De-Motivated After Discussions With My Piano Teacher

[Jose EB5AGV]

Very interesting topic for me also, thank you for all your wisdom!

[CrossRhodes]

On 8/10/2023 at 5:48 AM, JamPro said:

Thank you all who wrote in.  This is a great discussion.

 

First off, my playing abilities are such that pretty much every idea - of what to practice, how to practice, and how not to practice - are valid and relevant to my situation.  So all these suggestions are wonderful and helpful.

 

Equally true and valid is that my time and the amount of dollars I can allocate for musical education are limited.  And my original post was not only about what inspires me to play and what discourages me about playing, but also about how best to use this (or any) teacher, and getting the most musical mileage I can with the resources I have.

 

I took lessons for a number of years with Dave Frank.  I found his teaching to be wonderfully inspiring, and I never felt around him that I shouldn't be working on a piece of music - even when I played Bach Inventions for him.  But he almost never talked (to me) about technique or the physical aspect of playing the piano.

 

In part, I am inspired by Kenny Werner's book Effortless Mastery, in which he suggests that a piano player can best grow and move forward by first clearly recognizing and accepting their deficiencies, and this will be an uncomfortable process.

 

 

 

Unless you have serious professional goals and your livelihood is dependent on mastering your instrument, it's all about the journey and not the destination. If you were happier playing these pieces without mastering some of the technical aspects required to play them at higher levels, that's fine and good to acknowledge. One thing I would ask before you ditch your teacher though, did you tell them how you are feeling? If not, there is no opportunity for them to adjust their teaching strategy with you and to suggest new pieces that would be easier for you to play and more enjoyable for your goals. I would at least be honest with them and let them know what you're realistic goals are and what makes you happiest when you sit down each day to play. If they can't meet you at your lesson needs after that, then sounds like it would be best to move on. Good luck!

***Just wanted to add an addendum to this, in that if there are new techniques you need to develop to reach your artistic goals you need to develop a plan to master them that doesn't ruin your enjoyment. I agree with the advice given by @Docbop and some others about breaking your time into small practice chunks that you can commit to on a consistent basis. This has really changed how I practice and how I am progressing. I use a simple app called Andante to track all of my practice time throughout the day. My first hour is technical practice and is the least exciting but breaking these into 5-15 minute sessions makes it less tedious. Sometimes I can get through it all in one sitting and other times I take breaks when I can feel my concentration waning. The key is hitting these areas daily even in short session as it will start to come together over time. My second hour of practice is dedicated to reportoire which is the fun stuff! If you're in a position where you can grab small pockets of time throughout the day for focused practice, you may be surprised how much more you accomplish as opposed to sitting down and trying to slog through everything in one goal. Again, best of luck!