You need to be young at heart

As a banjo teacher, I’ve seen a fair amount of senior citizens come through my course. Being a student of the human condition like I am (that’s what being in the instructor’s chair provides me: a window onto my fellow man where I can make observations and notice trends) I have definitely compiled some thoughts on the subject of age and playing the banjo. The short answer is: you are never too old to try and get some enjoyment out of this instrument.

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Have realistic expectations about the 5 string banjo

Now, I’m not a doctor, but I play one on t.v. However, even as a lay person when it comes to having knowledge of biology, physiology, anatomy, etc…don’t worry, I looked those words up in my Funk & Wagnall’s dictionary…I can definitely claim some knowledge about age, physical ability, and picking the banjo.

Do we lose musical ability with age?

I think the short answer to that is: yes. Most definitely. My friend Phill Gibson has a banjo-centric blog where he expounds on this very topic; it’s a great read and a parallel conversation to what I am writing about  today. (You can read his blog post by clicking this link: http://blog.phillgibson.com/?p=452) Because of God’s grand design for the human race, we know that we deteriorate both mentally and physically with age. Along with that deterioration comes the necessary degradation of fine motor skills and cognitive function. But…while our physical and mental abilities will lessen with adavanced age, I think there are probably dozens of scientific studies that show a correlation between taking on an activity, such as music, and hanging on to our faculties and abilities to a greater extent than someone who didn’t pursue the hobby.

The younger you start taking banjo lessons, the better

So here’s what I’ve noticed as a teacher and a working musician who has picked with all age ranges of people: if you start as young as you can, then even at an advanced age you tend to have a decent ability to manipulate your instrument. If you wait and start playing banjo at an advanced age, you will notice a definite inability to do as much as you might have when you were younger. If you start young, developing abilities on the banjo helps you hang on to much of your fine motor skills into old age. If you start at an older age, what you’ve lost over the years won’t come back and you won’t be able to do as much as someone else your age who started much younger. Does that mean you shouldn’t take up the banjo? Definitely not. It means that you should just have realistic expectations, and enjoy what you can do with the instrument, not be frustrated about what you can’t.

Earl Scruggs is still pickin’ and grinnin’…and doing it well

The undisputed king and legend of our art form and instrument (5 string bluegrass banjo) is of course Earl Scruggs. As I write this, he is already at a fairly advanced age; something like in his late 80′s maybe? I’m not sure exactly, but he’s no spring chicken anymore. He still plays several dates a year and can still pick that thing. However, no one can say that he is the banjo player he used to be when he was 30. He clearly isn’t. He has experienced the definite physical deterioration that all of us can expect by his age. You can see this if you watch him on video or catch him in concert. I don’t know this, but I would be willing to bet that he frustrates himself at times because he can remember the thrill of executing his banjo playing cleanly, crisply, with great speed and flash…and likely can’t do some of what he remembers doing anymore. But…and this is an important but…he is in his late 80′s, and boy oh boy can that man pick! Considering his advanced age, it’s still amazing to watch him do what he does. He’s forgotten more than I’ll probably ever know about the banjo.

Earl Scruggs is a great example of my point above: if you start as young as you can, then even at an advanced age you still have some ability to manipulate your instrument. If someone who is Earl Scruggs’ age, and who has never played the banjo, comes to me right now for lessons, there’s a higher than above average that they are going to proceed at a slow and gentle pace, and may never achieve some of the finesse it takes to play the banjo like what they hear on their CD’s or on the stage. Have realistic expectations.

Grab a banjo and come on in…the water’s fine…

Now that I’ve painted the dour picture of losing all of your faculties and fine motor skills with old age, let me swing the conversation back to a positive slant. If you want to try and learn how to pick the banjo, no matter what your age, you should go for it. Have realistic expectations. If you are 83 years old, you might not be able to imitate the hot speedy banjo player on your favorite CD or in your favorite group. But can you play a tune, occupy your mind, fill your time, enjoy a hobby, experience happiness, and make some music? Most definitely yes!! It’s never too late, no matter what your age, to come from Alabamy with a banjo on yer knee. It’s my theory that whatever your cognitive and physical abilities are at your age, if you don’t take up something like the banjo, you can expect to lose more of those abilities in the future. If you go ahead and immerse yourself in the mental and physical rigors of trying to get good at the banjo, you’ll stand a greater chance of at least hanging on to what you have and not let your fine motor skills slip away as easily. What if all you can do is play single string melodies? Then so be it! Play them and enjoy them.

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Please leave comments below

At the very bottom of this post is a section for you to leave comments on this blog post. I’d really love to know what you think about all I’ve written. And, if you have any questions, please feel free to get a hold of me for advice and help. I love talking to my blog readers and fellow pickers. Thank so much!

Banjo Paul
“Wunse, I coodn’t even spel bango pikker…now I are one!”
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