Reflections on students and age.

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Published on Sunday, 25 November 2007 08:06

Written by Simon Cole

Most adult students are pessimistic about their ability to learn an instrument. I blame conventional thinking, you know  the "can't teach an old dog new tricks” attitude.

Wrong! you can teach an old dog new tricks, I do it every day with students, dogs and myself. Often you hear this from people who ought to know better. They may have given up but that doesn't mean you should!

 In truth most adult students have an easier time learning an instrument than children do. An adult brings a lifetime of experience and a mass of skills that a child just doesn't have. The only thing that gets in the way of the adult student is the “I am too old attitude” don't ever say that around me or it's 50 push ups!

True, as we age reactions and endurance fade BUT very few of us are operating at our full potential. Realize your potential and it more than makes up for any decline due to age. At 51 I have more physical strength, endurance and flexibility than I did at 18.

All children (as in not 18 -21 yet) need a parent to stand over them and make them practice or it's just not going to happen. The part of the brain that process and understands consequence doesn't fully develop until later. The parent has to supply the discipline until it becomes a habit. Once a student has played long enough and got to a certain level the music bug will stick and will be a great part of their lives forever. Have you ever met someone who who told you “ I sure am glad I never learned to play an instrument” ? . I haven't.

I can encourage them and make playing as fun an rewarding as possible but I only see them for 30 minutes out of the 10,080 minutes in a week. Making the student practice is like going to the gym for an adult, you might not feel like it but once you go you feel really good afterwards. We can look ahead to that later feeling children find that more difficult.

Simon