Did you ever notice how most people who start off at a young age taking piano lessons rarely continue past high school? Then, when these people grow into adults many of them will eventually regret their decision to quit. So much so that, many will actually seek out a new piano teacher and start all over again.
Why do most people quit? I don't think it's because they're not motivated or they don't like music. I believe it's because they don't realize why they're taking piano lessons in the first place. Sure they can tell you that music is important and they probably should be trying harder but the fact is most simply cannot tell you the real reason for learning in the first place.
Do you want to know why? Ok, here it is. I truly believe that music is engrained into our subconscious and most of us truly want a way to express ourselves in ways that words cannot. Not only has music been around since the dawn of time, way longer than most modern forms of entertainment but, music is an integral part of our humanity.
Music resides deep within us and when we hear it, sing it, play it, share it, learn it, teach it or even dance to it, we get a little closer to who we truly are; multi-dimensional beings who are ultimately creative.
So why do we quit? Because we get discouraged when we cannot express ourselves through music the way we want to. Usually this happens because we compare our abilities to others and the distance between the way we play music now and where we want to get seems insurmountable. But, here's the good news. Nothing can get in your way of learning if you just realize that know matter how you play you cannot be bad. Expressing yourself in any way with music is a good thing and can never ever be bad.
Now, I'm not going to go as far as saying that most piano teachers cause their students to quit because that would mean that it's intentional. Nothing could be further from the truth. However, I do believe that many teachers lack the necessary skills to teach their students how to play from within. What does that mean? It means that teachers know how to teach notes, scales, rhythm, harmony and how to play a piece of music. What most of them fail to realize is that there is much more to teaching music than just what the mind can absorb.
If teachers knew how to tap into the souls of their students by providing the right motivational, emotional and spiritual information then, it would be easier for their students to overcome all the obstacles of learning to play. In fact, no obstacle is too big to overcome on the way to learning to be a great artist or musician. The drive is within all of us, it just needs to be recognized.
So, how can teachers learn the necessary skills? By learning how to tap into their own creative energy. You see it's all about energy. It would be impossible for a teacher to share information about energy if the teacher lacks the creative energy themselves. Creative energy comes from within. In my experience, many teachers have never learned how therefore can't possibly teach it.
Learning to tap into creative energy is a process which can be learned. It's never too late. The first step to learning is realizing that you are not already connected to this energy. Then, once you realize that you're not connected you begin to search for ways to get connected. How? By focusing on the reasons you play music. For example; you do not play music to impress rather you play music to inspire.
Music causes emotional changes within us that are positive. Most music anyway. Of course you have to be wary of low energy music that disguises itself as high energy music such as heavy pounding rock with repetitive angry lyrics. But, piano does not fall into this category. Piano music is the perfect outlet to express innate creative energy. If more teachers are to see the results they desire then more teachers will have to tap into their own creative energy.
Take On Me Piano
Are you ready to finally learn how to play piano despite years of lessons? If you're like many students of the piano, all your lessons and all your practicing have only gotten you so far. Maybe you've found that you've hit a wall in your piano playing ability, beyond which you just can't seem to get. The following are some helpful tips for taking your piano playing to next level.
* Learn pattern recognition: Every song ever written follows a pattern, a structure of sections and chord progressions. You need only listen to a handful of songs by The Beatles to hear what we mean. To expand your repertoire and build versatility in your ability to pick up nearly any song you hear quickly and easily, learn the patterns with which all songs are composed.
* Play by the numbers: Every song is written in a particular key - one of but 12, to be precise - and every key has it's scales, series? of notes in specific intervals, any of which will sound natural and pleasing to the ear when played in it's respective key. Every scale in every key has its 1-chord, its 2-chord, etc. Instead of straining yourself to memorize how to play various piano chords by rote, learn instead the keys that chords are played in and the scales they're built upon. Then you can quickly and easily figure out how to play any chord in any key on the spot, whether you've memorized that specific chord or not.
* Listen: This tip is about learning to play by ear. The secret to learning to play by ear is simple - just learn the aforementioned 12 musical keys. By doing so, you can easily transpose any song you hear into any key you like. Learning to transpose, then, will take you to the next level of playing piano, which is knowing how to improvise. Many piano players can read and follow piano sheet music, but far fewer can sit down and start playing along spontaneously with any song they hear - and have it sound pleasing to the ear. Of course, if you don't yet know how to read piano sheet music, then you may also want to begin studying that skill as well. But not at the expense of learning the fundamentals of music, which is not in writing but in listening. In musical terms, this is called ?ear-training?. Learn to recognize the sounds of harmonic and melodic intervals and you're more than halfway to playing them.
* Expose yourself: No, we're not suggesting you run naked down the street. What we're suggesting is that you spend time surrounded by musicians of exceptional quality, professionals and amateurs alike in whose presence you can hear what it sounds like to play how you want to play. The body's muscles have memory far superior to than our brain's conscious recall ability. By simply immersing yourself in an environment where your ear is exposed to the sort of piano playing you aspire to, your body has a far easier time reproducing those sounds on the piano yourself.
Most importantly in your piano playing adventure is to remember to give it a little attention every day. You don't have to practice for hours and hours a day to get good at the piano. You need only devote a small amount of time daily to keep the skills you're learning present in your mind and body. Even just 15 minutes a day keeps your piano playing ability in tune.
Both Paul Tobey & Yoke Wong are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Paul Tobey has sinced written about articles on various topics from Public Speaking, Tinnitus Treatment and Education. As a pianist you may be wondering where you can find a teacher that can help you achieve your full potential. Paul Tobey is a multi award win. Paul Tobey's top article generates over 450000 views. to your Favourites.
Yoke Wong has sinced written about articles on various topics from Entertainment Guide, Education and Keyboard Synthesizer. Yoke Wong is the founder of PlayPianoTips.com, a leading piano instructional company that helps piano players improve on their playing through home study DVD courses.
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