{"id":14011,"date":"2021-03-18T10:35:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T09:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edwinm29.sg-host.com\/?p=14011"},"modified":"2024-01-16T01:57:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T00:57:16","slug":"become-musician-late-in-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/become-musician-late-in-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Even those who start late can become a good musician"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_86 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #103133;color:#103133\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #103133;color:#103133\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/become-musician-late-in-life\/#What_are_the_benefits_of_starting_music_later_in_life\" >What are the benefits of starting music later in life?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/become-musician-late-in-life\/#Many_musicians_dont_achieve_any_success_until_later_in_life\" >Many musicians don\u2019t achieve any success until later in life<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/become-musician-late-in-life\/#You_are_more_experienced\" >You are more experienced<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/become-musician-late-in-life\/#Creative_expression_is_wonderful_at_any_age\" >Creative expression is wonderful at any age<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/become-musician-late-in-life\/#Keep_it_all_in_perspective\" >Keep it all in perspective<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It may seem like a daunting task to begin playing piano later in life. The stories of the child prodigy and young pop star are an indelible part of human mythology. These myths can create blocks in your subconscious that can stop you from beginning the piano in the first place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might think that you are too old for music or that you will never be as good as your favorite musician. However, it is never too late to begin studying piano; the benefits of piano practice are instantaneous! In fact, many of the most pronounced benefits of piano practice help older musicians the most!<\/span><\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\"><!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--><\/style>\n<p><span data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;&lt;div class=&quot;componentContainer&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;row&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;column&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;h2Notable&quot;&gt;Start your musical journey&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fall in love with the music -&lt;\/strong&gt; Learn your favorite songs, at a level suitable for you.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Enjoy interactive piano lessons -&lt;\/strong&gt; Explore courses covering music theory, technique chords &amp; more.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Get real-time feedback -&lt;\/strong&gt; Skoove&#039;s feedback tells you what went well and what needs practice.&lt;\/span&gt;&lt;\/li&gt;&lt;\/ul&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;column&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/optimized\/iPhone15-1A-3-800.webp&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;1024&quot; height=&quot;846&quot; class=&quot;alignnone size-large&quot; \/&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;small&gt;&lt;\/small&gt;&lt;a class=&quot;skooveButton skooveButtonWithin&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; title=&quot;Book a trial lesson&quot; href=&quot;https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/auth\/register_promotion?coupon=7d-blog-npd&amp;utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=btf&amp;utm_campaign=7d-blog-npd&amp;t=Start%20a%207%20day%20free%20trial&amp;st=No%20credit%20card%20required!&quot; rel=&quot;noopener&quot;&gt;Book a trial lesson&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;small&gt;No credit card details required&lt;\/small&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;&quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:769,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;11&quot;:3,&quot;12&quot;:0}\"><div class=\"componentContainer\"><div class=\"row\"><div class=\"column\"><div class=\"h2Notable\">Start your musical journey<\/div><ul><li><span><strong>Fall in love with the music -<\/strong> Learn your favorite songs, at a level suitable for you.<\/span><\/li><li><span><strong>Enjoy interactive piano lessons -<\/strong> Explore courses covering music theory, technique chords & more.<\/span><\/li><li><span><strong>Get real-time feedback -<\/strong> Skoove's feedback tells you what went well and what needs practice.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"column\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/optimized\/iPhone15-1A-3-800.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"846\" class=\"alignnone size-large\" \/><\/div><\/div><small><\/small><a class=\"skooveButton skooveButtonWithin\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Book a trial lesson\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/auth\/register_promotion?coupon=7d-blog-npd&utm_source=blog&utm_medium=btf&utm_campaign=7d-blog-npd&t=Start%20a%207%20day%20free%20trial&st=No%20credit%20card%20required!\" rel=\"noopener\">Book a trial lesson<\/a><small>No credit card details required<\/small><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_benefits_of_starting_music_later_in_life\"><\/span><strong>What are the benefits of starting music later in life?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It may be a little difficult to see the benefits of beginning music later in life. But, rest assured, there are actually many advantages to starting your piano practice later in life.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Many_musicians_dont_achieve_any_success_until_later_in_life\"><\/span><strong>Many musicians don\u2019t achieve any success until later in life<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are myriad examples of musicians who don\u2019t achieve any success until later in life. Sure, the pop playlists on Spotify and YouTube glorify the youth and the party, but there is so much more to music than that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think of an <a href=\"\/blog\/6-great-black-musicians\/\">artist like Bill Withers<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Withers did not even release his first album until he was 34. He hadn\u2019t even decided to pursue a music career until he was almost 30! It took four years of work for him to release his first album. Keep that in perspective when you start practicing!