It's Never Too Late to Learn
Michael C. Futa

  

You can teach older dogs new tricks,
and even teach them to play the piano.

Learning to Play
   

Imagine the virtuoso at the piano ... the maestro with his violin ... the diva at center stage ….

Are you seeing a senior person, white-haired, lined skin, in full command of his or her art after a lifetime of practice? More important, can you see yourself in the role of making music, playing with fervor and passion?

For many people, that seems like too large a leap. No matter how much you love music, some people believe you simply must start lessons as a child if you ever want to become proficient.

Don’t believe it.

One man who successfully transformed his love of music into a working knowledge of how to play the piano is Noah Adams, commentator on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Having learned of a friend’s lifelong regret at never learning to play the piano, Adams resolved – at age 51 – not to fall into the same predicament. What’s more, he wrote a book chronicling his experience called Piano Lessons: Music, Love, and True Adventure.


It took Adams a year before he could sit down and play composer Robert Schumann’s “Traumerei” for his wife as a Christmas present. Along the way, he experimented with software-based teaching instructions, a private tutor, and finally, a vacation holed away at a music camp in Vermont.

Hard to Find Time

At 51, Adams’ struggle was to make time for a hobby that would add significant emotional quality to his life. “There’s a theme of desperation to the book,” he explains. “It doesn’t have to do with music. It has to do with a busy person trying to hang onto, or reclaim part of his life, to add beauty in some way.”

Adams highlights a growing phenomenon of people in the second half of life tapping into different strengths, focusing on new creative outlets. “Contrary to a common stereotype about aging, creativity often increases when people get older,” says Dr. Gene Cohen, director of the Center on Aging Health, and Humanities at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. “Older people returning to the classroom is an escalating phenomenon.”

Old Dogs, New Tricks

Cohen, who has been studying creativity for a book to be published next fall by Avon Books (Creativity and Aging: Unleashing Human Potential in the Second Half of Life), says that seniors are at an age in which they are very comfortable with themselves and therefore are more likely to take risks and experiment.

“Retirement is a boon to creativity,” says Cohen. “It acts just as a patron of the arts would in that it is a time in life of reduced responsibilities and increased financial security. For the first time in many people’s lives, they finally have the time and the means to explore their creative potential.”

Despite the stereotype that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, Cohen has found lifelong creativity to be the rule rather than the exception. “When I looked over the data on a landmark study of folk art by the Smithsonian Institution, I found that a large percentage of folk artists are elderly people.”


Four Types
Cohen divided his study into four types of creative seniors:

  • those who were continuing their lifelong creativity,
  • those who had been creative but were now exploring a new outlet,
  • those who were commencing with creativity now that they finally had the time and opportunity,
  • and those for whom loss or grief led to refocusing on new creative outlets.

“The perfect example is Grandma Moses,” says Cohen. “She lost her husband when she turned 67 and took up needlepoint embroidery. At 78, she developed arthritis and could no longer work with needlepoint. So she turned to painting, which she did to world acclaim until age 101. Her last painting was called “Rainbow.” She was a tremendously optimistic person.”

Learning From the Experts
Creativity has a simple definition: It means bringing something new into existence, be it a perspective, an idea, a product, or an accomplishment. But don’t worry that because you have grown older, your creativity is bound to diminish. It’s not!

Leading researchers in brain anatomy point to the importance of dendrites – hair-like tendrils that allow brain cells to communicate with each other. Dendrites continue to grow throughout life and in fact, grow more when brain activity is stimulated and challenged.

“People who find activities that are stimulating, entertaining, and even have a social context, tend to have the most robust mental responses,” says Dr. Gene Cohen.


Stimulating Creative Activity
If you want to set out on the road to creative expression, consider these tips:

  • Make it a fun challengeExplore activities that will pose a challenge to you and are also fun. “It’s hard to get motivated to do the things you should do,” says Cohen. “As Albert Einstein said, ‘Love makes a better tutor than duty.’”
  • It's like exerciseMake the analogy between physical and mental exercise – you’ve got to sweat to derive maximum benefit. In other words, using your noggin helps make you smarter.
  • Make it socialTurn your goal into a social experience. Maybe you will need a private tutor. Perhaps you’ll join a class. Or take up a new activity and learn it with a grandchild. “You have an option of layering a social engagement on top of a learning experience. And that is extremely motivating and pleasurable,” says Cohen.

