How Old is Too Old (to start Music Lessons)

“I always wanted to be able to play music”
“Why don’t you start?”
“Oh no, I’m too old now”

Does this sound familiar to you?

This is something I have heard…probably thousands of times in the last 20 years.  Usually from people who are barely into their 30s.

There seems to be a very strange attitude towards learning new skills – but especially learning music, specifically – in that you simply MUST start young, or you lose some magical window of opportunity.  But what if I was to tell you…..there is no expiry date on that magical window of opportunity?

It’s true, I promise.

Of course, there are benefits to starting early – childhood is when our brains are at their most absorbent, hoovering up information like some kind of voracious sponge.  Childhood tends to be when we are our least self-conscious, so making mistakes is a piece of cake.  Learning very early in childhood is only relevant if you had aspirations of becoming a world-class professional.  Starting in childhood also means you have a head start on other adults the same age as you. 

BUT

That doesn’t mean that you somehow run out of space in your brain as soon as you turn 18.  We are constantly able to learn and absorb new information, throughout the entirety of our lives.  The self-awareness we have as adults can actually be more helpful to the learning process, because we aren’t simply doing things because we think we have to (or because teacher said) – we are now able to understand WHY we are doing The Thing.

A big factor of adult learning is – you know its whether it’s something that you actually want to do.  So many kids come in to music lessons because their parents think it’s a great idea. For the most part it is.  But nothing can make learning feel arduous quite like being forced to do something you don’t enjoy.

Much like choosing to have ice cream for dinner, you can do what you want because you’re an adult.

Here at Prelude, we have a very healthy quota of adult beginners learning with us, and I’d like to think it’s because we encourage a safe space for all our learners, regardless of age or ability.  Our oldest are beginners in their 70s.

In short – there is NO upper age limit to starting to learn an instrument.  Age is just a number – your ability to pick up a new skill is dependent only on yourself.