Some of my older pupils who have, in their younger years, taken piano lessons, have commented on how much teaching styles have changed. Aside from the fact that it seems most piano and instrumental teachers from their younger years were terrifying and strict, it seems that the approach is very different now to how it was as well.
Of course, there is a place for scales and a time to start drilling notes, but when the entirety of a piano lesson focuses on this and you get a clap around the wrists and a good scolding for not doing it well - especially if it transpires you haven’t practiced the allocated 300 hours that week - then the pupils are likely going to lose a little motivation.
I am a super strong believer in the idea that for most people, learning piano is something that is being learnt for sheer enjoyment and pleasure. So why on earth would the lessons take the form of some sort of corporal punishment? Surely this approach - even if it worked in making you an outstanding pianist - will do something much worse to the ego and to the soul. It can, perhaps, drive the love of music and of learning and playing out of you rather that into you or prevent you from being motivated.
I think I can confidently comment on the satisfaction of the pupils I have in that they enjoy their lessons, and there are two fundamental direct results that need to be taken from lessons:
Lessons should be productive: at the end of a lesson, the pupil should feel that something has been achieved. This doesn’t have to be big; perhaps playing a piece that they have practiced all week but with two notes that were causing them an issue playing into the piece more fluidly. Perhaps they learn the definition of a simple dynamic or tempo term that so far had alluded them. Maybe of greater importance, however, is that…
Lessons should be enjoyed: Why should we put ourselves through all of this hard work - because let’s be honest, it’s hard learning an instrument! - if we are not enjoying it. And this goes for the lessons, too. As well as motivational, they should feel a sense of ease within the lesson that allows for them to perform their best for me.
However…with the best will in the world, stumbling blocks are always something that we’re going to have to contend with and it is remarkably easy to get disillusioned with our playing. Even when you get to an advanced level, such as myself (no brag intended, read on…), I made the mistake of watching a video of Daniel Barenboim playing the opening movement to Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata whilst I was learning it. I didn’t play that piece again for nearly a week out of a major sense of Imposter Syndrome. Ironically, I play it worse now than I did at the time because I didn’t persist with learning and practice!
Anyway, enough about me - this post is written with the intention of becoming motivated towards better learning and better playing of the piano.
So, let’s get started…
The Approach of Learning Pieces to Keep Your Motivated
Identify Your Strength
Before anything else, you really ought to spend some time working out what your strengths already are. Also, identifying your weaknesses is important because these can definitely be improved on through practice (just about every possible weakness in piano playing has appropriate exercises to help you develop them).
But the thing you may need to hear (or read) is this: not everybody is a virtuoso. Much as it pains me to admit, I myself am not virtuoso, ‘nor will I ever likely be owing to my five year break from playing piano from 2009 - 2014 (and even after that I wasn’t really learning - just playing for pleasure and writing until 2020 when I actually left to devote to music full time!) and chronic pain (sympathy vote). As a result, I have an enormous soft spot for slower, more balladic pieces and am very good at delicate, controlled pieces of work - and whilst I can play / have played my share of Baroque fugues and ridiculously intricate romantic piano runs (Chopin 😡! ) they’re not my strength. I can give you a much cleaner performance of Schumann’s Romanze in F♯ major (“Einfach”) or, let’s say, the second movement of Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata (“Adagio Cantabile”) than I can that ridiculous (but fantastic) first section or, indeed, my opening movement of his ‘Moonlight Sonata’ is pure elegance, my third movement…less so!
Now, that isn’t to say that I can’t play them and - most importantly - isn’t to say I shouldn’t play them as practice will always be happening, however if I develop more of a repertoire alongside my practice of something that’s a real challenge then I’m going to be much more satisfied.
If you identify your stronger style and then use this to learn more pieces - which you will do so much more quickly - you will feel naturally more motivated because you’ll feel you're achieving the learning of several pieces and at a quicker rate. Plus, it’s all repertoire to tick off your list! It’s the ultimate win, win!
Alongside this, have something to challenge you on the go too. If this takes considerably longer to learn it doesn’t matter because a) all practice is good practice and b) you’ll have learnt a lot alongside it too!
Compose Your Own Piece
This is the ultimate creative goal and is a perfect way to incorporate those weaknesses into something that ultimately you will want to play. When we compose a piece of music, we have an intuitively protective instinct as a result of it being ours, therefore we want to be able to play it better than we often want to play a recognised piece, even if only for the feeling of obligation because - surely a composer should be able to play their own pieces, right?
