Looking for more articles on piano? |
| Secrets of Playing Piano Bars |
| The Pianists - A home for amateurs with a passion for piano |
| John O’ Hurley - A Class Act |
| Keyboards and Accessories |
It's Never Too Late
by Scott "The Piano Guy" Houston
It continually shocks me the number of times we get calls and e-mails
from people older than 55 who have just finished watching an episode of my public television series The Piano Guy and say something like this: “I’m almost __ (fill in a seemingly advanced age here) and I’ve always wanted to play the piano. I think I understand what Scott was talking about, and it seems pretty logical, but there’s no way someone my age can really do this is there? Don’t you have to start when you are a kid?”
I’m not making this up; these calls happen way too regularly. It makes me kind of sad, and mad, and gets me wondering about how playing piano got to be thought of as something akin to learning to talk, or ride a two-wheeler, or any other skill that is the domain of a youngster. It couldn’t be further from the truth!
Now granted, some musical efforts such as speed drumming in a thrash metal band (I don’t have enough hair for that anyway), or playing all-night jam sessions might be a bit of a physical stretch for a “former youth” such as yourself. But playing piano for your own enjoyment is absolutely not one of them.
Assuming you have fingers and a rear end to sit down on, you have what it takes to play some piano. You don’t need strong lips, or terrific breath control, or long skinny fingers, or any other skill you might remember needing for other instruments.
From a tone production standpoint a piano is fairly unique in that it does all the hard work. You can’t control whether it is in or out of tune. It takes no more or less effort to play a note very high or very low on a piano as all the keys take the same amount of strength to press down. Nor do you need to develop calluses on your fingers to keep them from hurting.
Then what do you need to learn a tune at a piano or keyboard? You need a tune that you are just going crazy wanting to learn to play. And that’s it.
You see, what I’ve found from teaching thousands of people the easy system I use is this: Those who really get going with piano right from the start are the ones who have a single burning desire to get to a point of playing __ (insert your favorite tune here). No matter the age. No matter the previous piano experience. The biggest factor seems to be good old fashioned desire.
Because everyone, regardless of age, has the physical strength to push down a piano key, anyone can learn to play the instrument at any age as long as they have the desire to do it.
Learning to play a tune using lead sheets and chords is a fast, musically correct way to approach playing nonclassical music, such as show tunes, jazz, blues, and more. This method opens the door to anyone who wishes to simply learn a few tunes in order to have fun and reap the benefits that playing music brings.
If you want to play the piano for enjoyment—post 55-years-old—then go for it! There’s nothing physically or mentally stopping you. Remember, a great place to begin is to learn a little about lead sheets and the style of playing I teach. But much more importantly, think of a tune that you just can’t imagine living another day without playing.
That’s the song that will give you the desire to go where you want to go …
Learn more about Scott Houston’s piano method at www.scottthepianoguy.com.
Looking for more articles on piano? |
| Secrets of Playing Piano Bars |
| The Pianists - A home for amateurs with a passion for piano |
| John O’ Hurley - A Class Act |
| Keyboards and Accessories |
