Did any of you folks take up piano in later life?

[BMD]

Or have you played since childhood?

 

I'm not in the first flush of youth (to put it mildly) and I made an attempt at teaching myself piano about a year ago. Sadly, it came to naught. I found it too difficult

[Leroy C]

11 years ago at the age of 41.  I had noodled a bit before, with some very minimal instruction, but nothing that would amount to more than 2-3 months of beginner lessons and minimal practice ...  Self-taught since starting in mid-life.

[Docbop]

I started playing piano at age 70 a kind of a bucket list thing.   Hasn't come easy but enjoying it and keeps my brain exercised.   

[Tom Williams]

Since childhood -- Started piano lessons at 8 or 10 years old, played every day for many years, and I still play some keyboard or another several times a week at age 63.86.  I haven't touched an analog piano in years. 

[Lou_NC]

Depends on your goals and expectations that you set of yourself. 

 

I took organ lessons for a couple years as a young teenager, never really got into piano very much until my wife had her parent's piano shipped from their house to ours in our 30's.  She took piano lessons as a kid, and got our kids to take lessons for a year or two, neither of them stuck with it.  I noodled around on that piano (about the way you would expect an organ player to sound on a piano 🙂 but I had fun with it). Wife got tired of the piano taking up space in the family room so she sold it and I bought a $400 Casio with MIDI which I use to drive a NanoPiano. Good enough for me. When I'm not playing organ I still noodle around on the piano and have a ton of fun.  I could probably get away with playing piano in a low-key wedding band if I wanted to, I've played in jams with friends for the past 10-20 years.  I suit myself.  I will never be a classical pianist and that's actually OK because I can't stand the sound of classical piano tunes personally!  

 

Bottom line is if you set sky-high expectations for yourself that is fine......but be prepared for the event that you don't reach them.  Or you can be like me.  In the words of Rocky Balboa, I'm a "ham and egger" on piano......and I'm having fun and totally comfortable with that!

 

Best of luck,

Lou

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

I took lessons in Jr. High but didn't touch it again for decades....  Picked it up again about five years ago. 

[CEB]

Since childhood. My parent believed the piano was a great fundamental basis.  
 

I took up steel guitar as an adult.  A lot of great Steelers started as adults.  

[jason88]

Took many serious years of lessons in my youth, even thought I'd be a concert pianist at some point in my younger years.  Life took hold, and I had brain surgery in my 20s that impacted my fine motor skills (piano!) to a degree, but have been back at it for the last year and having soooo much fun

[uhoh7]

I had a few drum lessons around age 10. At 19 exposed to sax, I bought and self taught clarinet. At 26 I bought my first piano. A few years ago in my early 60's I bought a drum set to help my keyboard and rhythm awarenss in general. I was amazed by how easy the traditional grip and basic strokes felt. Also recently I aquired tenor and alto saxes. Very natural for me at a basic level. Guitar, which I play at little very often, I am terrible. On keyboards I must warm-up slowly and eventually after 30 mins it starts to feel more natural, but I'm still a klutz learning new things. 

 

Nevertheless I enjoy making noise on instruments, and attempting to improve more than ever.

[Jose EB5AGV]

I began to play the piano a couple months shy of 50, with no musical experience at all... Now I am close to 55 and play keys on a band. Of course, not like a pro, but people don't throw me objects 😆

 

Never is too late!

 

Jose

[Melving]

I was a violin player, then a guitarist.  Was always drawn to the flashy lights of synthesizers and wanted to play piano at church.  I learned music theory in college, and learned to ad lib on piano, but figuring out the bass clef in a controlled fashion always eluded me.  Then my daughter started taking lessons.  I know we don't talk about the Alfred series here much, but for me that was the entry.  I think the first book took me a couple hours, but was step by step enough for me to actually learn something.  I'd recommend a teacher if you're stuck.  Or the Alfred series if you haven't tried it.  I found the Suzuki series, which I was familiar with from violin, to be too difficult to start with.  Some other series were also nonstarters.  If time is short there are remote teachers (I'm taking remote jazz lessons now 'cause jazzbos in my area don't wake up before noon, and I have a morning off each week).  Now I'm our church's substitute pianist, and can also be found on keys imitating violins or other instruments.  And I'm still blowing my familiy's money on things with flashy lights.

[felis]

Drums since childhood.  Keyboards in my early 30's, and bass guitar in my 60's.

[Al Quinn]

Started with organ at 8 and piano at 19. I’m 64 now

[bill5]

11 hours ago, BMD said:

 I found it too difficult

See that blows my mind. IMO keyboards are the easiest instrument ever (short of stuff like maybe bongos or a triangle lol). All the notes are right in front of you nice and neat and laid all out in a row; all you have to do is press on them. Contrast that with what you have to do with other instruments. 

[BMD]

50 minutes ago, bill5 said:

See that blows my mind. IMO keyboards are the easiest instrument ever (short of stuff like maybe bongos or a triangle lol). All the notes are right in front of you nice and neat and laid all out in a row; all you have to do is press on them. Contrast that with what you have to do with other instruments. 

