Realistic to start at 35 for playing jazz?

tomba51 · Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2022 4:38 pm Post subject:

Don't think about it, just do it! One year from now you'll have made progress. Five years from now you'll be even better. If you don't try, then five years from now you'll be wondering "how good would I be by now if I had only dedicated myself like I wanted to?".
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Tom Barreca

gwood66 · Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2022 6:03 pm Post subject:

Its never too late to start. You have played an instrument before so you know the gig. You can make a lot of headway in 30 minutes to an hour a day. Find somewhere to practice without a mute or speak with the neighbors and family about when you can play unmuted. Life will get in the way. Do what you can on those days. Its a turtle race. Join a group, any group as soon as possible. Good luck!
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popTbop · Regular Member Joined: 23 Aug 2019 Posts: 34

micka57330 · New Member Joined: 19 Aug 2022 Posts: 3

I think I will try it, do my best and see how it goes.

If improvisation doesn't work I can even play charts in Big Band.

Will probably buy a Jupiter 700 and a Divitt mute and have some lessons.

I sent a message to my past jazz department director for a teacher recommandation.

Thank you all for your nice words.

cbtj51 · Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 7:50 am Post subject:

"Focus on the task right in front of you...remember where you are headed...keep the vision out front and readily accessible...always keep moving toward it!" Tony Dungy

Life is Short, find the Joy in it!

Mike
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Robert P · Heavyweight Member Joined: 28 Feb 2013 Posts: 2596

Jeff_Purtle · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2022 7:29 am Post subject:

It's possible to start at 35 and do great. One of Claude Gordon's students was a professional surfer in San Diego and heard trumpet in a band on the beach and got obsessed at learning to play trumpet. He found Claude and did all the various exercises assigned and did various jobs and eventually became an excellent lead trumpet player and is still a busy player.

I have students that have started playing later in life or restarted after 20+ years. For adults I think the biggest hinderance is lack of patience. They might built successful businesses and other exceptional accomplishments but hard work and intellect can't allow you to bypass the process of development. Focus on getting the feel of playing easily instead of obsessing over one aspect of playing as you work on becoming a complete trumpet player.

Find a private teacher that will hold you accountable and give you assignments that are progressive and touch all aspects of playing skills. Have fun and listen to great players so your concept is excellence and patiently strive for that and enjoy your practice. It's fun!

Jeff
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ctownj30 · Regular Member Joined: 21 Jan 2015 Posts: 12

This thread is a bit old but thought I'd share my experience. I played trumpet growing up and through college and was an OK player for my age then dropped it.

I'm 47 now. At exactly 35 I decided I wanted to pick it back up with the long term goal of being a "respectable" jazz player. My measure of that being that I could play play a gig at a restaurant or open mic locally and no one would look up from their food to see who was making the awful noise...

I played around with the horn for about a year and realized I was going to need lessons so I found a classical teacher locally and basically just worked hard on my chops for 4 years. Through this phase I was taking lessons just about weekly and practicing 45-60 minutes about 4 days a week. I found a voice studio 5 min from my office that really only operated in the afternoons, and paid them $150/mo. to use the space for practice - so I just slipped out at lunch and went there most days. I was working hard at it though and taking it seriously (my teacher would tell me I was his best student). The teacher was really good - he understood I had limited time and really helped me focus on getting bang for my practice time. We would do a lot of things like "if you only have 10 minutes to play, do this, if you have 20, also do this, etc." Buzzing on my mouthpiece on my commute was regular thing. If I had a lesser teacher I probably would not have kept with it.

It took about 3 years before I felt that I was up to the same level of playing as when I had stopped and absolutely could not have done it without the lessons. I worked at this another year and then switched to Jazz (which had been sort of my plan the whole time).

I "switched" to jazz about 6 years ago. Found a really good local teacher who is a piano player but teaches all instruments. I had zero jazz experience but my teacher has taken a probably standard approach: working up theory, chords, and scales on one hand, and having fun working on improv on very basic tunes and jazz at the same time.

I think the first 3 years of the jazz lessons were the hardest part of all this: basically having an ear for complex/fast playing (decades of being an avid listener) but having no skill at all so forcing myself to move very slowly and play very simply (teacher constantly telling me that the goal is not to just noodle-around on scales).

At this point, ~12 years in - I'm pleased with where I am. I'm not sure if I've totally reached my goal yet, but I think I'm close. I could definitely play a restaurant gig without raising eyebrows as long as I had the set list in advance. I've got two young kids so I have not been pushing that side of things too much.

My teacher invited me to join one of his ensemble lessons a couple years ago and I was also invited to a regular local home jam session - all the players much more accomplished than myself so I'm learning a lot. At this point I can play well enough to have fun with it and every now and then I'll think "wow that was a legit not-bad solo" I just played.

Of course hardest part of what you are proposing is simply sticking with it. I think I've been able to do so far because of a sequence of events at key stages that kept me pumped about playing at times when I could have easily tapered:

1) Taking classical lessons and finding a good teacher. He made it interested and adapted to my situation as mentioned. We also played a lot of duets, and he'd invite me to play informal events with his peers which made it fun.

2) Switching to jazz not too late and not too early. At the end of my classical lessons it was starting to feel like there was no point - I could respectably play some of the more advanced repertoire and was starting to get a little bored. I felt like I had more to learn but the switch gave me a shot in the arm.

3) Finding a really good jazz teacher. He's not only an amazing piano player, but he takes his teaching very seriously and is thought of as one of the best guys around. Plugging in with him also exposed me to other musicians and the local jazz scene a bit.

4) Finally, finding local low-key jam sessions once I got to the point that I was no longer absolutely horrible. Knowing I have a session coming up is a huge practice motivator. This has also made it really, really fun. After 10 years of practice actually playing tunes with other people is extremely rewarding.

Hope this paints a picture for you - good luck.