puffier than my left hand, but because it is early in the morning (and this is literally the first thing I usually do in my day), I know that in a couple of hours, the puffiness and tightness I feel in my right hand will resolve. My day will be exactly the same as if my right hand had not become puffy overnight.
If you do have a medical condition that affects your hands and your doctor’s advice is not preventing you from playing the piano, I would advise you that if you need a piano teacher, you make sure that they understand what the issue with your hands is. If you come across a piano teacher that doesn’t seem to take your issue seriously, then find another piano teacher. There are plenty of piano teachers that can help you and will work through any difficulties that arise.
If you are someone that doesn’t need piano lessons, but rather is wanting to take up the piano again after many years hiatus, then I recommend you take things slowly. Don’t be in a rush to be as good as you once were. Give yourself that opportunity to adjust things like your fingering , so that it is easier for you to play. If you are learning new music, then take your time to learn it very slowly and deliberately and maybe you might have to settle for not playing it as fast as what it ‘should’ be played. Basically, listen to your body and don’t over do things. Over a period of time, you will be able play what you want, it just might not be perfect and who said that you had to achieve perfection to be worthwhile?
If playing the piano in your retirement is something that you really desire, then don’t allow things like issues with your hands, prevent you from playing. Pursue your dreams and enjoy the process even when things are a bit difficult.