Thank you for your comment. I completely agree about music and I think much of the connection between mathematical and musical proficiency resides here — that and a willingness to stay home and put in the hours!

I firmly believe age is no obstacle to learning mathematics, but for purely practical considerations. Youth has the freedom to go and play frisbee when nothing is coming together and to stick at it regardless when those little pieces of proficiency first begin to coalesce into a broader understanding. Family, work and other responsibilities are more of an obstacle than any deterioration in faculty. That and the habit of being good at what we do, which is hard to do without.