Learning how to play the piano late

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Okay, so I had piano lessons until I was in 5th grade, when I stopped. But now I want to try to learn it again. The thing that's bothering me is that I'm older now, and I heard that you have to start young to be good at the piano. Also, I never could stretch very well; I think my hands are a little small. Is there any hope of me getting good at it?

 

I don't see why not. You may have to work at it harder since you are older, but there's no reason you can't still be good.
As for hand/finger flexibility, I'm sure your piano instructor could show you exercises to increase said flexibility. If you are self learning the piano, a gym instructor or doctor can help with the exercises, too.

 

There's always hope. And even if you don't get to virtuoso concerto pianist level, it's still fun to play an instrument, which is the most important thing.

Small hands are not a problem, unless you're looking to play some trills that are an octave wide. Generally things like small hands are a pet excuse for people who don't want to do the hard work and practice, and not a real hindrance.

Of course it should be noted that I'm not a pianist but a guitar player, and not a classical one at that.

 

As long as you have the patience to learn. The beginning is always the most boring, because you have to learn the basics, and practise drills.

If there's a particular song that you want to learn to play, then it's just a matter of practising over and over. For most of the simple songs that aren't that technical (like some pop songs or movie themes arranged for piano), you can probably get away with this style of learning and skip the drills. But if you want decent skills in general to play something moderately difficult, then you'll need the basic techniques and theory. You'll still have to take time and repeat any particular song several times to learn it, but you'll be able to handle the manuevers more efficiently.

 

This is a very late reply, but I have a friend who teaches piano and she has several adult beginners who are having a great time learning. Learning on your own, I don't know about.

 

I didn't see this thread before so I am late also but here is my two cents worth.....you are never to old to do something you enjoy or learn a new skill.