Is 40 too old to learn the piano?

It is never too late to learn to play — that is the first line on our home page, and it is not a slogan. At 40, 50 or 65 you can learn to read music, play with both hands and enjoy the pieces you love. You probably won’t start a career as a concert pianist, but that is rarely what an adult beginner wants.

At the start, adults often move faster than children. You understand explanations the first time, you link a new idea to what you already know, and you chose to be here: nobody sent you to lessons. Theory that takes a child months — how notes, intervals and chords fit together — an adult often grasps in a few lessons.

• Hands. At first your fingers may be less flexible and less independent. Short, regular practice and relaxed hands help more than force; the stiffness eases as you play regularly.
• Memory. Learning a piece by heart may take longer. Adults make up for it with understanding: once you know a piece’s chords and shape, it is easier to remember than note by note.
• Time. Work and family come first, so practice has to fit into a busy week. That is exactly why short sessions on most days work better than one long one on Sunday.
• Self-criticism. Adults hear the gap between how it sounds and how they want it to sound, and are often too hard on themselves. Mistakes are part of learning, at any age.

Everyone moves at their own speed, so take this as a direction rather than a promise. With a lesson every week and a little practice on most days, a first year often looks something like this:

1. First month: how to sit and hold your hands, finding notes on the keyboard, first short tunes with each hand, first notes on the staff, and a little improvising.
2. Around three months: both hands together in simple pieces, reading in the treble and bass clefs, a steady rhythm.
3. Around six months: simple chords to accompany a song, easy arrangements of music you like, the pedal.
4. Around a year: a few pieces you can play for other people — perhaps at a music evening, or on a video at home.

If you played as a child, you will often move faster: reading and finger skills come back sooner than people expect.

For adults, regularity beats length. Fifteen minutes on most days does more than two hours once a week, and 15–20 minutes a day is enough to move much faster than playing in lessons alone.

• Keep the instrument open and in sight: if it takes a minute to get ready, you will play less often.
• Start with something easy and familiar, then play the hardest two bars slowly — not the whole piece from the top, again and again.
• Practise each hand on its own before putting them together.
• End with something you enjoy playing: motivation is part of practice too.

No instrument at home yet? That need not stop you starting: adults can learn in the lessons alone, if slower progress is fine. And when you decide to buy, our guide “How to choose a first piano” will help.

The studio’s lessons are designed first of all for adults and teenagers from 12. They are one to one, in English, Lithuanian or Russian, at times agreed individually.

We set the goal together — a song for a family celebration, or Chopin’s preludes — and choose the repertoire together, adapting the pieces you love to your level at no extra cost. There are no long-term contracts: you pay only for the lessons you attend.

At the first lesson we talk about your goals, see what you know (or start from zero), you learn a first short tune, and we agree what to practise. More on piano lessons for adults.

Note names and music terms are explained briefly in our glossary.