Can An Adult Learn to Play A Musical Instrument?

Cafe Society
21

I’ve heard learning music is a bit like learning languages. You can become proficient even late in life, with effort. However, for the young, the brain is literally still arranging itself, and if given intense exposure (be to language or music, preferably both), will achieve not only proficiency but fluency. Young people who are raised bi- or multi-lingual have the ability to think in more than one toungue in a way that, for an adult, may be physically impossible. I think this difference (which has a neurophysiological basis) is will nearly always demarc the line between “competancy” and “virtuosity”.

Of course, there are always rare exceptions to the rule, but such individuals who can achieve virtuosity starting late in life (meaning past their teens or twenties, probably) are rare indeed, and could be classified as geniuses.

So, yes, you can learn to play an instrument, and be greatly rewarded, as an adult; but it will not be the same for you as it is for a child who was raised on musical instruction. It’s not simply a matter of being a late starter: Starting late means you learn it differently, and that experience affects you differently. It’s still very worthwhile (as I can personally attest to, as I am now trying to get better at keys through self-instruction). But I must admit, I wish I knew better when I was young. I had the opportunity to learn to play piano, but was a lot more interested in building tree forts, collecting rocks, and finding new and creative ways to destroy those little green plastic army men. I wouldn’t have forgone my other hobbies, I just wish I’d made room for something edifying. I’m sure it would have done my brain good. Now, later it life, it’s so much harder. Worth it! But, alas, harder.

22

I bought an alto sax a few years back so that I could learn to play it. I have never had any musical lessons, period. A couple of years later, and up until today, I still haven’t had any musical lessons. I still can’t play that damn sax. I will, though–I promise. I was all set and afire to go when I bought it.

But then I met auntie em, who ended up loving me despite my inherent lack of musical skills. Silly girl.

23

not only can you learn, a famous australian artist at the moment Pete Murray didn’t start playing guitar till he was 24… he’s now 28, and a platnium selling artist.

I think its all got to do with skills, but anyone can learn the basics and sing a few camp fire songs :stuck_out_tongue:

24

Both my brothers started vilolin lessons at age 40+. While far from professional sounding, they can play a tune you can recognize. I recently started playing drums again after almost 20 years. It’s been long enough that I remember in my head how to play, but my hands and feet don’t remember. I have some practive time ahead of me!

I say go for it, enjoy and work hard!

25

Bruce Hornsby didn’t learn to play piano until he was an adult.

I learned to play music as a kid. Played an alto sax all through school, and in a stage band after. But I always wanted to learn to play guitar, so when I was about 22 I bought a used Fender acoustic and started to learn.

18 years later, I’m still not very good. But then, I never played it very much. I’d go through stretches of a few weeks where I’d pick up the guitar, get my calluses back, and progress a bit. Then I’d get out of the habit and leave it for a few months. If you do that, you can’t expect to progress very far. Infrequent playing will leave you stuck at the beginner level.

Then a couple of years ago I decided maybe piano would be better. I signed up for lessons, and progressed amazingly fast. Within a few months I was sight-reading stuff like Billy Joel songs, a few Beatles songs (hey Jude), Eagles songs like Desperado, etc. Then family commitments forced me to end my lessons, and since then I haven’t progressed one bit. Days or even weeks go by when I don’t play at all.

So my advice is to get a guitar and sign up for lessons. This will force you to practice and play. Keep at it. If you know anyone else who plays, jam with them. Nothing will help you learn faster than actually playing with other people.

If you want to see if music is for you, I have another suggestion - pick up a pennywhistle starter kit. $20 bucks, and you get a whistle, an instruction book, and even a CD with playalong music. There are no instruments as easy to learn as a pennywhistle, and yet it is capable of making some very complex, very beautiful music. It’s a great way to learn how to read music, too.

26

I know 3 people that learned to play the guitar within a year because they stuck with it…one was 19, the other was 21 and one was in his 40’s.

27

And when I say within a year I don’t mean all Jimi Hendrix style but they knew a few songs and could play them well and were still learning because they stuck with it.

28

I agree with the idea of getting an inexpensive guitar to start with. But even at that low price range, you can probably find better used guitars for sale in many music stores. In fact, before I would buy a guitar at any of the places Duck Duck Goose named, I’d head for a local pawn shop (which typically have a whole boatload ofguitars in all price ranges). Even a beginner who doesn’t really know what’s good and what’s bad in a guitar has a better chance of landing a reasonable instrument by sheer luck at one of these places than at a toy or discount store.

29

Hey, if you’re not sure you’ll stick with it, why not rent a guitar for your first few classes? The school where I’m a guitar student (www.oldtownschool.org) rents guitars out to students for a reasonable fee, and you can apply the rental fees to a guitar purchase later on at their quite decent music shop.

But I agree that you will have a much more enjoyable experience if you’re learning on a decent guitar. I didn’t shop around for used ones myself, but if you’re willing to do some legwork you might find some good deals. But don’t buy online, unless you have a specific make and model you want; I firmly believe you have to play the thing yourself before you know if you and it are meant for each other. If you haven’t played before, you will be amazed at the huge variation in sound among various makes and models.

