In my humble opinion, the principle hurdle with starting anything in old age is not particularly physical restriction (though that can be a minor factor) but the mental baggage. With the wisdom of life experience we have a high expectation, focussing on the end result...and must have it right away! Naturally inspired by the virtuosi around us, we tend to ignore that their apparent success has come at a high cost.....practice , practice , practice....obsessively for many hours...no football...withdrawn from frivolous social development to a point where success at left hand technical exercises become a self fulfilling reward. No doubt much better to be a totally balance person with broader experience, but need to be realistic about entering a specialist activity at the top of the class. The same philosophy applies to most acquired skills, snooker, throwing darts, etc. I think with adult learning it's all too easy to give up when the end point doesn't happen instantly.....when you've decided to buy a commodity ...you want it now! Whereas with childhood learning, very often the boring bit is ridden through because there is an element of appeasement of parental direction.There is a threshold with instrument learning where the results act a a positive feedback fueling further effort. If that threshold is not surpassed, then when the driver relaxes, the learner will likely give up. In adults who have more choices and relying on the notion of a higher goal as a driver the threshold needs to be reached quicker to sustain the rewards. I have found playing in a band and having deadlines to meet, such as being booked to play for an occasion, a very helpful spur to action.
For what it's worth, I am in the process of going the other way to Mike K .....a pianist/organist adding the accordion to music making. Sympathise with the frustrations of picking up a different interface but do bear in mind the music emanating from the primary instrument is the outcome of acquired familiarity and it takes time to follow the new pathway to reach the same point. I don't believe we are born with the skill; more how we spend our time and most people can't do everything at once. In old age, I'm coming to appreciate the merits of repetitive exercises such as to be found in the much maligned works of Hanon, which is adapted for most instruments. For the accordion I have found working with Anzaghi's exercises is beneficial for quint FB technique. In my case a sort of turning point has been prioritising a couple of hours every day to basic exercises and scales, which I should have done many years ago instead of doing my real job full on and naively expecting the music would emerge by magic! A teacher is fine, particularly as an extra tool for inspiration and continued focus (ie got to do something for the next lesson) but sadly I conclude the key is daily practice, practice, practice. In some respects old age is an advantage because of the wisdom and freedom to chose what should be done and avoid wasting time on fruitless activities. Dare I say the bizarre restrictions imposed by our esteemed government supposedly in the cause of the virus pandemic, has revived my piano technique a treat. If motivated at any age.....you can do it!
