It’s Never Too Late for Tickling the Ivory

After her high school graduation in 1918, Edith Levy stopped taking piano lessons. But when she started a part-time job as a receptionist at Chicago’s Sherwood Conservatory of Music two years ago, she got the idea to resume piano study--nearly 70 years later.

“The piano had always been an important part of my life, and there I was in an environment where people were playing the music I’d always loved most: classical music,” says Levy, now 87.

Having completed a group piano class and begun biweekly private lessons, her current project is a complex piece by Bach. “As my granddaughter puts it, I’ve never been the kind of grandmother who just sits at home and knits,” she says. “I enjoy being active, and playing the piano gives me that opportunity.”

One of Levy’s fellow students at the conservatory is Weldon Hall, 67, who began piano study while in his 50s. Now that he’s retired, Hall spends more time than ever practicing the piano--about 90 minutes a day.

“I never could have found that much time to practice while I was working,” he says. “Now I have a real sense of accomplishment because I’ve mastered some very difficult pieces--and I’ve overcome my shyness about playing in front of other people.”

Brenda Dillon, a Dallas-based piano teacher who teaches several older adults, believes self-confidence is the most important factor determining whether or not they succeed at piano study.

“There’s a myth that older people have lesser abilities to memorize and perform, and that’s just what it is -- a myth,” she insists. “The only handicap I see in older piano students is that sometimes they start believing the myth themselves.”

Dillon reminds her older students that whatever physical difficulties they may have, technical problems can be found in piano students of all ages, “and with older people, often their great enthusiasm and self-discipline more than makes up for any physical challenges they may have.”