Why are older people learning the sax?

Many of my clients are people who are 50 years of age or older, and I think there's a very good reason for this. People often say to me that playing the saxophone is something they've always wanted to do, but because they've been so engaged with raising a family and developing their business or career, every spare moment seems to have been taken up with other activities which seemed extremely important at the time. By the time people get into their 50s, they start to realise that having hobbies and interests outside of work and family life is extremely important for a well-balanced approach to life.

They often regret not starting something like playing the saxophone much earlier and feel that they have now seen the error of their ways. For many people around this age group, their careers are well-established, and the demands of family life are different from when children are very young and demanding, and they find they have a little bit more time.

Also, the phrase that I hear a lot is when people say, "If I don't do it now, I never will." People in their 50s and beyond have a realisation that we are not immortal like we were when we were in our 20s and that we have a finite amount of time left. So if we want to enjoy developing a skill like music, specifically saxophone playing, we need to act now.

Sometimes people seem to feel bad that they didn't pick up the saxophone before and start playing, but in my opinion, the really important thing is that they are playing now. The fact is that you can't go back in time and start playing the saxophone when you're young, but what you can do is start playing now. I had one older client just this week, a very fit, young-looking, and busy man who runs his own software company and happens to be 85 years old. He told me that his mother lived until she was 95, and even when she got to that age, she looked as if she was in her 60s. He also expressed the idea that he needed me to give him some shortcuts around playing saxophone, (believe me, if there were any, I’d know and be sharing them) and he said to me, "Because realistically, how much time do I have left?" I pointed out to him that in fact, if he only lived to be the same age as his mother was when she died, he had another 10 years, and 10 years is an enormous amount of time in which to practice the saxophone!

If a person has a clear goal and is dedicated and only practices the saxophone three or four times a week for 15 minutes or so, after a year or two, they would be completely unrecognisable as a musician and easily at the stage where they could, if they chose to, play at a party or barbecue, or have a jam with a friend who plays the guitar or the piano, and most importantly, play some beautiful melodies and improvise on the saxophone in a way that was extremely satisfying and enjoyable for them.

So if you find yourself in your middle age regretting that you didn't start playing a musical instrument when you were younger, then please, don't worry because it really is never too late to start. All you need to do is to decide to give it a go, and today is the perfect day to start!

Lynden