At what age are you at best in piano?

[dudejan]

Is there a top-age in piano, where you're at best? or do you just get better & better with increasing age? I suppose your fingers could get a little slower then? Or don't they with enough practice?

[Kassaa]

If you get older, you will understand the music better which leads to deeper interpretation.

[ako]

I agree that with age, you appreciate the music more, which leads to a deeper interpretation. I think I am a better pianist now (at 33)  than when I was in HS even though I could play more technically difficult pieces then.

[ted]

When I listen to recordings of myself from thirty or forty years ago (I speak mainly of improvisation and my own compositions) it seems to me I was much better than I thought I was at the time, which fact is now rather annoying. I can hear ideas which I should have developed but did not because back then I didn't think they were any good.

Physically I play much better at fifty-seven than I did years ago, mainly because in those days I played everything using the same technique, same hand positions, finger strokes and so on. It has taken me a long time to learn the musical advantages of cultivating a large variety of touch and position.

[GrahamOz]

42

[sznitzeln]

Some famous pianist said that you are only mature when you reach 60.

[keys]

If you have been studying piano carefully for 30 years, it stands to reason you would play better then one who has been studying for 15 years. but if you start in your 30's, or if you give it up for a few years and come back, you would be at a disadvantage. Most mature students I've heard have such stiff hands and don't seem to know what to listen for. They also seem to struggle more with nervousness.. maybe that's what prevented them from starting earlier.

[Glyptodont]

I am probably playing better than I ever have, and I am now 64. 

I feel I play with more understanding and sensitivity. 

My finger dexterity and hand-arm control are as good as ever. 

I try to avoid pieces with a lot of very fast playing, such as lengthy runs of 16th notes.  But in fairness, I never liked such pieces very much.

To be honest and fair, I must say that I am no virtuoso.  I play at about "upper intermediate" level.

One thing about us senior citizen pianists, we have the $$$$ to purchase very nice pianos.   

[nanabush]

I keep wondering how well I'll be able to play ten years from now...I look back about 2 years ago, when I was learning Liebestraum... ahhh those were the days.

[steinwayguy]

I think when you're in your 70's you're starting to decline physically.

However, Horowitz played the Rachmaninoff 3rd in his 80's. 

[AvoidedCadence]

I think when you're in your 70's you're starting to decline physically.

However, Horowitz played the Rachmaninoff 3rd in his 80's. 

I have Rubinstein's Brahms 1 he recorded at 89.  Some missed notes and sounds a bit stiff in places, but still gorgeous.  The slow movement is wonderful.

I think most concert pianists are at the top of their careers about age 30 or so, or at whatever age they feel they've "proved themselves" and don't need to deliberately awe audiences with their technique.  The very best, like Horowitz, keep getting better all their lives, and leave us with deep and profound performances we cannot really begin to appreciate.  Unfortunately, by these ages, most pianists either have injured themselves or developed other problems (arthritis, joint problems, reduced mental acuity ...) or don't wish to continue playing really demanding pieces (Brendel has said he will never perform the Hammerklavier or the Brahms concerti again, for example) or have retired from performing.