 

Yeah, you're right. It's a bit like brain surgery, I suppose. All you have to do is drill a hole in someone's head and poke around with a knitting needle. Simple

[uhoh7]

1 hour ago, bill5 said:

See that blows my mind. IMO keyboards are the easiest instrument ever (short of stuff like maybe bongos or a triangle lol). All the notes are right in front of you nice and neat and laid all out in a row; all you have to do is press on them. Contrast that with what you have to do with other instruments. 

The autotune is great, no fret buzzing, no worry about hitting lows as on Sax, the layout is easy to remember....but like the Emperor said to Mozart: "that's alot of notes"

 

 

[jejefunkyman]

I took some music and organ lessons when I was a child between 6 and 10. But I didn't like it at all 😂

Then when I was 30, I decided to seriously learning piano, and jazz piano in particular. It was not easy and it took a lot of time, but I think I reached quite a decent level of playing which allowed to join bands with very good musicians, and to perform on a regular base. 

I learned it all by myself as I couldn't find any suitable teacher for me. So I used mostly books like the Jazz Piano Book from Mark Levine and also video tutorials on YT. 

As a side note, I also started to learn German when I was 40. And I've reached quite a decent level, without putting a lot of efforts in it 😉

So I think it is very possible to learn new skills at a later age. The brain is really an amazing machine when used properly. 

Of course it is not easy and requires a lot of motivation and persistence. But it can be done. 

I wouldn't say that the piano is an easy instrument, because it can be played in many different ways. And sometimes, it's a struggle when you have worked out a certain of playing which doesn't sound with what you hear on a record. It can be very confusing and puzzling.

Thankfully, there's a lot of knowledge and information easily accessible on the web. 

 

[SamuelBLupowitz]

Piano at 8, drums at 10

or 11, bass at 12. Didn’t really start learning organ properly until my 20s. I’m 33 now, just picking up accordion. I don’t think I’d call myself a virtuoso on any of those instruments, but I get by and I have fun.

 

if you’re looking for inspiration, Bruce Hornsby didn’t start playing the piano until he was 18. Still young from where I’m standing, but not “childhood prodigy” territory.

[CEB]

I didn't know that about Hornsby.  Thanks, that's cool.

[cphollis]

20 hours ago, BMD said:

Or have you played since childhood?

 

I'm not in the first flush of youth (to put it mildly) and I made an attempt at teaching myself piano about a year ago. Sadly, it came to naught. I found it too difficult

 

Childhood.  But I work with a lot of adults who are trying to learn later in life. 

 

The successful ones take a few easy lessons to get oriented, then start playing along with simpler forms of music, like blues or classic rock.  They work on listening and making their hands do something --- anything -- that sounds right.  After a while, they can comp along with a small group, or now have enough confidence to take on more formal training. 

 

My observation is that without that joyous finger-ear connection, learning a new instrument can be really daunting.  And I find more formal instruction -- and instructors -- overkill for what these people want to do, which is make a little fun music.

[Montunoman 2]

I started as a kid on drums and studied  very  seriously from age 12-30. I’m 56 and still drum, but piano takes up most of my free time. I started on piano at age 18 as a music major. We were required to study piano, and I had a pretty solid foundation through studying some music theory in high school. Also I knew the treble clef from playing mallet percussion and bass clef from playing timpani. By the time I graduated college I was a pretty good “ functional “ pianist. 
Unfortunately I completely stopped playing piano due work, drumming gigs…. 
 

At age 30, I married a skilled classical pianist, and we got a piano in our home, so started studying on my own, mostly going over my college notes, and started going through some jazz keyboard harmony books and easier classical stuff my wife had in her notebooks. I’ve been at it ever since, and yes, it’s a mighty step learning curve, progress is slow but steady. I can get frustrate at times, but the older I get the more I enjoy the process, and I’ve found peace with where I’m at, and I’m always making goals and plans to improve. 
 

Now I’m studying with a great jazz pianist at a community college, and I dream of entering a university jazz studies graduate or undergraduate program once I retire from my day job, which I hope will be soon. 
 

To the OP, I suggest you stick with piano or perhaps try a new instrument. Any instrument will present it challenge for sure, you just need  the patience, determination, curiosity, and love of the art form. Finding an instructor who understands your goals would be ideal, but there plenty of free instruction out there too. Either way, best wishes to you on your musical journey. 
 

 

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

On 4/1/2023 at 4:48 PM, EB5AGV said:

I began to play the piano a couple months shy of 50, with no musical experience at all... Now I am close to 55 and play keys on a band. Of course, not like a pro, but people don't throw me objects 😆

 

Never is too late!

I am where you are although as mentioned above, I had lessons for a few years as a kid.  It was fun coming back to a lot of the familiar chords and patterns as an adult!

 

I am sort-of playing in a band now also....  A real change as I was not used to playing with others, particularly others who are also making noise in the same room!  Having taken band or orchestra back in grade school would have been helpful, but I didn't.