learning music as an adult

While we’ve all heard stories of child prodigies and the importance of learning music as a child, an adult can still learn to play an instrument quite well. Even with no prior experience, proper training can help an adult learn to play music just as well as a child. The main thing is to find the right way to learn, either through a tutor or self-taught.

Adult students come with their own baggage, often from childhood lessons. Adult piano students may have had bad experiences with music lessons as children. These can range from scary instructors to endless exercises to abusive teacher-student relationships. Sometimes a teacher may have punished the student for not being skilled enough, while other times a teacher may have pushed a promising student too hard. This is one of the obstacles that comes with learning music as an adult.

Accepting the teacher as an authority figure is another difficulty that comes with learning music as an adult. An adult has learned to be independent. An adult wants to participate in curriculum development and wants to be able to self-assess. It can be difficult for an adult to simply listen to and follow the directions of a music instructor. Therefore, the best way to learn music as an adult may be to teach yourself or find an instructor who teaches long distance over the Internet. There are many wonderful piano courses available on the web today – just type something like “play the piano” into any search engine and you will find several.

Although the process of learning music as an adult is different from that of a child, it is not necessarily more difficult. For a child, making music is magical, while an adult sees the work that goes into getting on the stage of making music. It is mainly a mental hurdle that must be overcome. Furthermore, learning music as a child is part of the natural development process, while learning music as an adult is often part of a larger goal. For example, an adult learns to play an instrument to join the church worship team.

Learning music as an adult can also be difficult due to ingrained personality traits. Even the most self-confident adults feel insecure when someone points out their shortcomings. So it goes with learning music. If a tutor is used, an adult may be embarrassed when the tutor corrects a wrong note or technique. Some adults may have trouble breathing and concentrating when they are very nervous. All of this can lead to a difficult learning environment.

Adults also demand comfort. That is why adults often learn to play an instrument in their own home. Children are less demanding of the hardness of a piano bench, for example. Adults may have back problems or other conditions that require a high level of comfort.

So the basic ingredients for learning music as an adult are adaptable tutoring, motivation to learn, confidence, and comfort. By taking these key points and looking for the best learning method for yourself, you can become an adult musical genius, well, maybe not a genius, maybe just a person having more fun. Or maybe you’re the guy or girl at parties who knows how to play the latest song that everyone is talking about. With the right teaching, adults can enjoy playing music wherever they go.