Are there things that people who start playing an instrument later in life just can’t do that people who started early can? If so, why?

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In the music world (especially in classical music) there’s this sort of dogma that if you don’t start playing an instrument early in your childhood that you’ll never be as good as someone who did. Is this really true? I know that children are good at learning stuff quickly but other than that, what physiological and neurological reasons are there for this dogma to supposedly be true?

Hope I didn’t explain it to vaguely.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

I’ve been playing piano for 30 years and I feel like I can’t play as well as when I was younger.

It’s actually frustrating repeatedly practicing a section or something I did well/easily as a young adult and takes more effort to do again now.

The only thing that did stick (and improved) was the ability to read music, know chords/arpeggios, and familiarity of notes. I can come up with improvisation or covers better than before.

But that’s something an adult can pick up with practice, experience/interest, and exposure.

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