I’ve taught many adult students over the years. I regularly work with other professional flutists who perform in smaller orchestras, who are teachers, or who are just starting out in their careers. I love getting into the intricacies of topics like pedagogy, peak performance, or the subtle nuances of phrasing and tone color with them. But adult students who are amateurs have a special place in my heart.
I know that there is a genuine love of music and learning to play the flute there – why else take the time, energy and money for flute lessons? I admire my adult students’ dedication and commitment. I’ve had a bunch of students who fit playing the flute into busy careers, and many who are retired. My oldest student was in his 80s!
Their reasons for wanting to play the flute are varied. I’ve had students who say they always wanted to play the flute, but their grade school band director made them play baritone or French horn instead because he needed that instrument to fill out the band. I had one student in her late 20s who hadn’t played since high school but whose childhood dream was to play flute at her wedding, and so we had an intense six-month lesson schedule to allow her to realize her dream. I had a wonderful flute student, Milo, who started studying with me in his late 60s. His kids bought him a used flute at a garage sale and paid for his first couple months of lessons, because after a stress-filled workaholic life and a heart attack, his kids asked him (in the hospital) if there was anything fun he wanted to do; he answered he had always wanted to play the flute again like he did when he was younger. (My eyes are tearing up as I write this.) Milo was an awesome student, and he and his wife Beth were huge supporters of mine over the years. Milo liked to say, “I took a 50-year hiatus from playing the flute!”
Studies have shown that learning an instrument improves memory and can help ward off age-related cognitive decline, among many other benefits. These links can get you started down the rabbit hole of interesting research on the topic.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28521542
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4411999/
Some of my students use playing the flute as an impetus for finding fun new social activities; many have joined adult flute choirs, performed in church, volunteered with the local flute society, or found other amateur musicians with whom to play chamber music. In this day and age when we’re all in danger of becoming more isolated, any new social interaction is a plus.
The biggest challenge I find in my adult students, as many will point out, is finding time in their lives to practice. My retired students, to a person, say they have less time now that they’re retired! I’ve suggested leaving the flute out of the case and assembled, ready to go (I know, recipe for potential disaster if it gets knocked off the table or dresser), and that seems to work with some students, either as a handy reminder or as a tool for guilt-practice, depending on one’s perspective.
Another challenge is realizing that things you think should be on auto-pilot by now have a disconcerting elusiveness. I’m currently studying Spanish, and I have an excellent teacher who encouraged us to speak in Spanish from Day One. But with all my Spanish studies and being in “Spanish mode,” it’s a struggle for the foreign language part of my brain not to go automatically into German. It’s not that I speak German particularly well, or studied it that much, but I had two years of German as a teenager with an excellent teacher who also encouraged conversation, and that is cemented into my brain. But at least this realization makes me extremely empathetic towards my own students!
Fixing bad habits picked up as a youngster is harder after they’ve had years to percolate than nipping them in the bud when they’re fresh. My student Janet (pictured here), who has been studying with me for fifteen years, had played flute as a teenager in her small town in rural North Dakota, with a band director who didn’t know much about the flute. Her motivation in studying privately as an adult was “to get some quality instruction as I had many bad habits to break. I did not know how bad until I started lessons!”
Because many adult students have spent years listening to instrumental music, going to the orchestra, and so forth, they already may have a strong idea of what they want to sound like. They are more critical of their current abilities and less patient with the unfolding nature of learning and improving. “Enjoy the process” is a favorite mantra of mine to share. As Janet points out, “It has been great to see improvement even though slowly in my playing, and it brings great satisfaction to me.”
As a teacher, I’m refreshed by my older adult students. They are an inspiration to me in aging gracefully, in taking the energy to challenge yourself in new, albeit sometimes awkward, ways, and in how to keep learning and growing.
I asked Janet if she had any advice or tips for other adult students, or for anyone thinking of studying an instrument. Her answer was brief but on point: “Not really any tips, except if it is something in your heart, go for it.”