Eighty-Eight Keys Are the Bee’s Knees: It’s Never To Late Too Learn

How many times have you heard people say, “I really wish I had learned to play a musical instrument”? And how many of us know people in our age group who are joyously taking up new musical instruments in their spare time? Yes, ukelele novices, I’m talking about you! It is never too late and, by gosh, research shows it’s so beneficial for your brain. Playing a musical instrument is associated with a lower risk of developing dementia and cognitive impairment, because playing requires active engagement of many cognitive processes, including sensory and motor systems.

I am one of those supremely fortunate people who learned to play an instrument when I was growing up, namely the piano - the most marvelous invention for sonic adventure and challenge. My parents started taking me to lessons at the old Sievers Piano Studio in a back cubbyhole of the Hofeditz Music Store when I was around eight years old. That was back in the hometown of Edwardsville, Illinois.

I enjoyed playing from the first time my fingers hammered out the glorious licks of “Chopsticks” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” and before long I was playing timeless classics like “Für Elise”. I performed with the local theater group, accompanied my sister’s ballet lessons, and played with my neighborhood friend Mike Pellock, who needed a pianist for his violin recitals. Of course, I also helped form a rock band in junior high and got very good at hammering out the chords to “Gloria” and “House of the Rising Sun.”

And then, darn, fifty years slipped away with barely a touch on the old ivories. My wife gave me a beautiful Kawai acoustic upright piano for a birthday present when I was in my forties. I pulled out a few of the old songs and started playing, but life was just too hectic with job, kids, and all those other things that we get ourselves distracted by in our prime years. Then, around three years ago, at the age of sixty-three, I was visited with a divine inspiration to start up piano again. We promptly moved the old Kawai from our downstairs playroom right up to the center of our main living room. I can’t stress how important it was to have the piano right in front of me day in and day out.

Luckily, one of the skills that stuck with me all these years was the ability to read piano music at an intermediate level. I found a fabulous book of jazz standards arranged by Bill Boyd, and started rewiring my fingers to roll out some of my favorite jazz standards like “Satin Doll,” “Autumn Leaves,” “Moonlight in Vermont,” and many others. Before long, I was playing every day and returning to the proficiency that I had abandoned more than fifty years prior.

In the winter of 2018/19, we found ourselves in a ski resort rental house in Park City that had an old grand piano in the living room. It was a sign, definitely. Every day after skiing I would sit down in the late afternoon winter haze and play. And play. And play. Somehow a Manhattan would find its way onto the piano, and before long it would be seven or eight o’clock, and I was lost in the grand adventure of making music again.

I came to the realization that I could enjoy playing even more if I took some lessons. After being introduced to a number of prospective teachers through the Tunelark.com app, I connected six months ago with a young jazz musician in Indianapolis. Over Zoom, I gave him my backstory and told him I wanted to learn how to improvise on jazz standards. I signed him immediately when he said, “Bob, I’m going to make you a jazz legend.”

Nowadays you can find me every Monday afternoon passed out on the floor of my piano room - the Runge Klavier Studio - with an exploded head from my morning lessons of jazz music theory, piano scales that I had no idea existed, chord progressions that look like the Greek alphabet, and the sobering realization that I will never become Herbie Hancock. But no matter, this is serious fun.

Bob Runge hitting the ivories

I’ve augmented the old Kawai acoustic piano with a Yamaha P-515 digital piano, which is greatly appreciated by my wife and our neighbors since I can practice with headphones. I’ve also found some amazing digital technology like Musicnotes for downloading sheet music, forScore for managing my complete music library on an iPad, and the wonderful Firefly Bluetooth Pedal for turning the pages of my digital sheet music. What an amazing time to be alive!

I have truly found a refuge in playing the piano, especially during these times of global COVID-19 stress. Music has replaced many of the activities that became unsafe during the pandemic such as travel, hanging out with friends, and eating out. With the piano, I don’t miss this stuff as much. I probably average two to three hours of playing a day and, like so many things, the better you get at something, the more you enjoy it.

It’s only been a few years, but at this point I’m feeling like I’ve definitely found a passion and ongoing challenge that will be a part of my life adventure as long as my mind and fingers stay awake for the ride. Join me in this endeavor!