When my kids were young -- elementary or middle school -- there was a day they celebrated at school called "Opposite Day." Just for fun, they would do as many things as they could which were the opposite of "normal." Examples would be: wearing your shirt backwards or inside-out; saying hello when you meant goodbye or vice-versa; writing your name backwards; eat dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner; and many more. They got very creative and had a lot of fun with it.
What does this have to do with learning the piano?
I have an adult student who is really struggling. When he first started with me over a year ago he was doing pretty well. (He had some lessons many years prior but hadn't retained much.) But somehow lately he seems to be going backwards, having difficulty learning pieces which, I believe, should be doable for him. It's my job as the teacher to figure out the reason(s) for this.
At every lesson I question him about his practice at home -- what he's doing, how much, etc. However, the truth is, I don't really need to ask, because I know exactly what's happening at home based on the results I see at the lessons.
Although he has the best intentions to follow the instructions I give him at the lessons, which I write down in some detail in his notebook, he doesn't really follow them. As soon as he starts having trouble with the piece, or some part of the piece, he reverts to methods and practices he used with previous teachers, none of which are good ones, in my view. In addition to being ineffective, these methods take a long time. Recently he told me he practiced about two hours on just one half of a one-page piece (8 measures) and with one hand only. And he still couldn't get through it at the lesson. His reasoning is that he wanted to get those 8 measures "perfect" before going on. If you are spending THAT MUCH time and not getting anywhere, you KNOW there is something very wrong with what you are doing.
I have been very insistent on the importance of playing hands together (aim for 95% of the time), not looking at your hands, using outlining (playing a sketch of the piece, omitting notes for the sake of continuity) and more. (See my many posts on these topics.) He certainly knows this and he believes me, but somehow in the moment (at home) he just doesn't seem to be able to stick with the plan. Instead, he does a lot of hands separately, looks down at his hands constantly, etc. As I said in a previous post, "if that really worked you'd have it by now."
The reason his progress has stalled is because in the beginning he followed my instructions more diligently, but now, as the pieces get more challenging, he has lapsed into old habits. Of course he gets very frustrated with his lack of progress, but the more frustrated he gets, the more tempted he is to use what I call the "brute force" method -- trying to get the correct notes AT ANY COST.
Honestly, sometimes I wrack my brain trying to think of new ways to help him to change his habits. So, at this past lesson, I wrote in his notebook that I want him to commit to doing the opposite of what he is inclined to do.
Inclination Opposite
Play hands separately over and over Hands together 95% of the time
Look at hands Look only at the page
Work on just 1 small section Work on the whole piece if possible
Try to get it "perfect" Aim for continuity, not perfection
Focus only on "notes" Focus on musicality
I encouraged him to almost make a game of it, to do it in a light-hearted way, not as some sort of ordeal or punishment. Yes, changing one's habits can be quite hard at first. People struggle with the motivation to change in many areas of life, as we all know. But at the piano, at least, he's proven to himself that what he's currently doing is not working, so why not try the opposite?
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