Learning is no longer only the prerogative of the young. Many adults today are not content just to ferry their children to activities or to glow with pride at their grandchildren’s successes: they want to take part themselves. With many people now fortunate enough to have time, energy and financial resources in retirement, instrumental teachers are finding more and more that requests for lessons are coming from adults. Should we treat the adult beginner the same as we would a child or are their needs different? The aim of this article is to view instrumental learning from an adult beginner’s perspective, to discuss the differences between adult and child learners and to suggest ways in which our approach as teachers could better meet the particular needs of the adult learner.

Is the adult instrumental student just a big kid?

Adults are always self-motivated in their desire to learn and invariably arrive at their first lesson with emotions that include excitement and enthusiasm. They may have been inspired by hearing professionals, need a new challenge, want to fill spare time, have a love of music with which they want to be more involved, or have the time finally to do something they’ve always wanted to. The teacher’s responsibility is to ensure that what they learn and experience from the start reinforces the wisdom of their decision to learn.

Children can often have far-reaching targets for their musical progress: perhaps to pass as many grades as possible or even to be famous! Adults’ aspirations, in contrast, tend to be much less ambitious. Some do choose to work towards exams, though for many, nerves increase in line with birthdays, and teachers must recognise students’ feelings of frustration and disappointment when the piece, played so beautifully at home, is barely under control in the exam. Many adults speak of wanting primarily to play for pleasure and for a sense of achievement. They hope to collect a repertoire of pieces which they can enjoy playing. A more distant dream might be to have the skill to open any book of music and play any piece straight through. But do these aims affect the way in which we should teach them?

The detail and polish we require from students preparing a piece for an examination might not be appropriate for an adult learning for pleasure. Lehmann & Papoušek (2003) suggest that the traditional ‘mastery-oriented’ teachers might well have to readjust their approach for adult students with low performance goals. Of course we still need to encourage our adult students to observe the details of a piece. Adding dynamics, articulation and phrasing will bring out character and style and add to the player’s enjoyment. However, we also need to be aware of when students’ interest in a particular piece might have flagged, since playing many pieces ‘quite well’ may give more pleasure than aiming for perfection in one.

A key difference between children and adult students is that adults are not used to being in a learning situation. Children spend their days being instructed and corrected, and are accustomed to judgements being made of their work. Adults, on the other hand, spend most of their day performing tasks at which they are reasonably proficient. Lack of experience at receiving criticism can lead to feelings of self-consciousness or even anxiety before or during a lesson. If this is the case, could we adapt the style of our teaching to make adults more comfortable?

The traditional style of the individual instrumental lesson tends to be teacher-centred, the routine often consisting of the student performing pieces of music to demonstrate his/her current ability and ideas, followed by the teacher suggesting ways in which the playing could be improved, whether technically or musically. Students are then often asked to attempt the piece or passage in the new way so that teachers can monitor whether their ideas have been understood and accepted. Shifting to a more student-centred lesson would mean encouraging or allowing students to discuss their problems and asking students what they want to work on. Other teacher-researchers have identified the advantages of this approach for all ages, suggesting that it can increase interest, positive attitudes and motivation (Mackworth-Young, 1990).

As well as reviewing lesson format to put adults at their ease, teaching material must also be selected with care to prioritise the goals of enjoyment and sense of achievement. Personal preferences in style must be considered alongside students’ current ability so that they are engaged but not over-challenged. Confidence will stay buoyant and enjoyment increase if the student feels that the music they are working on is ‘manageable’. Furthermore, adult students might be self-conscious about learning an instrument ‘at their age’ - they may worry that they are being unusually slow in picking up the basics and often question whether they are making any progress. Encouragement, reassurance and praise are needed, and in my experience adults react to this even more positively than children.

So far we have reflected on the possible emotional and behavioural effects of the unfamiliarity of the role of student on the adult learner. Next, consideration will be given to features of cognitive ability by suggesting three ways in which the learning characteristics of adults might differ from those of children.

As is recognised by all adult tutor books, adults understand the basic concepts of written music more quickly than children. Children’s progress is graded largely by their ability to understand the written notation. Adult beginners, on the other hand, can often work out what they should be doing but complain that they cannot coordinate brain and fingers to achieve it. Consequently, where we might be moving our child students to the next level based on what they can understand, we probably need to consider what our adult students can achieve physically when pacing their progress.

Adults are more likely to cling mentally to the score than children. Often our younger students frustrate us because they memorise their music and consequently are unaware of performance instructions or of mistakes that have crept in. This is less likely to happen with adult students. One reason might be that, as we get older, we rely more and more on the written word in our day-to-day living – we write lists and read instructions. Furthermore, adults are less confident of the reliability of their memory and although they’ll use some aural memory as they replay pieces there is often little use of kinaesthetic and visual memories. Consequently, although adults who cling to the music will be aware of many of the details of a piece, they will find it more difficult to play pieces with much speed or fluency as the notation has to be reread each time.

Finally, the experience of life can often mean that adults have an ability to see the larger picture. Although this can be an advantage in learning, it can cause students concern. Whereas children will usually trust that what they are being told is all they need to worry about at the time, adults will often be thinking ahead to the next step. It is not unusual for an adult in their first piano lesson, having been shown the ten notes of C position, to ask how they are going to play the other seventy-eight that lie before them!

Although the differences identified so far have been psychological, the discussion would not be complete without considering the effects of any physical differences. At first glance, adults appear to have an advantage over children – they are bigger! They have bigger hands, arms and lungs. However, bigger does not necessarily mean stronger and adults are frequently much less flexible. Some older adults might also be coping with the restrictions of arthritis. On the piano this may mean re-fingering a piece to suit the students’ ability to stretch. For all instruments it will be necessary to consider posture to ensure against stiffness and muscle problems.

Adults, like children, are individuals and bring to the lesson their own abilities, preferences and personalities. This article has attempted to highlight some of the particular ways in which adult and child learners may differ. The one-to-one teaching situation gives teachers the opportunity to fine-tune their teaching to the individual. To take advantage of this ideal learning situation, we must be sensitive to individual needs and be prepared to adapt and be flexible. Adults are a joy to teach because they are self-motivated and quick to understand the basic concepts of notation. If we treat them with respect, if we are sensitive to their feelings and their needs and if we select material for them from which they get pleasure, our adult learners will continue to gain enjoyment and a sense of achievement through their playing for many years to come.

Daphne Bryan PhD MA GNSM ARCM belongs to the ISM’s Wiltshire Centre, and is a member of the Society’s Specialist Section for Professional Private Teachers. This article is based on the findings of two research projects and the personal experience of forty years’ piano teaching. Dr Bryan currently has a private piano teaching practice in Gillingham, Dorset.

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