Consider your weakness and make that the focal point in terms of the piece’s complexity (remember that complexity is subjective according to where you’re at at this time: the inclusion of this weakness should be the main bit that needs practising).
Let’s say you’re struggling with a B major scale. Logically, our piece will be in B major.
Using a simple rhythm in the background of, let’s say, a broken B fifth interval (B and F♯), we can maybe create a very simple leitmotif using notes from the first five notes of B major (the B major pentascale), and then using a nice ascending B major to lead us into the final bar.
Make sure you write it down - it all helps towards your practise of sight reading, believe it or not, as well as ensuring that you play the piece the same way each time!
A simple idea might be something like this:
By simply incorporating your problem scale into this piece, you have an added interest in learning it. Even if you only practise the scale going forward within the confines of this piece, it will actually be of benefit to you because if you then did decide to practise the scale individually, it will improve. Your added creativity and the satisfaction of creating a piece of music yourself will add even more fuel to your motivation for learning and playing. It may even open up a whole other avenue to your passion that you wish to follow!
Different Instruments Makes the…Dream Work?
A very simple remedy to helping you not feel stale is by making sure you have either a piano, digital piano or keyboard that you adore playing on, or at least have access to one. If you only have access to one, then consider the next time that you have the opportunity to play and what you would like to be doing on this piano / electric piano / keyboard and how you need to get there as this dream will keep you motivated.
If you already have one that you adore, that’s wonderful, but especially if we’re going down the electric route try exploring it to its full potential. Whilst when learning piano it’s best to default to the piano setting, try setting it to a different sound and playing around. Whilst the bulk of your practice should focus on piano, playing around and creating different soundscapes and hearing your music with a completely different timbre sometimes (often, in fact) creates inspiration.
As for an acoustic piano, consider again how seriously you are taking your learning of the instrument. If you’re happy with what you have and it’s a fairly old model, some keys stick and the tuning warps after a few days then that’s OK. But if this is your dream and you strive to be the best then you will need to invest (ideally sooner) in something new and reliable and my goodness you need to play them to decide which one is the one you want to buy because - like a wizard and a wand - you will connect very differently to different pianos. Read my post here for more tips if you are a first time buyer.
The Art of Pressure in Becoming More Motivated toward Learning Piano
Now let’s talk about little about how pressure can actually be our friend.
Many of my pupils get nervous when they come to lessons because I’m there. It’s not personal and it’s not - as many would believe - because they fear inadequate next to my, frankly, quite awesome skills (felt confident, might delete later…)…no. It’s just the idea of having an audience. That’s all. It can be anyone - it can be somebody who doesn’t even play the piano. But tension sets in, fear sets in, they forget the notes and where the hands are supposed to be…
If only there were ways to practice performing under pressure!
There are!
In fact, playing for a piano teacher is actually not even the best pressure you can practise under, although I dare say it is one of the ones that you absolutely should be doing if you are taking your learning seriously.
Let’s explore some of the options to us:
Perform for Others
I’m not saying you need to hire the Albert Hall or anything, but this is a very simple one.
You can do this one of two ways: both are fantastic:
Spontaneously
If you live with others and have been practising a piece of music, call them in when you feel ready. This is great for you because it doesn’t necessarily give you any sense of major trepidation like a more organised performance would because you won’t even wake up knowing that you’re going to be playing for others that day.
Then ask for feedback. Feedback from people closer to you is amongst the most crucial feedback you will ever get! This isn’t just because you’ll listen to it more, but because they won’t necessarily hold back on you - which is fine - but also because you’ll be more inclined to get better for them because of who they are to you.
Or because you’re stubborn and won’t be beaten by their criticisms!
Either way, it’s a win, win!
Organised Performance
You can still organise this within your household and for people who live with you, but even though it’s the same place and the same people as the spontaneity idea, that more formal approach will give you an added sense of adrenaline for the performance which you can practise dealing with using this tactic.
More appropriately for the blog, however, is that if you organise your performance a couple of weeks / months (whatever you feel you need) ahead of time, your motivation to actually be able to play the pieces you wish to play well will skyrocket and you will find yourself practising them to the point that you’re off book and loving every second of immersing yourself in the music!