To learn how to play the piano, try out these resources:
  • Community music schools.  For locations, write the National Guild of Community Music Schools, Box 8018, Englewood, NJ 07631.
  • Adult-education centers.  Programs may include group classes at night or classes for senior citizens.
  • Piano stores.  Dealers may conduct group lessons, have studios on their premises, or recommend teachers.
  • Tapes and CD-ROMs.  Explore piano-teaching audio tapes, videocassettes, and computer software programs.
  • Music Teachers National Association.  This professional group gives out a free directory of certified members. Write MTNA, 617 Vine St., Suite 1432, Cincinnati, OH 45202.

When considering a piano teacher, be sure to interview the person before signing up. Ask about their professional background, whether they have any music degrees, and how much experience they have working with adults versus children. Once you have worked out the details on price and schedule, you’re on your way.
  


 
quotations - contents - welcome page - obstacles
our current e-zine - the people behind the words - articles and excerpts
Daily Meditations, Year One - Year Two - Year Three - Year Four
     

Sign up for your free daily spiritual or general quotation
~ ~ Sign up for your free daily meditation

   

  
tm

All contents © Living Life Fully, all rights reserved.

   

We have some inspiring and motivational books that may interest you.  Our main way of supporting this site is through the sale of books, either physical copies or digital copies for your Amazon Kindle (including the online reader).  All of the money that we earn through them comes back to the site in one way or another.  Just click on the picture to the left to visit our page of books, both fiction and non-fiction!

   

       

Yes, life can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's actually rather dependable and reliable.  Some principles apply to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning.  I use it a lot when I teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.  What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or generous, compassionate or arrogant?  In this book, I've done my best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life, writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.  Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too!
Universal Principles of Living Life Fully.  Awareness of these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration out of the lives we lead.

     

Explore all of our quotations pages--these links will take you to the first page of each topic, and those pages will contain links to any additional pages on the same topic.

HOME - contents - Daily Meditations - abundance - acceptance - achievement - action - adversity
advertising - aging - ambition- anger - anticipation - anxiety - apathy - appreciation - arrogance
art - attitude - authenticity - awakening - awareness - awe - balance - beauty - being yourself
beliefs - body - brooding - busyness - caring - celebration - challenges -
change - character
charity - children - choices - Christianity - coincidence - commitment - common sense - community
comparison
- compassion - competition - complaining - compliments - compromise - confidence
conformity - conscience - contentment - control - cooperation - courage -
covetousness
creativity - crisis - criticism - cruelty -  death - decisions - desire - determination - disappointment
discipline - discouragement - diversity - doubt - dreams - earth - education - ego - emotions
encouragement - enlightenment - enthusiasm - envy - eternity - ethics - example - exercise
experience - failure - faith - fame - family - fate - fathers - fault-finding - fear - feelings - finances
flowers - forgiveness - freedom - friendship - frustration - fun - the future - garden of life - gardening
generosity - gentleness - giving - goals - God - goodness - grace - gratitude - greatness - greed - grief
growing up - guilt - habit - happiness - hatred - healing - health - heart - helpfulness - home
honesty - hope - hospitality - humility - hurry - ideals - identity - idleness  - idolatry - ignorance
illusion - imagination - impatience - individuality - the inner child - inspiration - integrity - intimacy
introspection - intuition - jealousy - journey of life - joy - judgment - karma - kindness - knowledge
language - laughter - laziness - leadership - learning - letting go - life - listening - loneliness
love - lying - magic - marriage - materialism - meanness - meditation - mindfulness - miracles
mistakes - mistrust - moderation - money - mothers - motivation - music - mystery - nature
negative attitude - now - oneness - open-mindedness - opportunity - optimism - pain - parenting
passion - the past - patience - peace - perfectionism - perseverance - perspective - pessimism
play - poetry - positive thoughts - possessions - potential - poverty - power - praise - prayer
prejudice - pride - principle - problems - progress - prosperity - purpose - racism - reading -recreation
reflection - relationships - religion - reputation - resentment - respect - responsibility - rest
revenge - risk - role models - running - ruts - sadness - safety - seasons of life - self - self-love
self-pity - self-reliance - self-respect selfishness - serving others - shame - silence - simplicity
slowing down - smiles -solitude - sorrow - spirit - stories - strength - stress - stupidity - success
suffering - talent - the tapestry of life - teachers - thoughts - time - today - tolerance - traditions
trees - trust - truth - unfulfilled dreams - values - vanity - virtue - vulnerability - walking - war
wealth - weight issues - wisdom - women - wonder - work - worry - worship - youth - Zen sayings

spring
- summer - fall - winter
Christmas - Thanksgiving - New Year - America
Native American wisdom - The Law of Attraction
obstacles to living life fully - e-zine archives - quotations contents
our most recent e-zine - Great Thinkers - the people behind the words - articles & excerpts