Can Adults Learn Pop Piano, Classical Piano or Jazz Piano?

Adult Piano Lessons

I have had the joy of teaching adults throughout my career and now more than ever, including many who start learning to play the piano as a retirement hobby. The idea that you are ever too old to learn to play the piano is entirely fictitious.

Which Piano Teacher?

A colleague of mine recently said, I’m not ready to retire from teaching yet because I still have the “fire in my belly”! Absolutely, that should be the first trait of any piano teacher! Following covid, you may also wish to consider online or in-person lessons.

Pop Piano, Classical Piano or Jazz Piano?

Well, my response to that question is, do we really need to choose? Play the music that you love on your piano and in your lessons. On Monday of this week I had a teenager learning Claire De Lune by Debussy and another teenager learning Arcade by Duncan Laurence. On Tuesday, I had a more senior piano pupil begging to play Abba on his piano. On Wednesday, I had another piano pupil who wanted to compose a TV Action theme on the piano and a 1980s computer game piano theme! Some pupils wish to create their own piano covers and not to worry about adhering to notation exactly and others wish to go to music college.

Piano Learning Mindset

In some cases, adults learn better because they have the mindset that they should explore things that they don’t understand. They can research information about reading notes, which key to press, whereas some younger pianists are more dependent on being spoon-fed.

The opposite can also be true. Some adults are less tolerant of making mistakes. This can mean that they are persistent and develop good results, but it can also result in pianists who are embarrassed by wrong notes. Good teachers are not there to judge your piano playing, they are there to support and help you evolve. Making mistakes is part of the learning journey from ‘not knowing’ to ‘knowing’.

Equally, our steps on the journey are small each day and sometimes we don’t realise how much we are improving with our piano playing. It can be worth recording yourself playing on your piano when you are relaxed and then several weeks later recording your piano playing again. The result can be a huge emotional boost! The cumulative of many baby steps can be really significant.

Piano Lesson Pedagogy

Having a teacher who has a methodology is important. The ‘art of teaching’ should be a passion. My piano teaching connects the ear with playing the piano, includes playful exploration and piano improvisation and includes notation for those who wish. Every lesson is bespoke to the person. Some pupils wish to learn to play piano via classical examinations, some wish to play pop piano, some improvise, some practice a lot every day, some join with more of a ‘piano club’ idea without having time to play much in the week and some find piano lessons to be their therapy (a fantastic escapism).

When should I start Piano Lessons?

As with all things, procrastination doesn’t get the job done! If you want to learn to play the piano, get a piano, find a piano teacher that is right for you, and play, play play!

If you would like to learn more about different piano lessons take a look at the following pages:

https://www.the-maestro-online.com/piano for a general overview

https://www.the-maestro-online.com/pianolanding for many video lessons and piano covers.

https://www.the-maestro-online.com/piano-lessons-online for the subscription piano lessons library. This allow you to self study.

https://www.the-maestro-online.com/book for the current offer: Book 25% off first lesson.

https://www.the-maestro-online.com/celebrity-music-masterclasses include piano masterclasses from the likes of Madonna’s keyboard player, the Jackson’s pianist and many more.