Over the years, I’ve seen many people of all ages start to learn piano, quit piano, become amazing players, suck, and everything in between. Through my own experience, as well as the experiences of my peers, family, friends, and colleagues, I’ve noticed patterns that I hope can shed some light onto the issue of your age affecting whether you can learn piano.
You can learn piano at any age. Age is not a determining factor in whether you can learn piano; commitment and passion for the instrument are the traits you must possess in order to succeed. Commitment and passion may vary for different age groups, but cannot be predicted by age.
In this article I’ll go into further detail on how age, commitment, and passion can determine your success. There will stories, anecdotes, and other information to help you determine if you’ll be able to learn to play.
You Can Learn Piano At Any Age… If You Really Want To
I can confidently say that that what really determines if you can learn piano is commitment and passion, because I’ve seen so many people quit playing. Every time, regardless of age, or any personal characteristics, they quit because they were never really into it.
What does this mean for you? Do some soul searching and try to really figure out why you want to learn. Is it because you’re bored? Maybe because you want to impress someone? Prove to yourself you can accomplish it? Or is it because you just love watching people play, you love the sound of the instrument, and you love music? If it’s not the last answer listed above, it’s very likely you won’t last. Again, this applies at any age.
If you do happen to be a middle-aged adult or older, make sure to ask yourself why you haven’t started learning yet. If you’ve always wanted to learn, but logistical barriers like money, your work schedule, family, or owning a piano stopped you, then there’s still hope. Find creative ways to surpass these barriers, like teaching yourself or buying a cheap piano/keyboard, and get started soon. Check out my article on techniques to teach yourself and considerations for purchasing an instrument for further information.
However, there may be other reasons you haven’t started yet. You may be able to find various excuses for why you’re putting it off. They may be disguised as valid excuses like time, money, family. Only you can know whether your subconscious is telling you that learning piano isn’t right for you. If it isn’t – that’s OK! There’s so many hobbies, arts, skills, and passions in the world that may suit you better.
I’m going to very blunt with you – if you haven’t figured out a way to make it happen, you likely never wanted to learn. Don’t kid yourself, don’t fool yourself, and don’t put pressure on yourself to achieve piano skills one day when you don’t really want them.
On the other hand, there may be exceptions to this rule. What I’d say is if you’re able to take a couple lessons, try messing around, watch a couple tutorials, because you’ve got nothing to lose. You may be surprised to find that you form a connection to the instrument and practicing that you didn’t anticipate. If not, at least you now know it’s not for you!
For further reading on deciding whether learning piano is right for you (regardless of your age), check out this article.
Can You Get Good At Piano If You Start Late?
You can get very good at piano no matter what age you start at. Getting good requires time, diligence, and consistency, all of which can be applied at any age.
Overall, I’d say that of all the things you could see as barriers that prevent you from becoming a good piano player, age should not be considered. It’s definitely difficult to improve your skills, and any person at any stage in life is going to have to put in some serious work.
I’ve seen several older folks start learning piano, and never get any good. Usually, they find excuses for their results, and say they should have started learning earlier. ‘It’s my parents fault, they didn’t get me piano lessons’ they’ll say. What really happened is that they didn’t practice that much, didn’t focus, didn’t identify ways to practice that they enjoyed, got impatient, and gave up.
Overall, I see why the question of starting piano late is widely asked – it’s definitely more common that any given skilled piano player started young. From what I’ve seen, this is because adults have more creative tools to convince themselves that quitting is logically justified (Work is my priority anyways, my family needs my attention, etc). Also, it’s important to remember that a lot of kids quit as well. It’s just a lot more common to start playing as a kid because of parental influence, and so it follows from the numbers that most people playing today started as a kid.
No matter when you start, it will take time to improve. Check out my article on how long it takes to master piano here for further information.
At What Age Should You Start Learning Piano?
The best age to start learning piano is around age 5 or 6. The second best age to start learning piano is whatever age you are right now. Overall, starting age is less important than commitment, consistency, and passion for learning the instrument.
There’s a common perception that there’s a period of time that’s appropriate to start learning piano, and if you miss it, you’ve missed it for good. I think this has a sliver of truth to it, but is definitely not the hard and fast rule.
Those who start learning piano as a young kid do have one big advantage – brains are more plastic at that age, and the improvements they make tend to stick better. You see the same phenomenon for young kids who learn new languages at young ages – kids can pick up fluency in an entirely new language, including the correct accent, in a couple years maximum.
