As a person who has picked up quite a few musical instruments (well enough to perform them with other people in front of other people), your anecdote meets my e

As a person who has picked up quite a few musical instruments (well enough to perform them with other people in front of other people), your anecdote meets my experiences. I used to be married to a violin teacher. In my experience, ids are very slow, they just put in a lot of time every day (if they are progressing). However, motivated adults have a lot going for them (I know how to set my own practice regimen, I know how to connect previous skills, I have the freedom to set at least some of my schedule). I believe that adults are able to learn new skills a lot faster than kids, they often choose (usually for good reasons) to spend their time doing other stuff like pursuing advances in skills they have already mastered.