Am I too old to play the saxophone?
If you'd like to keep this short and sweet, the bottom line is that no, you're not too old to play the saxophone.
This question comes up quite a lot when I'm speaking to new potential clients, especially people in their 60s or 70s who ask me this, and I can completely understand why they would be concerned. They feel that they learn things more slowly, especially compared to young people, and they worry that they might be "wasting their time."
There are certainly some advantages and disadvantages to being older or younger when you take on a big project like playing the sax.
Let's have a look at starting the saxophone when you're young. Younger people do seem to absorb information at an astonishing rate. Personally, I wonder if this is because it's very normal for them. They are constantly bombarded with all kinds of information from school, parents, and friends, so they are in the frame of learning. Learning something new for them is not unusual; it's a normal and everyday part of life. I wonder if, as an older person, spending three or six months in that kind of environment again would change your approach towards learning a new subject, and I suspect that it wouldn't feel like such a huge or unusual task.
The biggest advantage of learning something when you're young is that you have time on your side. However, not all young people take full advantage of this.
Younger people can become very distracted when it comes to developing skills on the saxophone, and this is for a good reason. They might have a lot of pressure from school with other subjects, be going through puberty, have a new girlfriend or boyfriend who takes up all their attention, and there are myriad reasons why a young person might not be as focused as an adult might be when it comes to studying the saxophone seriously.
Another thought about younger people learning is that sometimes their motivation can come from external forces such as school, their parents, or their peers.
When adults take on learning the saxophone, it's a very different story. In my experience, when an adult decides to take on this fantastic subject, they are very determined right from the start. They are not being pressured from any outside force to do this, and often, this is something they have wanted to do for many years and only now have found the space and time in their life. They are much more realistic than younger people can be about some of the challenges that taking on playing an instrument comes with. For example, they know that to develop on the saxophone, they have to practice regularly. They know this involves making both time and a place in their lives to make this possible. They know it's not always going to be easy, and they look forward to the challenge of it.
There are countless examples that demonstrate that when an adult human is determined to do something, they will do it no matter what. That's how there are people in their 90s and older running marathons, people missing limbs climbing mountains.
Then there are astonishing examples of musicians like Rick Allen, the drummer with Def Leppard, who lost his arm in a car crash but did not allow this to stand in his way of continuing to be a top-level drummer.
There is the Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie, who is profoundly deaf since the age of 12 but did not allow this to stop her from becoming a world-class percussionist.
One of my personal mentors early on in my sax playing career was a man called Mark Bassey, who, despite being severely affected by his mother taking thalidomide, resulting in him having no hands, did not allow this to stop him from becoming a world-class trombone player. Remarkably, he is also a very competent pianist. He found a way.
So, in my opinion, if you are in your 60s, 70s, 80s, or even older, there is absolutely no reason why you can't become a very competent saxophonist. If these incredible examples can do so well with the disadvantages that they have, then there really is nothing to stop you.
Countless scientific studies have shown that learning a new subject and learning in general, at any age has an extremely positive effect on people. The brain continues to grow and respond well to new stimuli right throughout your life, regardless of how old you are. Having a hobby or interest is good for mental health and this is well-established and proven many times.
Taking up a new interest like this can dramatically affect your social life in a positive way, bringing you into social circumstances that you might never have encountered had it not been for the fact that you played the sax.
The most important thing is that you enjoy playing the saxophone at whatever age you are. If you're enjoying playing and find the challenge that the saxophone offers fun and stimulating, if like me, you feel grateful for the opportunity to grow, then it really doesn't matter what level you reach; the benefits of playing at all are absolutely huge, and personally, I can see no significant downside.
Lynden
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