(And for starting out, I highly recommend extra-light gauge strings! Much easier on your fingers until you build up calluses.)

30

My uncle never was not interested in music of any kind as a kid, so I was told. When he was about 40 or 45 he picked up a saxaphone and in a short time was playing it well. In fact, it turned out he could play almost any reed instrument as if he had been doing it all his life. He organized a little dance band and earned extra money by playing at dances around the county.

He couldn’t read music, but when he heard something he could reproduce it and he could “wing it” when the other band instruments played the tune along with him.

Sure you can.

31

I’ve been teaching myself classical guitar for the past several years. It took a long time to build up the left hand strength and flexibility to be able to play anything interesting. Classical guitars have harder action than acoustics, and the guitar I have (a hand-me-down from my dad) seems to be particularly hard compared to others I’ve tried. Guitar definitely takes patience; I’d recommend using a loaner if possible while you’re starting out.

I’m not very good, but I love playing.

32

I couldn’t agree more with Loopydude. I played the flute and piccolo from 4th grade all the way through college and dropped it for many years (I’m almost 30 now). About 3 years ago I had an itch to pick up an instrument again and decided I wanted to learn guitar. I started on a basic (and used) Washburn which was great to learn on, established that I was enjoying it and bought a much better (but still used) Fender about a year later.

I’ll tell you, though, learning guitar isn’t easy. With the background in music that I have, I knew learning a string instrument with chords and multiple ways of playing notes would be an extreme challenge but it was sooo helpful already knowing how to read music and have that knowledge of music theory in my head. Building up my hands and coordination again was very difficult, and I recommend carrying around a stress ball in your left hand a lot to build up your hand and wrist strength. Your hands will take a beating. But once I figured out how to pluck this thing and get a few chords down the music part just automatically made sense. AND by having that music training from childhood through adulthood, I had developed a naturally trained ear so tuning and figuring out music as I went along just “happened” and even if the chords and notes became kind of a confusing jumble I can sometimes just figure it out by knowing the key and what should come next.

And I’m also in agreement that it’s worth it. Music is NEVER a waste of your time, even if you try for a few months and decide it’s not your thing at least you’ve experienced it. It can only lead you to good things. After 3 years I’m by no means a guitar virutuso and sometimes go weeks without playing. But even if I’m plucking along to “Yesterday” or some fancy classical stuff, it always soothes my soul and takes me away from the daily BS grind of work, traffic, family drama, etc. Good luck to you, you won’t regret it.

33

I just had to post when I discovered this website, and to encourage those who have always wanted to play a musical instrument, take the plunge.

I in sort of a forced retiredment and in between job searches, found an outlet let relieves boredom and gets you very involved.

As a child, I took accordion lessons. MY old accordion was sold a long time ago, and the instrument I truly wanted to play has always been the trumpet. I had quite an overbite at the time, and it was not an instrument that would of worked for me supposedly. Well I took it up, rented one and got an extremely good method book, containing cd’s and dvd’s that assist you in learning to play the instrument. Essentials 2000 by Hal Leonard book 1 will get you off to a great start. You cannot miss using this method. They play each basic note, teach all the way music is written and what it means. For trumpet they play the first basic note of G, and you actually try to match that tone, then you know you have it right.

Training your emboucher (placement of the mouthpiece on your lips), training the muscles on both sides of your lips, you just form the words silently like MAMA, then blow as if you are cooling down a hot bowl of soup. A little further down would be silently saying the word tah, tah, tah those would be your short notes think of Jingle Bells Tah Tah TAh or tounging for the first 3 notes. Have a go at it, so much fun, have a spouse talk them into joining you.

I am age 67 and it has not been easy to learn to play, I sound fairly good, even at my 1 1/2 month level. I practice way too long, as my fingers feel numb and tingling from playing, so will your lips. So recommendations would be not more than about 60 minutes at a session, with much rest imbetween. Just holding it correctly takes time, be patient don’t give up, and you will all of a sudden feel you have clicked and are making the muisic you want. I happened to choose one of hardest instruments to play. Another thing that puts me at a disadvantage, yet I have overcame it, was playing with upper false teeth, do not have bottom teeth, at all. So I really had to strengthen my bottom lips to take the brunt of holding my lips in position. High notes are the hardest part of learning, I am using rubank scales and arpegios to build my high note register. Also mouthpiece is very important, should work to fit your mouth. Each of us are different, if you get a size 7C, that is the most common mouthpiece. If it does not work, try a 3C be careful and maybe not select one for awhile, So have good fun out there, good for our older brains and wakens up the desire to learn something new. So long for now.

34

The short answer to your question, as has been stated already, is “yes, absolutely”! I started learning the guitar about a year ago, at age 31. I’m still not very good, and I’ll most likely never be Jimi Hendrix, but I have to say that it’s infinitely more satisfying to be able to say “I play the guitar badly”, rather than “I don’t play the guitar”. That’s a world of difference, man!

