Is it too late starting practicing piano at age of 16, if I wanna become really good..?

Nope. Great time to start.

Absolutely start! I began when I was 16, can't read music and taught myself. Now 19 have been asked to play during church services a few times so it's never too late! GL

Its never too late.

yeah. 16's unfortunately too late to be virtuoso material but you could still reach a recording level if you practice a lot. wish i'd started flamenco before the age of 16, the masters are typiucally playing concert halls at 10.

This post was edited by macktasticvoyage on Nov 12 2010 10:01pm

Wrong. 10,000 hours buddy, that's all it takes to reach virtuosity. And not everyone wants to be a virtuoso.

agreed, although that 10,000 hours thing is a little subjective. some people, no matter how young/old they are, cannot become viruoso musicians. it's just not in their blood. others can go from total noob to virtuoso in a matter of five years. others will practice from age 6 to 30, have incredible technique but play with absolutely no emotion and don't go anywhere with their musical career.

i've played guitar 15 hours a day like any super serious guitarist - not saying he can't become a professional. Top level players of any instrument have had an early start though, though "really good" is still attainable.

I started at 16... I teach people who have graduated from post secondary with 20 more years experience.

Here's a good story of how late can you start....


I used to manage at a music store and a fella came in, 50 years old. I was checking out some new cymbals on a kit and he came over and was freaking out. "Oh man! You sound just like Bill Bruford!!!" My response was, "Who?" He proceeded to tell me all about his days as a youngster and King Crimson and how much he loved music but never played. Now at 50, he had time and money to finally start. I sold him his first drum kit and didn't see him again... until one year later. He came in to get some new cymbals. I put a few on the kit and he started to play.

The year before, he couldn't do anything. A year later, he was a good drummer in my opinion, so good that I thought to myself at the time, if it's not too late for this guy, it's definitely not too later for me! You can get as good as you're going to get if you start at 16. Maybe not as early as the guy who started at 11 or 8... or 6, but you can, with time and practice, achieve your maximum potential.

That's totally false. Top level is completely subjective. Starting to play music at 5 and being famous does not constitute top level.