Can I still learn piano if I am 21?

What are you thinking – of course you can’t! Playing the piano is very difficult and only a select group of particularly young children are allowed to start lessons every year. Piano teachers get very cross when ‘old’ people try to learn to play and if you even dare to ask if you can have lessons you will be subjected to much embarrassing ridicule.

NO, NO…….

Of course you can learn piano at 21, and at any age (well, maybe you need to be old enough to sit up on your own and big enough to reach the keys from the piano stool).  I’ve taught lots of adults and most of them have reached a very respectable standard. My oldest student was in her 70s and she learnt to play many standard classical pieces as well as much contemporary music (by popular piano composers such as Ludovico Einaudi).

However, don’t assume that as an adult you will progress much more quickly than a youngster. You will needs lots of patience and commitment over a number of years. Children and young teens have parents who generally make sure they do their practice each week and don’t give up when the going gets tough. But adults have to discipline themselves and often have many more demands on their time. Just remember: we usually like and enjoy what we’re good at. And how do we get good at something? Practice.