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Adults Befriend Old Foe (the Piano)
By MARIA EFTIMIADES
AFTER years of whining about those dreaded piano lessons or after missing the experience as children, the thirty something crowd is sitting down to scales and sonatas. Without being scolded into practicing or, later, being implored to perform, more and more adults are taking piano lessons, sometimes vying with their own children for time spent on practicing.
No statistics are compiled on how many adult students there are, but music teachers say they have seen a sharp increase in the last three years.
An estimated 46 percent of Americans have taken music lessons, with piano lessons the most popular choice, followed by voice instruction, according to a special 1982 study by the Federal Bureau of the Census, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. A 1987 study by American Music Conference, a nonprofit group that encourages nonprofessional recreational musicianship, reported that adults had an overwhelmingly positive attitude toward playing instruments and taking music lessons.
''Adults are searching for something that challenges them intellectually and feeds them spiritually,'' said Ms. Barr, who is a piano teacher in Brookline, Mass., ''and their music study combines so many wonderful things - a challenge to the mind, to the ears, to the soul.''
Many of the adults took lessons as children, but some are newcomers.
Jim Peterson of Oshkosh,Wis., who is owner of Peterson & Associates, a management consulting firm in Oshkosh, regularly fends off ribbing from friends ever since he began piano lessons two years ago at the age of 36. He said in an interview:
''They say: 'You're taking piano lessons. Oh, isn't that just nice. You're going to give your own little recital, too? Isn't that just special?' You can read that they're really saying: 'Piano lessons? That's strange. That's what 12-year-olds do.' They never say: 'How's it going? Do you enjoy it?' ''
His teacher, Carol Winborne, who has taught piano for more than 16 years, says ''that's strange'' is not an uncommon reaction. ''Adults often feel it's like getting braces on your teeth: it's something you're supposed to do as a child,'' she said.
But the number of celebrities, who have recently spoken publicly about taking piano lessons, including Jack Lemmon (who long ago stopped needing the lessons), Bruce Jenner and Phil Donahue, may help change that attitude.
No one has spoken as enthusiastically as Regis Philbin, the co-host of the ABC-TV talk show, ''Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.'' He began lessons about two years ago and offers frequent updates on his progress. He has (hesitantly) even played beginners' pieces for his television audience. Mr. Philbin says he tries to practice five days a week, half an hour a day, and spends much of the time on scales and chords.
The pitfall of publicly lauding his lessons, he says, is that people often think he's a better player than he is.
''People see me at a party and say, 'Come on, Regis, play for us,' '' he said in an interview. ''What am I going to do, play my chords?''
Sometimes, he said, he gets discouraged. ''I think, why do I want to work this hard? Who invented this thing anyway?'' he said. ''But I keep at it. I am getting better - I think.''
Indeed, now that more parents themselves are taking lessons, the teachers say the adults' example is encouraging children to practice more.
''It's reciprocal - parent and child share their problems and their joys and it brings them closer together as a family,'' said Mary Gae George, a piano teacher in Orlando, Fla., who has taught for more than 40 years. ''So much of the problem with children is that the parent says, 'Now you have to do this,' but they aren't doing it themselves. The child feels, 'Why do I have to?' If the parent plays, it helps the child understand that it's important.''
Mr. Petersen recently trained his sights on mastering the ''Rhapsody in Blue'' and Rachmaninoff's ''Rhapsody on a Theme from Paganini. He practices almost every day and his teacher says he's improving steadily. Mr. Peterson's daughter, Vickie, 16, also takes lessons and occasionally father and daughter head for the piano together. A compromise: duets.
And sometimes, Mr. Peterson recalls growing up as the second of nine children, when he wanted to take piano lessons but his family couldn't afford them. ''I've wanted to do this for 30 years,'' he said. ''At first I thought, 'I don't have time for this.' I had a thousand reasons. Then I thought, 'this is the only thing I do for me.''
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