Why would people of a certain age — say, over 50 — decide to learn to play a musical instrument? Perhaps it’s on their bucket list, or a passing fancy from watching online videos. Whatever the reason, like learning another language, playing music can benefit older people physically, mentally and emotionally, and improve relationships with others.
Sue Daniel (78) had no previous music training. One day 13 years ago she heard flute maker Michael Goodluck at the Highland Center and fell in love with the sound of the instrument. She doesn’t read music, but learned to play through diagrams of the flute’s holes and finger placement. Six months of lessons with Goodluck and a stint at a flute school in Zion National Park gave her skills enough to improvise and create her own songs.
Daniel now owns several flutes. “I love how they make me feel inside. Especially the low flute. I feel like I’m in heaven. I know my heart rate goes down.”
She is teaching an 82-year-old man with “brain issues.” Over two or three weeks, he was able to move his fingers in sequence to play a scale. “He is learning to be patient with himself as he gets better on the flute. He’s talking more to his friends and is more social,” Daniel said.
This confirms what research on older adults engaging in music indicates: playing an instrument improves communication skills and memory. It stimulates the growth of new brain cells and uses both sides of the brain. Think about it – the hands strum, beat, pluck, shake. The ears are fully engaged, as are the eyes if you’re reading music or following a conductor.
Making music releases dopamine, improves mood and reduces anxiety. It builds confidence, strengthens concentration, and can be a form of meditation. New musicians welcome new friendships. Shy people learn how to express themselves. Music therapy helps dementia patients and in stroke recovery. Music heals the soul.
Patience, discipline, persistence and regular practice add to a sense of achievement and enjoyment. Some people are self-motivated and able to diligently apply themselves, whether by trial and error, videos or beginner books. Others need a teacher.
Former Prescott Valley resident Paul Nyman (50) acknowledges that he is not a self-starter; he tried to learn guitar on his own. “I’m one of those people who likes to have an instructor. It helps keep me centered, gives me objectives, and holds me accountable,” he said.
While Nyman liked to sing as a youngster, he now thinks it was his inability to keep a beat and memorize music that frustrated him. “I can’t keep a beat,” he said with a laugh. “Hence the reason my dancing is very poor.”
Fifteen months ago his now twelve-year-old son Oliver took up classical guitar. “Oliver learns and then he teaches me. He’s outrun me by a long shot.” They play duets together, which Nyman describes as exhilarating.
It’s not unusual for adults to want to learn an instrument when their child or teen is taking lessons, said Meg Bohrman, Prescott musician and music therapist. Some of her older students are returning to music after a stint with piano or violin in their youth. Some had teachers who slapped at their hands or said they had no talent.
“The message was ‘I’m not good enough,’ and they quit. Being told you’re no good as a child stays with you,” Bohrman said. “A lot of my work is creating a safe atmosphere, addressing the stories already present, and deconstructing them. Children have no inhibitions, but in adults, they all have inhibitions. It’s ‘expression anxiety.’ If you approach students from a place of compassion and nonperfection, they’re going to excel no matter what.”
Bohrman had a student about to turn 90 who loved to sing. The woman wanted to be able to sit at the piano and sing and play, not read notes, before she died; she wondered if it was within reach. “In the handful of lessons she had, she got the skills to play music and sing,” Bohrman said.
With age come physical changes and challenges — arthritis in the hands and fingers, hearing loss, poor eyesight. Bohrman said vision loss actually can be beneficial as it changes the paradigm of bringing music from the outside in. “Music is experienced now as somethin listened to and played from the inside out.”
Sukey Jones played her grandfather’s clarinet as a fifth-grader because her family couldn’t afford drums. Today, at 76, she’s taking drum lessons from percussionist Maria Flurry. It’s challenging and lots of fun, even learning drum vocabulary like pataflafla, dragadiddle and ratamacue. “Doing the rhythms comes easily, but my arms and hands don’t cooperate as quickly as a younger person’s might,” Jones said.”
She uses workbooks, but when she wants to learn a particular Latin beat like a rhumba, Flurry gives it her. “Then I go off on my own thing, and she supports that,” Jones said. “It’s so good for my brain. I’m doing the bass with my foot, cymbals with one hand and snare with another, all with different rhythms. It’s like tapping your head and rubbing your stomach. You really have to concentrate. It’s such a thrill.”
Jones’ advice to anyone considering learning an instrument is, “Go for it. If it’s something you’ve always wanted to do, now’s the time.”
(Maria Flurry is not accepting new students at this time. — ed.)
