What instrument to learn after 60?

For most people that start after 60, piano (or a digital keyboard) and singing are the most comfortable options: they play without weight, they do not demand finger strength and they give pleasant results soon. The sweet flute is light and simple. The guitar with nylon and tiple are ideal if you call serenate music or andines, but they demand more at the end of their fingers.

But the best choice depends on four things: the music that you love, the status of your hands, what holds your back and how you listen to them. We check them one by one here.

To sum up

First choose for pleasure: the instrument that excites you is the instrument that you will practice.
Piano and singing are the best options for hands and back and sweet flute is the best and best to wear.
Nylon and tiple guitar are perfect for Colombian music but demand finger pressure.
If you have arthritis or another condition in your hands, ask your doctor before choosing and discuss your boundaries with your teacher.
Test before you buy: A class with teacher tells you more than any table.

4 questions before choosing

What music moves you? Boulders, hallways, classical music, ballads, villancas and church music. If you figure out how to play something concrete, you have half an answer.
How are your hands? Strength, flexibility, rigidity in the mornings, some nuisance as you press or at opening your fingers.
What's your posture? How long you're comfortable sitting, if your neck or shoulder gets upset, if you can hold up weight.
How do you listen? If acute sounds are uncomfortable or difficult to perceive, or if you use hearing aids.

There's a fifth practical question: where are you going to play. In an apartment with nearby neighbours, a keyboard with hearing aids or moderate volume singing suit a lot better than a trumpet or a battery.

Comparison of instruments for more than 60

How the most widely elected instruments after the age of 60 conduct
Instrumento	Hands and fingers	Posture and back	Hearing	Ideal if you like
Piano or digital keyboard	A low force: simply press the key. He wants to coordinate both hands.	Sitting with adjustable bench.	Adjustable volume and hearing aids on the digital.	Classic, ballads, boleros, church music.
Singing	He doesn't demand anything from his hands.	Standing or sitting with an upright posture.	You have to listen to yourself and accompaniment.	Boleros, tangos, religious music, choirs.
Recorder	That's a low level of strength but we have to cover up the holes.	A light and a sitting touch.	The sopranus is acute and the contrast sounds more serious and soft.	Old music, popular songs, villancas.
Nylon acoustic guitar	Moderate pressure on yolks and chord changes.	Seat with backrest or backrest.	Medium, comfortable registration for most of them.	Serenatas, boleros, baladas, Latin American music.
Tiple	More pressure: metal ropes grouped from 3 to 3.	Sitting and body smaller than guitar.	A brilliant and sharp sound.	Barbecues, hallways and Colombian Andean music.
Minor perception	Fingers and cuts and low finger accuracy.	Sitting with light instruments.	The pulse's also felt by vibration.	Cumbia, Caribbean music, group play.
Violin	Fine precision and tuning without anything.	He demand his neck and his shoulder and his arm's high.	He's asking for a good ear to tuning, and he's sharp.	Classical music, tango, folk music.

The table is an overall orientation. There are 70-year-old people who start violin with pleasure and 60-year-old people who prefer singing because they don't want to carry anything. Your gain weighs more than anything.

Piano or keyboard: The most friendly to start with

The [piano]](/clases/piano) It has a great advantage for those who start late: the sound comes out as they press the key, with no need to tuning or strength. The notes are ordered to light, from serious to acute, and that helps to understand music with their eyes, and not just with their ears.

A digital piano allows to lower its volume, use hearing aids and, in many models, tipstick the keyboard's sensitivities so that a soft touch sounds good, something useful if your fingers have little force. Do not require a tail piano: good digital and a bench at the right height with forearms about parallel to the ground.

Sweet song and flute: When hands demand rest

If your hands have arthritis or rigidity, [singing]](/clases/canto) It allows you to make music with nothing to demand them. In class you work breathing, posture, tuning and repertoire, and it's the direct door to a choir. The voice changes with the years but you can care and train at any age.

The [sweet flute]](/clases/flauta-dulce) It's light, economic and easy to wear. It's a high-quality and well-known school instrument but with a precious repertoire and sounds good in group. The soprano, that of the school, is small and sharp and the countertop is bigger and more serious and warmer but it's forcing to separate your fingers a little more. Your teacher helps you to decide what best suits your hands and your ear.

Guitar and tiple: for those who grew up with serenades

If his place was with guitar, his [acoustic guitar]](/clases/guitarra-acustica) with nylon strings is the natural choice: they are soft with their fingers and the sound is hot. The first few days the yolks feel sensitive and they are regular and with short- and frequent practice.

The tiple It's the heart of Colombian Andean music and a joy to accompany bambucos and hallways. His metal cords, grouped into orders of three, demand more pressure than guitar, so we should start with short sessions and with an instrument well calibrated by a luthier with his cords at low height of the diapason.

Arthritis, back and hearing: possible adjustments

For his hands

He starts with short sessions and parades his practice at two moments of his day.
Gently move your fingers and dolls before you touch, without forcing.
He asks the luthier to have soft and low-height tension strings at his guitar or tiple.
At his piano, he preferred digitations to avoid great openings of his hand.

For back and neck

He's using a firm chair with his back and his feet back up.
Adjust the height of the bench, atrial or support so as to avoid leaning.
Retiring and changing his place every once in a while.

For hearing

He's more interested in means of medium or serious registration if you're upset with them or if you don't get them right.
Use an on-screen tuning machine to check with the viewing note.
If you use hearing aids, ask your audiologist about some adjustments to listen to music.

And a rule that's good for everyone: if something hurts, stop.

Test before purchase

Take your first classes with the instrument of teacher or with a loaned one, and ask what she sees in your hands and posture.
If anyone from the family has a guitar or a keyboard put up, use it while you decide.
At the tent, sit down, hold up the instrument and play some notes before you pay.
Consider starting with a simple keyboard or a sweet flute and change after if you discover another passion.

If the teacher comes to your place, you can see the space where you will practice and help you choose with more criterion. And if you want to understand how classes are adapted to this stage of life, read Learning music at old age: it's never late.

Frequently asked questions

What's the easiest instrument for an older adult?

To most, the piano or digital keyboard: the sound goes out easy, it's sitting and the notes are in sight. The singing's also very accessible because it doesn't require anything from your hands. Still, the easiest's what you like, because it's what you're going to practice.

Can I learn guitar if I have arthritis in my hands?

Many people with arthritis play but depend on each case. First call your doctor and if you have a green light, start with nylon strings, short sessions, a well-calibrated guitar and simple chords. If the pressure on the strings bothers you, piano or singing can be better alternatives.

Is ukelele a good choice after 60?

It can be: it's small, light, with only four nylon strings and simple chords. It's sound sharp, so you better try it first if you have a hard time listening to high sounds.

What instrument doesn't care about neighbours?

The digital piano with hearing aids is the most discreet choice. The moderate volume singing, sweet flute and nylon guitar are also quite friendly in an apartment if you remember reasonable times.

Is it late to learn violin after age 60?

No, but it's one of the most demanding tools: ask to hold him with his shoulder, to raise his arm and to put his finger to his face without anything. If you get excited, go ahead with patience and a teacher to care about his posture from day one.