[Nimchimpskii]

As the title suggests, I'm looking for inspiration that I'm not too old to actually become 'good' at this. Can any one point out some late bloomers that I can listen to. I started playing a year ago and I'm about to turn 39.

 

[magical pig]

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?135098-Who-is-the-most-famous-quot-Late-Bloomer-quot?s=

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?102858-inspirational-success-stories-of-late-bloomers?s=

 

[DanPerezSax]

Well, not so much "later in life," but someone who started relatively late and blew up quick is Esperanza Spalding. She took up the bass at 16 and had a full scholarship to Berklee by 18, a professorship by 22 and "artist of the year" Grammy by 26. It's not that she started so late, but that she was a phenom so quickly. I would expect someone with that ability to have grown up on the instrument.

Rene Marie is a wonderful singer who started her career in her 40s, I believe.

 

[lutemann]

18 is too old to start an instrument if you want the full virtuoso effect, but you can start at almost any age and be able to play your a** off. I had a friend who took up the flute at age 20 and after four months sounded like a pro. Great talent.

 

[Jazzaferri]

Several decades ago my best friends dad who was a professional musician told me of a commercial fisherman who at about 40 started learning the piano. 12 hours a day every day for a couple of years and he was onto the classical circuit.

 

[piwikiwi]

18 is too old to start an instrument if you want the full virtuoso effect, but you can start at almost any age and be able to play your a** off. I had a friend who took up the flute at age 20 and after four months sounded like a pro. Great talent.

I started when I was 19 and even though I have a slight disadvantage it's still all about how much time you invest in practicing.

 

[Dave Dolson]

I don't think age matters, it is whether or not you have a latent talent for musical performance. A guy at 39 may have suddenly been inspired to play based on something or someone he heard.

That happened to me at 16 but there is no rule about when it shouldn't happen to you. I got to my level by practice, but I know players who had almost instant public-performance skills - guys who can play every instrument in a trad jazz band with equal skill and who don't seem to need to practice. Everyone is different, but Nimchimpskii can certainly get 'er done at the young age of 39.

Sorry I don't have recorded examples of what I just wrote but I know it to be true. DAVE

 

[lutemann]

Several decades ago my best friends dad who was a professional musician told me of a commercial fisherman who at about 40 started learning the piano. 12 hours a day every day for a couple of years and he was onto the classical circuit.

I wonder if he broke the mold through extreme practice? Maybe this works.

 

[Bebopalot]

I can't point to anyone that is a late bloomer that has made it. Making it is a life long process. Sometimes it falls in your lap and sometimes you have to struggle like crazy to get there. It's kind of like making it in the acting business except you can't rely on your looks. There is so much more than age that goes into it. I'm not quite sure age is a huge factor except that the older you get the less time you seem to have to do the things required to "make it". I know many people that have been playing their whole life that are far from "making it" anytime soon and other people that have been playing a few years that happen to be in the right place at the right time and can barely play, that are "making it". It also depends on what you mean by "late bloomers that have made it". That can have a different meaning to different people.

Everything has to fall into place just right. Talent, attitude, musical ability, creativity, opportunity, patience and more.

 

[alljoe]

reading the title i thought you meant late like 50's.

i think its harder because of short term memory. in high school, i could make b's in german by studying the 5 minutes before class. when i spent 2 years in Korea at age 40 it was much more difficult to learn. Now, 50s, i have to do a lot of repetition to remember some scales and phrases in playalong books.

 

[Jazzaferri]

Some research indicates that about 10000 hrs is required to master an instrument If that research is close to being true then 2.5 years at 10 hrs a day 365 days a year ought to do it

Two things I have noticed over the years. Thoughtful mindful practice is much More effective than mindless noodling or repeating of the same things in the same way with minimal thought. Advances come more quickly with longer periods of concentrated effort. Finding the energy to concentrate for long periods on similar things has always been very difficult for me. My best practice sessions are like a half hour to an hour on sax then switch to guitar or piano then a short break and then back to sax etc etc

 

[Joe Giardullo]

When I saw the title of this thread, it was the "made it" part which struck me.

If "making it" is being a very good player, I know a lot of late bloomers who've done that.
If "making it" is being a first call or maybe second call player on a lot of important people's list, then I know hardly any late bloomers who've "made it".

There's a lot that goes into getting the gigs that has no connection to playing ability, other than you need to know what you're doing, of course.