A few thoughts:

The bad news: It’s mostly all about practice. Your musical brain is like Rain Man: It can do brilliant feats that boggle the mind, but it’s also very much like an obnoxious, autistic four year old. It understands only repetition. You can’t talk it into being able to play something. You can’t trick it or coerce it. Being angry at it certainly doesn’t do squat (even though it’s tempting at times). It’s all about doing something, then doing it again, rinse, repeat, until it works.

The good news: It’s mostly all about practice! Practice works so well that it’s almost like cheating. Put in enough hours, and suddenly you can do crazy shit that seemed impossible a few weeks earlier.

The other good news: Practice isn’t boring. It is (in my experience, anyway) second only to sex on the fun scale. When I first started, I imagined that practicing would be some sort of chore, and that I would have to make some sort of organized schedule for it, reluctantly make myself do it, etc. However, I kept putting off making that schedule, because I kept picking up the guitar and just playing for fun, trying to learn songs that I liked. Before I knew it, hours would go by. I’ve mostly just kept doing that every day. Turns out, that’s practice.

(Actually, to be honest, practice, like sex, *can *be boring, if you’re doing it wrong. If you find yourself in that situation, stop what you’re doing, then do it in a way that you enjoy instead. I guess that’s one perk that I’ve found to being an adult and learning this stuff from scratch: I get to do it *my *way, because I’m so old now that I don’t give a damn about how it’s *supposed *to be done, if that way isn’t fun.)

Also, a couple of things that work for me, although they may very well not work for you:

  • I *only *concentrate on learning songs, to the exclusion of absolutely everything else. No practicing scales for hours, no painstakingly learning the name of every note on the fretboard, whatever. No giving a damn about in depth music theory. That’s not because those things aren’t good or useful, it’s because my brain only retains information if a) it’s being used regularly and *b) *it has a context that I *c) *care about. By learning songs, everything I learn fits somewhere meaningful, and I don’t waste time on stuff that I’ll forget anyway.

(In fact, it turns out that I still pick up scales, theory, etc, as a byproduct, and this way it sticks much better. Basically, I learn those things if and when I need them.)

  • My brain is a sieve (although it turns out that memory, too, improves by practicing), and therefore I write stuff down. That is, I use Excel (not for doing formulas, but just because it’s gridded paper). While I play, I make lots and lots of sheets with songs, chord diagrams and tablature. Then, when I need to refer back to something, it’s all in one place and all organized and lovely. Obvious, maybe, but there you go.
35

Of course. I took up the banjo last year. I’m 51.

36

The OP was written seven years ago. I wonder if he did start learning.

I started learning the guitar a couple years ago. I’m not great, but enjoy it all the same. (Family obligations have kept me out of town for the past year, but I’m looking forward to getting back to it.)

37

Welcome kcsusan1! Whatever your other interests and leanings are, I hope you enjoy your stay and add to the community!
…

I’m a percussionist (djembe). Sloppy hand-percussion pickup drumcircles until about 30-something, then I started taking rigorous lessons. Took a while (couple years, lots of practice, group and private lessons) to learn proper form and am still working on it, but I skyrocketed upwards through tiers of playing ability. For the most part, I can get my drum to flawlessly and effortlessly play the song in my head—including all the nuances. So another yes, learning a new way to play an old instrument at 30+ is certainly possible.

Mrs. Devil has been playing with me now for about eight years, and we have great times. But she’s a pianist by training, and while the two intersect, I’ve been dying to learn something a bit more melodic and quieter for playing and accompanying her indoors on winter nights.

I’d love to take up the acoustic guitar.

I’ve no pretence at playing for the public or getting much beyond the equivalent of a blues or funk rhythm guitar (hmm… notice a pattern?), though of course who knows what will grow.

My only experience is *not *learning to play a Kramer Striker 700STBbass for various reasons (e.g. youth c.1984).

Can one get a reasonable guitar for between three and five hundred dollars?

Can one reasonably self-teach (between the Dudeling and work, practice and plunking-away time are limited and sporadic) or would a handful of lessons upfront make a huge impact regarding which way to hold it, etc.?

Is learning the basic chords and sequences of 12-bar blues rocket surgery or would a year or so of mixed-consistency effort get a key or two down?

(Please advise if I should start a new thread, though this zombie has some great info)

38

There are advantages to starting young, but it’s never too late. One can become very proficient with guitar in a year. The key is to play every day until the fingers hurt a little bit. It becomes much easier to play guitar after the muscle strength and dexterity develops and skin callouses form.

39

Of course you can, I started learning the guitar one years ago. At the beginning i worried about my age, but i have found that age is not the problem, if you like it, just go and learn it . Now i am planning to learn the drum, LOL~

40

Are people mainly referring to learning how to reproduce existing compositions, or learning how to create your own unique music? Are these two aspects of learning music differently affected by the age of the learner?