Adult Students Make the BEST Piano Students, Part Three

I'm going to continue this week to explain why I prefer adult piano students, with this essay being devoted to my rationale for saying:

Adults learn piano far faster than children.

This is a topic I've written about extensively, including in last week's essay. Thus, it seems to me that, rather than repeat myself, I'm just going to reproduce an essay from my website which deals with the topic. You can find this essay, as well as many more writings for the adult thinking about piano lessons at my site: www.danstarr.com.

Adult Students: It's Not Too Late!

Many adults would like to play the piano. I am thankful for this fact every time I go to the bank, for most of my income comes from adult students! These are folks who ignored the "conventional wisdom" that says you must start piano as a child if you want to succeed. They are adults who are successful enough at their piano training that they pay me good money, week after week. This leads one to wonder how much truth there is in the "conventional wisdom" and how it originated.

The origins of this "earlier is better" concept are obvious. I am convinced that a survey of concert pianists would reveal that 100% began their studies at very young ages. The complexity and difficulty of performing the world's most advanced piano music allows nothing less than a life lived for the piano right from the start.

More recently, findings in brain research point to a window of opportunity in preschool children when music is most easily learned. Lending credence to this is the Japanese Suzuki Method of violin instruction in which 3 years olds play cut-down violins at an astonishing level of skill. Piano companies have been very diligent in promoting these findings for reasons that should be obvious.

Thus, history and modern research come together and create in the mind of the average person that it is necessary to start piano at a very early age...AND that those who miss their chance are unlikely to be successful at later ages.

Luckily, this is not the case. Adults can, and should, take up the piano. Plus, there is such as a thing as beginning piano too young. Let me explain.

The first thing to consider is that the vast majority of the humans who take piano are NOT prodigies, nor will they become professional pianists, let alone concert pianists. Thus, observations made and conclusions reached concerning the extremely small group who do follow "The Life of the Piano" have little bearing for the rest of us.

Secondly, research into early life music learning and appreciation is NOT research into how well various age groups do in learning the piano. Despite the impression the piano manufacturers give, studies about music learning and appreciation are NOT studies about success at learning to play a particular instrument. It's hardly scientific to state that they are. It is, however, good for business!

I have conducted my own study over the course of 18 years of teaching piano. Included in this study are approximately 1000 children, the youngest 5, plus an equal number of adults, the oldest 83. Although a scientist would want to design the study a bit more strictly by teaching every student exactly the same materials, I doubt that their results would differ hugely from mine.

My study tells me that most children learn piano much more slowly than most adults. It also tells me that the older child generally learns faster than the younger child. Why? Well, stop and think about it for a moment. Think about a child's mind and body, especially that of a very young child. What is their attention span? What is their familiarity with the learning process? How big are their hands? How well do their eyes track over a line of printed symbols? How easily discouraged are they? How well do they conceptualize? How much music have they been exposed to? How well can they control their bodies?

Now there are, indeed, "gifted children" who pick things up rapidly. The gifts they have often consist of a better emotional state, better control of their bodies, and higher intelligence that allows them to apply themselves more successfully to whatever they do, not just the piano. They may also come from a musical home where exposure to music and its delights is part of life. And there is most definitely a "musical intelligence" in each person which helps determine success and learning rate. These things are a real recipe for success in piano.

The average child, however, will always lag behind the average adult. Adults bring many skills to the table, both mental, emotional, and physical, not the least of which is the knowledge that perseverance will be rewarded. This is a piece of knowledge no 6 year old has lived long enough to gain.

What, then, are the special problems faced by adults, if any?

The main problem, that problem most likely to defeat an adult, is nothing more than TIME. Time to practice each day, despite a 1000 other things to do, time to continue lessons long enough to get somewhere. If that problem is solved, the vast majority of adults will succeed in learning to play.

I do occasionally encounter adults who retain some childish character traits and these do not help. Also, age sometimes brings arthritis and difficulty hearing. These can be so bad that playing is just not possible.

Also, adults must be willing to re-experience having parts of their body not follow their orders. Playing piano requires some very complex motions, many of which are made with fingers not normally used for anything complex. The wrist, elbows, arms, and actually the entire body must be carefully trained. Adults are sometimes dismayed to find their bodies disobeying and being clumsy, something children live with each day. Adults must be tolerant of this factor and all will work out.

So take heart you adult piano students! You should do fine if you will only make the time in your life for piano.