Piano Instruction for Adult Students

After many years of teaching piano to both adults and children, I came to the decision to focus primarily on mature students, and here’s why.

Although it is generally accepted that youth is best suited for acquiring new skills, I believe that the two most important factors in determining the success of your studies are a) your motivation and b) your ability to realize and enjoy the rewards that come with your progress.

If the goal is to simply acquire keyboard skills, then a child will indeed advance much more quickly than an adult. There are many factors in favor of this:  superior mental acuity, memory, manual dexterity, reflexes, etc. No less important is a child’s willingness to accept instruction without critical thinking, and the absence of inhibition or concern about the rate of his/her progress.

But if we remind ourselves that music is just another language, and as such, is a means to express our inner world to others, then it becomes quite clear that an adult would indeed have a lot more to say musically than a child. For mature piano students, investing their life’s emotional and intellectual knowledge into their music results in a much more rewarding experience than it does for children. No less importantly, teaching that happens to be the part of my work that I enjoy the most.