Looking for encouragement, or something.

[Pfreddee]

I am 70 years old, and I love music. I especially have fun making simple music on my Tipple flute, and I even sound passable on it. I am thinking of getting a wooden flute just to be able to say that I have owned one, and I want to continue to play for my own amusement.

I am also wondering if I should even bother? My fingers are stiff, and I will never be able to play fast tunes or keep up in a session. I sometimes feel that I shouldn't even try to play since I can't seem be able to express the music as well as the more musically adept. And yet, I want to get the wooden flute and play and have fun, even at my age, even if I can't keep up in a session, even if my expression is less than perfect, or sometimes even good.

So, do I keep trying? What has been the experience of older players, especially those who have come to the art late in life? What have you found? As I posted in the title, I am looking for some encouragement...

Thank you to all who reply.

With best regards,

Pfreddee(Stephen)

[Peter Duggan]

And yet, I want to get the wooden flute and play and have fun

Three good reasons to go ahead...

So, do I keep trying?

Yes!

[Denny]

I love music. I especially have fun making simple music

The rest of yer post is just silly

[Nanohedron]

I always hesitate to jump on the "do what pleases your heart" bandwagon because it seems so indulgent in an almost condescending pat-on-the-head way, especially surrounded as we are with the young, the ambitious, the veteran, and the limber. Nevertheless, that's exactly what I'm telling you here. You would know how surprisingly short life really is - better to be happy while we have it. Fun is not a privilege to be reserved for youth alone. So I say claim it, sweep aside your doubts, and to hell with the begrudgers if it comes to that. Keep playing. And get that wood flute.

[jim stone]

I'm 70. I play wooden flute. I started at 60. What the hey!

Also there is a lot more to playing Irish flute than playing in
sessions, as some teachers point out.

Also you can combine playing flute with playing whistle, the
latter being a lot more agile. Play the whistle in sessions
if you can't keep up with the flute. And if you can't
play either in sessions, bugger the sessions.

Mike Rafferty was playing brilliantly in his late 70s.
Some of the better fluters on this board are in their
mid-70s.

For heaven's sake, GO FOR IT!

[Nanohedron]

And if you can't play ... in sessions, bugger the sessions.

I played for a toad once. It stopped, oriented itself to me, and seemed to actually listen. It may not be much as a story, but I still remember it.

[mutepointe]

Hey Geezer! I read once where an old woman was interviewed. She was asked if she would have done anything different. She said she would have gotten a better mattress.

Here's another option that may come in handy since you're about as decrepit as me. When I had knee surgery this year, I got a walking cane bamboo flute as my prize. Here's the link.
http://www.serenitybambooflutes.com/wal ... lutes.html
It's an OK flute and it's a cane too.
Here's a link to a much fancier one, I don't know anything about this flute.
http://www.sweetheartflute.com/walkingflutes.html

I play slow too. I live in the slow lane. I think the two go together.

Wishing you a nice day.

[mutepointe]

I'll answer your other questions. I only learned how to play wind instruments because of heart surgery. Harmonicas are great for breathing exercises.

I play the music that is dear to me. So what I can't play everything. I think both you and I play the flute better than 95% of the people out there. Besides, none of those people are showing up at our homes at all times of the day and night playing for us and even if they did, they wouldn't play the music like we'd want the music played. Also, I've had a lot of breathing problems lately and I've had to rephrase songs to suit my breathing abilities. If you play a song with conviction, no one knows.

Is it not in your soul to make music? How are you going to stop?

[an seanduine]

Just a thought. Your Tipple, while an excellent flute, has rather large holes. Even with a middle joint, and the ability to offset these holes, the larger hole sizing can contribute to slowing you down as you seek a solid seal with your fingers. Try a small holed Rudall type of flute. This may give you greater ease in closing the holes, and so contribute to a little greater speed of execution.

Bob

[Katharine]

I love music. I especially have fun making simple music

The rest of yer post is just silly

This. You'll never be a pro. So what? I'm not a very good singer either, but if they gave prizes for heart and soul, I'd be up there with the best of them. I suppose it would be most fair to ask my neighbors whether I should continue, but I can't imagine living without it (I'm sure the neighbors can!).

If you enjoy it and it doesn't get you down, why not? That doesn't mean you should go out and book yourself Carnegie Hall just 'cause someone told you to keep it up, but a lot of us "do" music or whatever we do for ourselves anyway.

[Kirk B]

If this doesn't inspire you, nothing will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoW4eTK2qbs

Cheers,

Kirk

[Doug_Tipple]

Just a thought. Your Tipple, while an excellent flute, has rather large holes. Even with a middle joint, and the ability to offset these holes, the larger hole sizing can contribute to slowing you down as you seek a solid seal with your fingers. Try a small holed Rudall type of flute. This may give you greater ease in closing the holes, and so contribute to a little greater speed of execution.

Bob

You might consider Bob's advise and trade your Tipple for a wooden flute, but not just any wooden flute that you find on ebay, mind you. I think that you should get some money back on the trade, but other folks around this board don't see it that way. Happy fluting, regardless of what you play. I played a keyed ebonite Ferris F flute today and had a good time. Smaller flutes are easier to finger and easier to blow in comparison to the standard low D flute.

[maki]

I think that the only reason to do any past time is that it brings you joy.
There maybe many other benefits, but that is the reason.
I took up Irish music at 48.
And I'v no expectation of being good enough to play the local session, ever.
(Those folks are fantastic!)
But, that's OK.

BTW, Have you looked at Casey Burns' small hand egronomic Folk Flute?

[mutepointe]

You might want to hold on to that Tipple flute. If your whole body is getting all achy and if you spend a lot of time in hot tubs and swimming pools, you could play that flute while you're relaxing.

[MTGuru]

Another way to think about it, Stephen:

Even the best "star" performers whom you might compare yourself to are probably going to spend most (i.e. > 50%) of the time they spend with their instrument playing for ... themselves. Learning new music, working out arrangements, attacking technical issues, or just playing for pleasure and conditioning. Any performance you see is just the tip of an iceberg, with hundreds of hours of solitary (or at least non-public) work beneath it. It never ends.

So no matter how good or bad you think you are or could ever be, or how old you are ... Simply by trying, by appreciating your own "personal best" triumphs and not giving up on the rough parts, you're still sharing most of the actual core experience of being a musician with every other musician in the world - whether a star, amateur, or something in between.

And to me, just participating in this amazing, shared, almost spiritual human experience that it our ability to play music is a reward and an affirmation in itself. The rest is gravy.

So yes, keep it up.