However, this does not mean older and kids, young adults, and older adults cannot learn and become very good. The principles of hard work and dedication still apply, and contribute much more to your skill level than your brain plasticity. In other words, a young child who practices a little bit will be much worse than an adult who practices a lot.
I still recommend starting as early as possible though. The earlier you start, the more playing piano will become part of your identity. This makes it more fun and easier to stay committed.
Is It Harder to Learn Piano When You’re Older?
It is slightly harder to learn piano at an older age than a younger age. This is because the brain is less primed for learning new skills, and habits apart from practicing piano have solidified over time. However, this disadvantage can be completely overcome with diligence and commitment to practicing.
At an older age, sometimes it’s hard to introduce a new habit like practicing piano since your routines have been set for many years. In addition, this period of life is usually not accompanied by learning of brand new skills, since older people have already mastered so many things.
Overall, although these are disadvantages, I believe that they can be overcome quite simply. Any older person who practices diligently and consistently will most definitely get good over time. Ironically, the exact same advice applies to young kids trying to learn – aside from slight differences between young kids and older adults, both groups of people will face the same challenges to learn piano.
Every Starting Age Brings Unique Benefits and Challenges
| Age | Benefits | Challenges |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5 | N/A | This is REALLY young – with a few rare exceptions, kids almost never start this early. The first challenge is that kids this young have very short attention spans, and probably won’t have the motivation to practice. Not to mention, they might not be big enough to climb up onto the piano bench and press the keys! I started hoisting my body up onto the bench and banging on the keys before age 5, but didn’t begin trying to play actual music until around 5. |
| 5-10 | This is a great age to start because the mind of a young child is really malleable. In the same way that little kids learn new languages better than adults, they may also learn the language of music better. | Attention spans and motivation may not be very high for young kids, and some students may resist practicing. In addition, musical tastes usually develop a little later, and these kids may not appreciate the music they are playing yet. |
| 11-13 | Kids that start at these ages usually have developed their personalities and tastes to the point that they can define what they want to learn, and why they want to get better. | Ah, middle school. There’s a lot of growing pains and distractions at this age, especially socially. In addition, some students may start to worry about school and grades more than music. This can detract from practice sessions, or picking up the instrument in the first place. |
| 14-17 | High school students, by this time, have become more diligent and more patient due to their academic demands. These skillsets will help immensely for students who decide to start learning piano. Kids starting here may gain momentum quicker and end up staying with it. | Kids that start at this age may see others who started earlier, and be discouraged that they’ve started too late. Also, they’ll see that those with a head start are much better than them, which can be discouraging as well. A lot of the time, the student may have already found some other hobbies, which take away time from the piano. |
| 18-23 | N/A | College age is a tough time to start playing. In college, there’s a ton of other demands like academics, and learning independence and living in the real world. For people not in school, early career struggles may play a role as well. I wouldn’t recommend adding learning piano to the mix here. |
| 24-30 | By this time, adults have developed themselves into (relatively) competent people, who understand that good things in life take hard work. If piano is something you want to pick up now, it’s likely that you will have the life experience to understand how to learn a new skill. | Sometimes, at this age budgets can be limited. You may worry about taking piano lessons or buying an instrument, both of which are big advantages to learning. If you choose to teach yourself, you may give up without the proper guidance (check out my article on teaching yourself to avoid this). If you go cheap on your instrument, you may not enjoy playing it (check out my article on how much to spend and whether you should buy a piano for reference). |
| 30-65 | At this point in time, hopefully your pockets are more full than they’ve ever been, and you’ve figured out how to design your lifestyle and schedule to your liking. Learning piano as a way to round out your adult life can be really rewarding at this age, and experienced adults will have the self-knowledge to design their practice routine with maturity. As a bonus, you have increased ability to afford a nice instrument and piano lessons if you want. | Many adults will make excuses at these ages due to the conflicting priorities they face (career, kids, family, etc.). In some rare cases, these conflicts may actually be so prevalent that adults may not even have a few minutes left in their day anywhere to practice. |
| 65+ | Contrary to popular opinion, this is an amazing age to start learning. You have a plethora of life experience, wealth that you’ve built over the years, and so much free time compared to your working days. | At this age, with so much life experience, many people become set in their ways. After 50 years of not practicing piano, it may be hard to start practicing and learning something new. |