Many piano teachers organise showcases for their pupils for this very reason! And, whilst I am in a strange limbo between Macclesfield and Congleton at this precise moment, this is something I shall be looking to organise going forward. And if any of my pupils are reading…this is perhaps the exciting motivation that they need to cease reading this blog and get back at those keys and practising that piece they’re working on!
Live Stream
For those on Face-Gram-Tok, this is fabulous. It’s all the added bonus of reaching a wider audience but without the inconvenience of leaving the house (or inviting a bunch of people into your house!).
The beauty of live stream is that you can do it spontaneously and you may well reach an audience of 0, but that’s fine. You don’t know if none or all of your social media friends and followers are going to tune it, but from an obligation point of view, your brain will automatically tune into (as brains are so very good at doing) the worst case scenario, thus your adrenaline and nerves very much exist.
You can schedule live streams ahead of time and share them and invite your friends to tune in, so there’s your motivation to get learning! And because you know your audience will be made up of friends and family, colleagues etc. it’s all people you’re going to want to impress on a personal level, so it really does push you that little bit more.
The Record Button
I’ve done a whole blog in the past as to why the record button is the silent killer of the greatest performers, but in a nutshell: if you wish to record a piece of music, you have to have that piece 100% under your belt to do so.
Picture the scene: a live performance of a 10 minute piece and you mess up a few bars in the middle. By the end of the piece, the audience will forget and it will be considered a great performance nonetheless.
However, as was the case of my aforementioned friend Daniel Barenboim - an outstanding pianist - and his unfortunate (but remarkably rescued) memory lapse during the middle section of Schubert’s beautiful Impromptu in A♭ major at the funeral of Jacques Chirac, having the record button on you requires 100% accuracy throughout because otherwise your mistakes will, alas, be recorded for the world to hear over and over again.
Obviously this doesn’t deter from the overall performance if you listen beginning to end of the piece in the same way as an audience member would but if you were recording for the purpose of sharing your ability, you would ensure 100% accuracy.
And how do you get that?
Practice!
So consider recording yourself in a few days / weeks / whatever you need to ensure you have enough time to practise all the problem areas of the piece(s) you will be recording and - if possible - allow yourself a set number of takes. Yes, it’s semi-reassuring to know you can always start again, but there’s only so many times you can redo the same thing in the same session before it not only drives you a bit crazy, but starts to affect your performance of it (read the blog to learn about how stress can impact it for the worst!)
The Academic Approach: Taking Exams
I have no problem with exams whatsoever. What I object to, however, is the automatic shoehorning of every single pupil into exams, like it’s the only way we can achieve. Some piano teachers are like this - and if you have a child and they learn through school it’s practically guaranteed that they will be signed up, but it isn’t right for everybody and can actually deter a lot of people from wanting to learn further because…it’s intense, academic and sometimes a little bit too formal for the learner.
But, in complete turnaround, it can have quite the opposite effect on some people who want - or even need - some sort of formal structure to keep them interested and motivated.
Here are the advantages of exams:
Deadlines: You book an exam and you really ought to pass that exam first try for one of two reason. First reason is, of course, money. Exams aren’t cheap, so you don’t want to be unnecessarily paying for a resit. Secondly, however, is that exam boards update their syllabus every two years. This increases the urgency of you having to improve your piano skills.
Increasing Challenge: Each time you pass an exam, you move onto the next one which has officially recognised harder technical challenges and pieces, so you’ll always be learning and practising something to improve your standard.
Grades don’t have to be achieved exhaustively - a beginner pianist may work towards the standard of and then towards Grade 1 and be quite content to then remove the academic constraints of the exam board and adopt a more customised approach to learning then, having used the pressures of the graded exam to get the basics into their system.
As a final note, it should be remembered that “piano exams” are not the only option available to you. Thanks to COVID, ABRSM introduced the “performance grades” more as a necessity which proved to be so popular that they still offer them. These require no technical exercises, but just an uncut, unedited video recording of you at a piano playing four pieces (three chosen by you from their set lists, one completely your choice) and submitting the video for assessment!
Slightly more academically is the music theory exam and, whilst most piano teachers don’t really encourage their pupils to do music theory exams until grade 5, don’t forget that there are four grades below that! Pupils with a more academic approach to learning may feel more content doing a theory exam than a practical exam, and it does help with the learning of piano because the best way to learn theory is to use theory - such as when playing piano!
Jack Mitchell Smith is a piano teacher based in Macclesfield, Cheshire. Click here to find out more.
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