AGING AND PRACTICING

My thirty-something concert pianist friend Spencer Myer once told me that he was advised to memorize all the music he could while young because it gets harder and harder to memorize anything as one grows older.

That's certainly been my experience.  When I was in my teens, merely practicing a piece to a finished state was enough to lodge it in my memory, and many of those pieces are still in there.  But nowadays, north of 60, I have to work harder than ever just to become familiar with a piece, let alone memorize it.  Working on Bach's Two Part Inventions has certainly shown me that.

I could think, "I'm too old to learn all these new pieces."  But I prefer to think, "This is the youngest I'll ever be. Now is the time."

And music helps to keep me young.  It certainly seems to work for this 108 year old, who still practices every day.  If she can do it, I can do it.

[Here's a hearty shout out to Nathaniel for sending me the link to the video of Alice Herz Sommer.]