Charile Parker may not be the best example–when The Bird was my age (45), he’d been dead for ten years. 
But I’m sure he’d have taken up the UPs, if only he’d made it to 40 
No E
Lorenzo makes sense, especially to a flute and fiddle player like me. When I get sick of holding the damn instruments up in the air, I’ll just play the pipes. Of course there’s all that work with the bag and bellows! 
Corin
Damn straight.
jim, some lurking 85 year old is probably reading your posts and saying “if only i were so young”
go for it. if you want some practice tips from one middle ager to another, pm me.
meir
Y’know I wonder what the appeal of this thing really is - there seems to be an inordinate number of middle-aged males (myself included)who have taken up this intstrument. Is it that as we have aged so have our musical interests? Is Irish music for us old farts? I tell you, I’m having a hard time weaning my daughter off of Britney spears and into ITM.
Jeff
I think that the expense, $5K+, or lead time , a couple of years at best, for an instrument puts people off. In my case, there was some odd desire to play uilleann pipes once I heard them. Got to play them, a Martin guitar just doesn’t cut it. And let’s hear it for MAM (middle aged males) with almost enough discretionary income ( not counting 2 kids in college). At least, its not a 996 Ducati with a twenty year old girl on the back. 
try introducing her to some really cool harp music…maybe even classical stuff…if you can generate an interest in harp, ITM will be assured…and for some reason girls have an affinity for really pretty harps…
Are you talking about Colin Farrell?
Are you talking about Colin Farrell?
I’m talking about no one in particular…just find interesting stuff, but i think delving into the world of ITM at some point, to some degree, is irresistable to harpists
James Connelly
wrote
Some time when I look at the waiting list for uilleann pipes I think to myself I might not live long enough to get a new set of pipes
listen to a slow air (at this moment: pipers dream 5) and time will fade away
(1955)
where are the youngsters?
who is the youngest?
carel
I guess I’m a youngster. I’m 30. wanted to play the pipes for years, but couldn’t get it together. I was finally encouraged when one of my piper friends said that it was not as hard to play decently as made out to be. The other thing that did it was all the people who play pipes saying that they had found the fiddle too hard. I play the fiddle relatively well, so I’m told 
So, the rest is history.
Corin
I have played for 20 years , I hurt my arm , now I cant play at all . I think I will take up harp till my arm heals . I played wistle as a lefty for 4 years , then when the pipes came , I played right handed . Now , I may have to relearn pipes as a lefty again . Ok has everyone heard that I hurt my arm ?? lol Age 43 . tom . Better late than never , and , no needle is sharp at both ends .
I’m 30, too, (thanks for saying you are a youngster 
) and I recently gave up trying to learn fiddle for the last 9 years and am now switching to pipes. I think both are hard in different ways. It’s easier for me to play (relatively) in tune on the pipes but harder for me to play fast. One of the hard parts for me has been not getting frustrated with my complete inability to play at speed!! But it’s amazing how that practicing thing really is helping…
Justine
Hey, Tom, really sorry to hear about your arm.
But hope it heals right, and quickly too! So, don’t be
fool-hardy and sell all your pipes!
What did you find hardest about the fiddle Justine? And how about the pipes? I found with the fiddle, the bowing was the hardest, followed by certain ornaments. The ornaments are not a problem now, but bowing certain tunes is still a bit of a problem. At least if you want it to sound right. I also play the flute, and found that I developed a style, unintentionally actually, that I end up playing piping style. I’m wondering if that will help me when I get to the point on the pipes that I can work in some ornamentation.
Corin