Hi everyone I am new and have not used this forum before so I hope you can help. I have been learning to play the piano for last 8/9 years> I( am 67 yrs old and a retired Nurse theatre manager, I retired some13 years form that job, but continued to work p/t until 4 years ago

I have taken grades 1 and 2 practical abrsm and theory 1 2 3 4 5 with good passes. I have a great teacher with whom I have a very good rapport. I do not think I can stand the stress of more exams.

I am still only about grade 3 or 4 practical but I seems to have stopped progressing and have no confidence

I mutter and sign when i get things wrong my teacher tells me off as it disturbs my concentration. I do the required practice but things go wrong at my lesson, so more frustration sets in.

Is it just an age thing, I dont want to give up, Please come up with ideas

Awww. Poor you. It seems to me like the stopping and sighing is built in to you. So perhaps when you are practising try to do it less. It will take a while, but soon you'll just carry on!

Perhaps you're just getting very nervous about your lessons. Why don't you take a break from lessons, say for a few months and go back to them feeling afresh and enthusiastic again?

Don't know if this really helps you but don't give up!

Hi Elisabethann, and a very warm welcome to the forums!

I'm really sorry that I can't come up with any good ideas or suggestions for you, but I just wanted to say don't give up! The piano can be a trying instrument to learn (which instrument isn't, for that matter?! ); but - as you'll no doubt know - extremely rewarding as well, so well worth all the hard work. It sounds as though you're doing really well anyway, especially when you mentioned all those exams - that's something to be proud of! Don't worry about not progressing (which I think you will be, only you're probably thinking you're not, as maybe you're being too negative about your playing at the moment?); playing an instrument is about enjoying it, and there's no need to be hard on yourself for the sake of reaching the higher Grades - after all, exams aren't everything.

Quote: "Is it just an age thing, I dont want to give up"

Personally I don't think that has any effect on your playing whatsoever! All musicians go through bad patches. Please keep it up!

Welcome to the forums!

There is a lively Adult Learners section of this forum - I suggest you try asking this question there.

Best of luck!

I second the recommendation of the Adult Learners forum - and I too struggle dreadfully with the piano! Don't worry too much about upwards progress, it often happens in fits and starts, and people often plateau at one level or another. I feel I've gone backwards in the last 6 months on piano but am fortunate enough to have a fantastically sympathetic and kind teacher who puts up with me being rubbish and knows I try hard! I am trying to be patient with myself.

Keep plodding along, try expanding your repertoire outwards ie playing lots of stuff at the level you CAN cope with - may give you some more confidence. (Although it's good to stretch yourself, I have found to my cost that trying to do too much that's too hard can sap your confidence a lot!)

Keep at it... you can do it.

I would like to second what sarah-flute says, it would be better to go back to a level you feel comfortable at and learn more pieces, while trying to improve your flow, expressiveness etc, rather than trying to play ever more difficult music. I have an adult pupil who is very similar to yourself -- she will never be able to play beyond Grade 3 level but her playing continues to develop musically and she learns lots of repertoire. We started playing duets, beginning at the simplest possible level and this has helped her to cure her habit of stopping. Teachers always tend to think in terms of the next Grade, so you might mention to yours that you are not bothered about moving forward but would like to improve in other ways as she may not have realised this.

Hello Elisabethann and welcome from me.

I find that it's not unusual for adult students to comment / mutter / express exasperation as they play through a piece. I had a room mate at college who used to swear (so I was told) during her lessons - each time something went wrong during the playing of one piece. This would have been at diploma level.

Also nearly all of my students tell me that they can do it at home - it's a very rare student (if he/she exists) who plays as well in front of a teacher. I joke with them that it's because I'm intimidating and we laugh and carry on - but it is very normal so I wouldn't worry over it. Adults judge themselves as they play, and agonise over it much more than school-age pupils seem to.


You have lots of good advice already. I would certainly keep going - the plateau point is a good one and you may find that in a few weeks or months your playing will jump forward again. Don't take exams if you 'd rather not - but think of it as not doing grades for the moment - you may feel differently next year. You have already achieved a lot - enjoy broadening your repertoire for the moment and don't fret about doing the next grade.

Hi elizabthann - welcome - delighted to see another person in her sixties here! My suggestion to you is to forget exams and not to worry about the level of what you are playing but play what you want to do. For example I have just been learning a piece which happens to be on the Grade 6 list, (Bach French Suite no3) and found it really challenging but I am getting there. Then the next piece I attempted in the same suite is much easier - (about grade 3 but I am not sure). I will never do exams, but I do want to make progress, and I know in the year since I returned to lessons I have indeed made progress. Ask your teacher to do a 'review' of your progress; make a list of all the pieces, exercises, scales you have done; all of these will help you realise just have much progress you have made. There have been some suggestions from others on this board about making recordings of your playing every so often and then you can compare what progress you have made - wish I had done that!
Please don't think it is an age thing, you may not progress like a youngster but you will progress differently - what will be on your tombstone 'she passed grade 8' or 'she enjoyed playing the piano' ?
Good luck