The piano is a challenging instrument to learn to play, and monumentally challenging to learn to master. I admire anyone who takes up the challenge of learning to play the piano. A child may take up the piano but probably doesn't know, or give much thought to, what they are really undertaking. Adults, however, realize (hopefully) that they are in for some serious work ahead. Yes, it will be fun and rewarding (which are the best reasons to do it) if done with the right attitude, but also will take effort.
Naturally, we want to know that our efforts are "paying off."
Unfortunately, many people quit after trying for a while, because they just feel they aren't "getting anywhere." They struggle to play the simplest of music; they spend many hours at the piano but still make the same "mistakes." They feel maybe they have made a little progress but after a short time away from the piano they are back to square one. And many other such reasons. They often feel they should just quit because, apparently, they just don't have the "talent" for it. (But there are also those who will tell you that talent has little to do with it, but rather, it's just about putting in the hours -- the "ten thousand hours" philosophy.)
Everyone will bring a differing degree of natural ability, talent, if you will, to their endeavors. But I say, if you love music, and have a strong desire to learn to play, forget about talent. And if you are an adult, you cannot plan to spend ten thousand hours at it either. So what's left? It's all about working smart.
If you are trying to play the piano and feel you aren't making progress, I recommend the following:
1. If you are doing it on your own, you really need to get a teacher. But not just any teacher. Interview as many teachers are you can. Describe the exact problems you are having and evaluate their answers. If the answer is just to "practice more" or some vague cliche, keep looking.
2. If you already have a teacher, but you are not satisfied with your progress and your teacher gives you the same answers as above, look for a new teacher.
3. If the previous two options are simply not available to you, I urge you to do the following:
FIRST: Ask yourself whether the music you are attempting to play is too advanced for you. When people work on their own, they don't know what music is suitable for their level. (That's why it's good to have a good teacher.) Quite often people have come to me after having played on their own, and have spent months or even years trying to play something far too difficult. They may think that if they just put in the time, they will eventually get it. Not only is this not true, but you will harm your progress, and even go backwards, trying to play something too difficult. You need to be learning skills, not just pieces. Picking your way, painstakingly slowly, through a long piece, isn't going to really give you skills that you can apply to the next piece, because just "finding the notes" is so overwhelming. And you certainly won't be able to play it with the fluidity and musicality you desire. In addition, you will, without question, find that if you stop practicing the piece for even a short time, it will have evaporated, and you can no longer play it. All that work for nothing.
SECOND: you must REALLY LOOK at how you are practicing. Again, without a good teacher to show you how to practice (sadly, many teachers just don't do this), you probably won't know. But just as with other areas of life, if you are doing the same things over and over, hoping to get a different result... well, you know what they say about that.
Ask yourself whether you have been trying (knowingly or unknowingly) to find "short cuts." These may include listening to recordings to try and copy what you hear (if your reading is weak), looking at your hands, using a metronome (because your rhythm is weak) and many others. See my earlier post on this subject.
Recently, I was trying to figure out why a student was having so much difficulty reading just four measures of a simple melody. (I should mention this student had terrible teachers previously, so he is struggling.) He said, "well, if I was at home, and I practiced it a bunch of times, then I could eventually play it." I asked him, "what happens the next day? Are you able to play it right off the first time?" He replied that no, he'd have to repeat the same process again the next day. So in other words, I said, the "bunch of times" that you "practice it" don't really do anything, if the next day you're back at square one again. He agreed. (It might be normal and expected to sometimes go a few steps forward and one step back, but if you are going three steps forward and three steps back, every time, then there is something seriously wrong with your approach.) The process he calls "practicing" is not the process I have shown him. He does all the things I warn against: stopping, "fixing," going too slowly, only focusing on notes and ignoring rhythm, looking at his hands, not attempting to play musically, not really listening, and so on. Doing those things does not lead to just being able to sit down and play something, albeit simple, the first time. The processes that many people might think are what constitutes "practicing" are, in fact, just reinforcing habits that you don't really want, and can't really use, when you want to play fluently. In your practicing, do the things that you ultimately want to be the way you play. I realize this may sound simplistic, but it's profoundly true. Everything you do has the potential to become habit.
I am in NO WAY saying you can learn to play the piano by reading about it or watching someone. I don't include videos in this blog precisely because I do not want my readers to believe that you can learn to play the piano from an online course. But if you are not sure how to change the way you have approached your practicing up to this point, please read my blog from the beginning. Read about ear training, sight-reading, outlining, and all the other topics, and ask yourself how it compares with what you are doing now. Each time you do something in your habitual way, ask yourself "how's that's been working out for you?"
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