<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container\"><iframe title=\"How to play Lean on me II &amp; left hand\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/458881401?h=8aa87a58f4&amp;dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"283\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class='maxbutton-1-container mb-container'><a class=\"maxbutton-1 maxbutton maxbutton-christmas\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Go to the lesson\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/en\/auth\/register_promotion?coupon=7d-blog-npd#\"><span class='mb-text'>Go to the lesson<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another great example of a musician who started later in life is the Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. Cohen spent over a decade working on a career as a novelist and poet, only to turn to music at age 33. Of course, he then spent the better part of 50 years working on his songwriting craft and left us with many of the best tunes in history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So if you are wondering <\/span><a href=\"\/blog\/how-to-play-piano\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can adults learn the piano<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, keep in mind that many artists, including some of the most successful and loved musicians in history, didn\u2019t start their careers until well into their 30\u2019s and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"You_are_more_experienced\"><\/span><strong>You are more experienced<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another benefit of beginning music later in life is that you are now more experienced in the world and have a more clearly defined routine and lifestyle. Of course, this comes with the caveat that you may now have more responsibilities than you did when you were 10 years old. But, you probably have learned through your experiences how to manage your time effectively. You hopefully have also learned the importance of including relaxing activities in your life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, at a later point in life you have had decades more experience listening to music and hopefully witnessing live performance of music. You probably have a more realized idea of what you like and don\u2019t like about music. This sort of knowledge will help you focus your practice time and zone in on what you actually want to learn, instead of spending years wondering.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-14189 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/elcarito-ycEXIYZjiTk-unsplash-1.jpg\" alt=\"best instrument to learn at 50\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/elcarito-ycEXIYZjiTk-unsplash-1.jpg 1024w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/elcarito-ycEXIYZjiTk-unsplash-1-300x200.jpg 300w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/elcarito-ycEXIYZjiTk-unsplash-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are many examples of musicians whose life experiences helped propel their careers later in life. The singer-songwriter Seasick Steve is a great case study. He did not \u201cmake it\u201d until he was 65 years old! He spent decades working as a construction worker, doing jobs most people would probably not want to do. However, he managed to get the opportunity to perform on Jools Holland&#8217;s New Year&#8217;s Eve Hootenanny in 2006 and that single event at age 65 launched his music career! His success as a musician and the authenticity of his voice is a direct result of his life experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Charles Bradley is another remarkable story of a musician breaking through later in life. Bradley was a singer in the soul and RnB traditions who struggled for years to gain any success. He lived all across the United States working odd jobs to make ends meet for decades. Finally, when he was about 50 years old, he was discovered by the label Daptone Records. Daptone released 4 of Bradley\u2019s albums over the course of 7 years and Bradley finally garnered the respect he deserved.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Creative_expression_is_wonderful_at_any_age\"><\/span><strong>Creative expression is wonderful at any age<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have you ever heard the expression that music is timeless? Music is like a universal language &#8211; every culture on Earth has some form of music. Music can be understood by everybody. A C major chord is spelled the same no matter where you live or what age you are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are feeling tentative about starting piano practice, keep that in mind. The only thing that truly matters is your desire to play and your enthusiasm for the instrument. Music has been around long before your lifetime and will continue long after you. Take the opportunity while you have it to be a part of the great human tradition of music!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Keep_it_all_in_perspective\"><\/span><strong>Keep it all in perspective<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most important thing to keep in mind when you are practicing piano later in life is to keep things in perspective. Sure, there are some great musicians who began playing their instruments before they knew how to write. If you are reading this article, chances are you did not. That is a wonderful place to be!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The great Zen masters teach the philosophy of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/mindfulambition.net\/beginners-mind\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">beginner\u2019s mind<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. That is, there is a state of mind one enters into when one is a beginner. All things seem fresh; nothing is stale or stagnant. It is extremely valuable to adopt this mindset when learning piano later in life. By viewing your practice as your own journey and not comparing your progress to anyone else, you will find immense joy and benefits both physical and psychological and you will never tell yourself \u201c<\/span><a href=\"\/blog\/i-cant-play-piano\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I can\u2019t play piano!<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember that Skoove is always here to help you on your journey! With lessons designed for every step of your path and a free, 7 day trial you can start your piano lessons in a comfortable, stress-free setting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Try out your free trial of Skoove today!<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 46.21% 0 0 0; position: relative;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/479012867?autoplay=1&amp;loop=1&amp;title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;muted=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/api\/player.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class='maxbutton-1-container mb-container'><a class=\"maxbutton-1 maxbutton maxbutton-christmas\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Start free trial\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/en\/app\/account\/promotion\/ONBOARDING\/12-month?utm_source=blog&#038;utm_medium=contextual&#038;utm_campaign=free-trial&#038;utm_content=contextual-link-free-trial\"><span class='mb-text'>Start free trial<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Author of this blog post<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6965 aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Author-Box-Edward-1.png\" alt=\"Edward Bond\" width=\"212\" height=\"217\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Eddie Bond is a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer, and music instructor currently based in Seattle, Washington USA. He has performed extensively in the US, Canada, Argentina, and China, released over 40 albums, and has over a decade experience working with music students of all ages and ability levels.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It may seem like a daunting task to begin playing piano later in life. The stories of the child prodigy and young pop star are an indelible part of human mythology. These myths can create blocks in your subconscious that can stop you from beginning the piano in the first place.\u00a0 You might think that &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"\/blog\/become-musician-late-in-life\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Even those who start late can become a good musician<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":14175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"Even those who start late can become a good musician","_seopress_titles_desc":"Piano practice is great at any age! If you are an older beginner, read on for some useful tips and advice for those starting lessons later in life.\r\n","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[245],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-piano-tips-tricks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skoove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}