It's never too late

to learn to play a musical instrument. Granted, after a certain age when arthritis sets in,playing an instrument that requires dexterity with all ten fingers may slow you down. You probably won't become a professional but who says that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I know plenty of older folks who has just recently begun learning to play. Focusing on a new venture in music will certainly keep your mind alert and that bad Alzheimer's far away. Music alone is challenging enough with all those staves, clefs, time signatures, key signatures and not to mention all those notes where you need to use math, let alone learning fingerings, breath control, tonguing and what ever else is involved with specific instruments. Yup, learning to play is definitely a way to go at any age. It even makes you smarter, so I've been told and experienced.

Yeah, I learned to play the accordion at an early age, but I wasn't any good at it. Like any instrument, one needs to learn to focus on the important aspects of learning instead of just trying to make noise, thinking that one is actually accomplishing something. My problem was that I just couldn't focus on anything. There was a lot of other things going on in my head as I was learning the accordion. Several concussions didn't help the matter and hindered my learning process for years.

At 17, I wanted to play the guitar and forced myself to focus on the important aspects of guitar playing but never really go serious with it so after a few years I gave it up. Music college helped me to understand my problems with learning in general. Learning to play other instruments in college helped me  focus on what is most important when sitting down to a practice session. From there I became a music educator and a clinician. I also played other keys like piano and organ professionally and traveled extensively doing gigs and clinics.

When I turned 50, my mind just changed. All I wanted was more input. It was as if I had this great thirst for knowledge which I lacked during my younger days had dominated my life. I wanted to learn stuff I never would have imagined doing as a kid. Around the age of 55-56 I decide that it was time to get back to my guitar. This time it was different. Although I still had some focus issues, I managed to sit down and do very well on the guitar. Here I am at 65 and am learning to play the flugelhorn. Yes, the arthritis is problematic but not as bad as it is on the guitar and keys. I still play them all as the arthritis allows. I also focus on other endeavors when the fingers ache so bad and can't move them as fast.

My point is that focusing on the key aspects of learning any musical instrument can be very rewarding. You may not become as good as me but you will enjoy the ride irregardless. Take a listen to the tune called " a mile high", I play keys, guitar and flugelhorn. I had to use a shallow cup mouthpiece to get the high notes on the flugelhorn.