I`ve just started to get interested in music, and want to play cello. But I have no expierence with strings, and I seem to old to start to learn because my friend started violin when she was like 6 years old. Can I still get really good at the cello at 14, good enough to play in an orchestra?

i just started cello about two weeks ago. I`m getting really good at it. I just learned two scales and three songs. Guess how old i am. That`s right, I`m 14. I hope that answers your question but if it doesn`t i`ll tell you that you are at the perfect age for it. i started playing woodwind instruments when i was in sixth grade and it was kinda hard for me. But since i`m older now starting on strings was easy. the older you are the easier it is to start on an instrument. that is until you get to about 40. LOL

Well, I must dissagree with Felix on this one. I started cello at 11, and wish that I had started 5-6 years sooner. It is easier to start an instrument when you are younger, because you build technic that will be with you forever. When you are older, it is harder to build that basis. People who start at a young age do much better when they get older.

THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT YOU SHOULDN`T START!! 14 years old is not too old, not in the least, but neither will it be easier for you to start now, than it would have been if you started 10 years ago. My little brother started violin when he was 4 or 5, and he`s 12 now, and at least as good as I am. He`s been playing about a year longer than I, and after I started, I quickly surpassed him in my abbilities, but when he got past the immaurity of a young child, he has stepped up, and can play things at, or above my level. The main thing is to have fun with cello. You will either find that it will just be a hobby, or else soemthing you may want to make a career out of. Just remember to have fun, and when it stops being fun, find something that is.



Titus

Absolutely not. I started at 39. I play piano, trombone, guitar, and now cello. It is a myth that people cannot learn musical instruments, sports, and languages into adulthood. I started skating and playing ice hockey at 35 and kick butt. It is such a shame that people think stuff like this. I mean, are you trying to be a virtuoso/prodigy by 16? Or do you want to play and enjoy the cello for the rest of your life.

Go for it!!!!

I`ve only been playing cello for 4 years (about) and i have already played at a college and other things i would say im pretty good, I`m 14 now. but i think what age you start at makes little difference, if you start at a younger age, i think yes you will be really good but if you start later in life, like late teens and up, i think it becomes physcological from there, your will to play it. my idol band is apocalyptica they play stuff from the rock band metallica and it is just 4 cellos, i have all there sheet music and im pretty fair at it. I say its based purely on wil and strive to learn something.

Appologies if my previous post was misunderstood...... To summarize what I have observed;
There are certain advantages to starting things when you are younger. There is no reason that you shouldn`t start cello now, or at whatever age you decide to start, but the longer you wait, the less chance to really do anything "professional" with it. If you`re just looking to have fun with it, that`s awesome. Music is a great hobby, and an accoustic instrument is that much better.



Titus

There is one really good advantage to starting when you`re older... You don`t have a poor foundation to work with, you have a new foundation... I started cello less than a yr. ago, I was sixteen, from what I`ve noticed, all the other cellists in my high school orchestra all have really bad habits that cause them trouble that they developed over the years & never fixed, where as I don`t have even half the problems they have.

So I personally think that starting in high school was the best thing I could have done...

anyway... it`s never too late to play cello, just have fun doing it.

I started at 11 too, and also wished I started earlier, or at least kept up with it from my freshman and sophomore year. My junior year I picked it up again, and I do have to agree-- you dont learn the bad habits as much when you start older. A friend of mine picked up the violin last year at 15, and now shes playing great, and on the level of the rest of the violins, cept for maybe our concert mistress who started playing at 13 (shes 17 now, and she surpassed the two that have both been playing since they were 5) She started only a year before, and now shes pretty much the best in our class. I dont think you`ll have a problem at all.

offcourse you can start at 14 im starting right now and im 14, and you see ive played the sax since 6th grade and im really kick but, and i started playing the violin in 3rd grade but i stopped cause i couldnt play but that was a stupid desicion. now im starting the cello and i find it interesting.

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No way, starting the cello at 14 is not too old at all, i am 13 and ive just started to play the cello. I have no experience with strings either and im doing pretty well with the cello, my friends mum is like 40-50 something years old and she is already in grade 8 and she has only been playing for like 5 months. my friend has been playing piano (which is easier to play than the cello) well hes been playing for like 5 years and hes only in grade eight, and hes 18. So age has nothing to do with it, dont worry.

sorry i said my friend was 18 and has been playing the piano for like 5 years and is only in grade eight. I mwan to say he is in grade FIVE, not grade eight, see, his instrument is easier to play and hes been playing longer yet hes in a lower grade than a 50 something year old woman. So dont worry bout your age, if she can do it so can you.

I started when I was eight, but one of my biggest regrets with it is that I stopped when I was about 10. I`m 16 now, and I started again a couple of years ago, but I can`t make up for the time I lost... *sob*... OK, it`s not that bad, at least I`m playing now. AND YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO OLD! Everyone should enjoy music, and who cares if you`ll never be a virtuoso?

your never to old to start learning

Most of these people are right, but they`re not emphasizing that you can become as good, or better, than someone who started in early childhood. Plus, 14 yrs is youngish enough!