realllllyy newbie here

hi all...im new here and new to piano too.
just wanted to make sure im not wasting my time. so question....is it possible to learn piano at 56 years of age with no experience? i play guitar fair, but would really like to start playing piano.

thanx

fred

It is very possible indeed. It's highly unlikely you will become an amazing virtuoso , but it should be possible for anybody to learn piano

oh lol i dont want to be anything like that. i just would like to be able to plink out a few songs for my own, and maybe others enjoyment around the BBQ or the like.

thanx.. im looking at some used casios on craigslist. pretty good deals.

Lex Luthor, Smallville "It's never to late to learn a new skill".

Myself picked up sculpting in january ( digital clay with Zbrush ), I'm only 22 tho, but I wasnt too young when I started playing the piano for real either at 19.

I bet anyone can learn anything nomatter age, but you have to adjust to your age. Brain is slower, and body is stiffer ( can be "prevented" by doing quiz and jogging ^_^ )

Maybe the only difficulty you may find is that the bones of your hands will have developed into what they are. Therefore, for smaller handed people over a certain age, I've found that they may have difficult in stretching to reach beyond an octave.

However, anyone can start learning the piano at any age. Within a number of months you should be able to enjoy playing to yourself or others. Remember, it's only 12 notes repeated in similar patterns.

It’s never to late to start playing an instrument. You can start by finding a teacher or enrolled in your local community center or colleges. Learning and playing an instrument can help you mind to stay alert and remain active which will eventually help sharpens the memory.

Playing an instrument can be fun and it will help you break away from stress and make you feel more relax. In the beginning, it may be a little frustrating but after you mastered your first piece of music, you will feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement. It is a lot of hard work but playing an instrument is also fun. The better you are at it, you’ll be able to share it with your friends and families, sharing the joy of music. Just keep practicing and you’ll be amazed at the progress.

Yoke Wong
Take Your Piano Playing To The Next Level
http://www.pianomother.com

There's plenty of progress you can make at any point in your life, IMO. Your brain is plastic, and essentially designed to be malleable. You apparently do get somewhat more set in your ways the longer you go, but nobody ever outgrows the ability to change. If you put in practice, find things that you enjoy doing at a piano (which is incredibly important; you'll get much, much further if you enjoy what you're doing and look forward to getting to a keybaord), and find time to work on it daily, you'll make progress. I'd recommend starting with learning chord construction and connected chords (C, F, G and A minor are a good, easy start), because the basics of harmonic construction are a lot more engaging, in my mind, than learning single note melody lines.

You (and I) might enjoy reading a book by Norman Doidge, called The Brain that Changes Itself. You can 'look inside' at Amazon. They are discovering heretofore unknown levels of plasticity in the brains of codgers, geezers, and oldsters of every stripe. lol At 43 I'm in the same boat, just want to learn about music, make some music with the instrument.

Didn't see this post before.
For anyone else "in the same boat" out there, I just want to say, that I am 56 years old as well. I started last year (never played before), but had to take a long break, so I have about 7 months of active playing now. I'm not taking any lessons, I learn from Andrew and from reading theory on the internet, and from "just playing". I am now able to play some real nice tunes, and I have loads of fun doing it.

Yes, there are some disadvantages. Joints are a bit more stiff, and I have rather small hands too, so one octave is the max for me, but that's ok, I can still play most of the music I set my mind on.

It's NEVER too late.