You know what makes me happy? When I can show someone how to play the piano the way they’ve always dreamed.
As young children, we experience the joy, beauty, and excitement of music wholeheartedly. Looking at a piano, we can fully imagine ourselves making great music, just the music we hear on recordings and at concerts.
But then reality sets in: Our first attempts at piano don’t sound at all like the music we enjoy listening to. In other words, we slowly learn the basics of music. This type of methodical learning is necessary, of course. The problem is that while many beginning and intermediate-level pianists do indeed experience the joy of music while playing their pieces, the majority of them will never attain the level of fluency necessary to play fun and exciting music on a daily basis.
At some point, the vast majority of piano students give up. They quit. This would be OK, except that many of them carry their unfulfilled musical dreams with them for the rest of their lives. Some will occasionally try the piano again, only to get frustrated and put it aside.
One of the great joys of my life is when I can help someone learn to play piano fluently. To help a piano student learn the elements of music as a language, and watch their joy as it becomes easy. Improvisation and reading music come closer together and the pianist experiences music the way they imagined they could when as a child they sat down at the piano for the first time.
The key is to aim for fluency at each step; from the very beginning. Then the music will begin to flow in ways you could never have imagined. This IS possible; for you too!
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This is a really good tip especially to those new
to the blogosphere. Simple but very accurate info…
Many thanks for sharing this one. A must
read post!
I’m glad this resonated with you, and thanks so much for your support! You sound like a great piano teacher 🙂