I've got a great friend who scored his gig with a major, major group because one of the band didn't show for a recording and my friend, an engineer's assistant in the studio and maybe 32 years old, was there and can really play. That resulted in 14 years of international headline tours and all that follows from that.

He couldn't have gotten that particular gig any other way. He was at the right place at the right time and he was ready to do it.

 

[JohnGalt]

Rodney Dangerfield.
After failing at stand-up comedy as a very young man, he sold vinyl siding on Long Island ... to keep his sanity he wrote short jokes and put 'em away ...in his fifties as his marriage failed he returned to try again, this time loaded with a duffle bag worth of raw gems in need of polish only . . . next thing you know, he was getting no respect world-wide.
I know ... he's not a saxophonist.

 

[dubrosa22]

No, he got into hip-hop instead

 

[JayeLID]

Late Bloomers have developed enough wisdom and life experience not to concern themselves about "making it".....

 

[piwikiwi]

Some research indicates that about 10000 hrs is required to master an instrument If that research is close to being true then 2.5 years at 10 hrs a day 365 days a year ought to do it

Two things I have noticed over the years. Thoughtful mindful practice is much More effective than mindless noodling or repeating of the same things in the same way with minimal thought. Advances come more quickly with longer periods of concentrated effort. Finding the energy to concentrate for long periods on similar things has always been very difficult for me. My best practice sessions are like a half hour to an hour on sax then switch to guitar or piano then a short break and then back to sax etc etc

I agree, to improve you need to challenge yourself and practice the things you're having trouble with. The best figure skaters are the ones that fall the most during practice because they challenge themselves. The best chess players are not the ones who played the most but are the ones that studied how grandmaster play.

 

[PaulieBoy]

Late Bloomers have developed enough wisdom and life experience not to concern themselves about "making it".....

Agree 100% !
If your decision on learning an instrument hinges on whether you will 'make it' or not-unless your 16 or less years of age-then the best thing you can do is put it back in the box and return it in the hope you will get a full refund.

 

[PaulGH]

Picking up the sax at 28 (29 now) has been a challenge for me. Fortunately, my wife has been understanding, but I think the concepts of youth having all the advantages are biased by our observations. Essentially, I practice 3x as hard and 2x smarter than any kid I've ever watched, but when I suck, people are less afraid to tell me so and I'm more able to recognize it. When my tiny neice is 1000x worse on her poorly tuned violin, nobody tells her it is because she sucks. They act like she is queen of the virtuosos because she is tiny.

Little kids are less afraid of being terrible, and far less able to recognize how bad they are. It makes them more willing to slog through the garbage of not being very good at all.

Worse yet, as adults, we often measure ourselves incorrectly. Compared to a kid playing 5 months, I'm super amazing. Compared to a 29 year old who has been playing since 9 years old... I've got a ways to go.

Even worse on that scaling inconsistency is that, as adults, we measure ourselves against those who have "made it" in the sense of becoming relatively famous and successful in their art. Not only are they outlier cases, but fame is biased toward the sensational. Thus, between the 10 year old and the 38 year old who play equally well, the sensational 10 year old is a genius and the 38 year old is an amateur. A blind saxophonist is more sensational than a sighted one. Thus, we tend to observe far more child virtuosos than really exist, making us feel even worse about it.

I'm never going to "make it" unless I define "it" as decent music that comes from me and not my speakers. If I let my music be the end goal, and not compare it to playing duets with Yanni as the headliner, than I'm almost certainly going to make "it" if I don't give up and practice.

 

[cpaace]

18 is too old to start an instrument if you want the full virtuoso effect, but you can start at almost any age and be able to play your a** off. I had a friend who took up the flute at age 20 and after four months sounded like a pro. Great talent.

Didn't start until the ripe old age of 20. Wow that is amazing. Must have been all that free retirement time that allowed for practice time. I am amazed at what the people posting hear consider old. Also it depends upon what you mean by "making it". When I was age 20 I was too impatient, stubborn and lacked the music appreciation to learn an instrument. Now, at age 70, I not only have the patience and the time, but, I also have the ambition, the passion and the intellect that only experience can bring. "Making it" for me means being able to play the clarinet such that I find it entertaining and satisfying. I don't care about where this road is leading me, I am just enjoying the ride.

 

[lutemann]

I think there is a difference between making it and playing it.