It's really tough for me to answer that, since I (like you) started playing at about age 4 (I'm just about 44)...
But I can say why I continue to play as an adult. I love music, and the piano is the most sonically complex instrument (I also play bass guitar, guitar, trumpet) so it has a deep intellectual component. There is also the challenge that I put before me to try and tackle some very advanced pieces - I know that my jack of all trades style and several breaks from playing the keys for years has left my technique proabaly beyond repair, I still try and press the boundaries to 1) learn more about how some of this great music was put together and try to apply those lessons to my own improvisations and compositions, and 2) sometimes I "re-learn" or "re-awaken" some old techical abilities.
I would gather that some adults start because they have the $ to buy a beautiful grand piano for their living room and feel obligated to try and learn, and some really feel like they missed an oportunity to learn how to do something they always wanted to do. It takes all kinds.
Thanks for your reflective response. I know that I continue to play because of a deep love of music and the glory of the sounds I can create. Marvelous, isn't it?
I began as an adult a little over a year ago. The motivation was simple - a love of music, and a desire to express my emotions through music. I simply lacked the opportunity to take lessons as a child. I would say better late then ever, and I would recommend it to anyone. I have not regretted by decision to start learning for a second.
My wife decied to start playing piano as an adult. As a child it was never offered to her. However, her first husband was a terrific piano player, bless him. Soon after marrying me she mentioned it would be nice to play the piano, and she has three to choose from, so lessons she got.
I think there are a lot of young people today who are not given an opportunity to explore music. Some because the schools do not present it anymore, some because the instrument they want to play they are nto allowed to play (so they give it up altogether), and some because their parents are ignorant to music. As these younger people interact with the world and the people in the world they become enamoured with what a given individual can do with a guitar or piano and develop a feeling of wanting to participate, even if it is just playing for themeselves at home.
A lot of the time I feel that the music I present is at it's best when I am most mechanichal, and I am at my best when I recognize that the unstrument I am interfacing with is a machine.
It is a weird dichotomy. It has been interesting to read about a few adults getting into paying.
It is interesting that you feel you play the best when you are more mechanical. Maybe you've not yet gotten to the stage that you can free yourself from the notes and notations on the page. I think once you have accomplished this you might feel a more emotional response to your playing.
You think you play best when your are most mechanical? Hmmm, perhaps you mean you are most exact, or most attentive, or most decisive. The piano IS a machine as is every other instrument. When I regulate a piano action I do so by strict measurements. If everything is correct and working well, then the action will worked as it is intended to. The machine/piano is set factory tolerences that the manufacturer has spent millions of dollars researching. Seldom do I vary from the manufacturer specs. Tuning is a bit different depending on what music the customer might like to play.
Also remember that music is mostly mathematic formulas, and they are very exact.
So, your 'mechanicalness' may be just you being exact with what you want to do and results in a beatiful expression of music.
John - maybe that's more correct, that it's the precision that I'm confusing with being "mechanical". As for Dr. J's comment - I usually don't use notated music, or if I have it it's often a crutch. If I am actually trying to read I do my best to do what's instructed.
The original comment stems from times where I can become too "enmeshed" in the sentiments of the song I'm playing and too emotional. It's not just a piano thing - recently a sister of mine passed away at too young an age, and I've written most of a song for her...when I tried playing with my acoustic guitar buddy I got choked up. Perhaps understandable, but it's not like I never played the song - I had already written it!
My brother-in-law bought a piano, he took 1 lesson and quit playing. For him I guess it just seemed like a good idea at the time, but not really something he was drawn to!
Interesting to take only one lesson then quit. Something really must have hit him wrong - wonder if he suddenly realized playing the piano was going to involve some commitment, time and energy? or if he didn't like the sound of his new piano??
Dr. J - it's the same as I spewed at length about in the "Piano Memories" thread - the guy who gave up with one lesson didn't like the sound of his playing. He thought that it looked easy and was stunned to find out that it really isn't. A lot of people are averse to actually trying hard and taking the appropriate time to learn a skill. Turning on the iPod was far simpler and gratifying.
I would dispute, and I'd hope you all agree with me, that turning on an iPod is nowhere near as gratifying as actually making the music yourself. Easier, yes. More gratifying? No, definitely not. I love playing the piano, even though it's not my best instrument.
Making music myself is far more gratifying to me than listening to any type of recording. Attending live concerts is more gratifying than recorded music - but number one still is creating music myself even though it involves hours, days, months and years of work and effort. I must say it has personally been worth it!
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