Motivation and Avoiding Frustration at the Piano

[jpdennis]

Hello, I'm new to the forum here and I wanted to get some advice as I have been working on a Bach invention for quite some time.  I really want to learn it, but I keep getting frustrated and a lot of time lack the motivation.  I have been working it either a measure at a time or a phrase.  Separate hands slowly, with a metronome, and put it together slowly.  But I still get frustrated and just decide to quit working on it for the day.  I can get somewhat angry with myself and I don't like to beat myself up so I just move on to playing something else or leave the piano entirely for the time.

How can I motivate myself and avoid getting too frustrated?

I will be honest.  I am not looking to be the very best pianist ever.  I am first and foremost a composer and songwriter, but I want to develop my technique the best I can so I can play well and I think it will help when I want to compose more technically difficult pieces.

I used to take private lessons and then I did a semester of private piano at Tennessee Tech in 2009.  I improved a lot with a 2 hour a day practice plan but I was really burned out at the end of the semester.

Thank you!

[outin]

I don't know if I can help you, because I suffer similar frustration with my invention. I just stick to it and when it gets really annoying I play my other pieces. I really don't know why I have this need to work on Bach ( I have tried before). I was happy doing other music from that era that fits my hand much better like Scarlatti sonatas. I don't even care for Bach's music really. It's just some obsession to show that I can learn to play at least one piece...I'm really bad in memorizing fingerings, can't even learn the scale fingerings solidly, so I should not even bother to try something like this...

[lloyd_cdb]

Many suffer from similar issues.

I keep getting frustrated and a lot of time lack the motivation.  I have been working it either a measure at a time or a phrase.  Separate hands slowly, with a metronome, and put it together slowly...
so I just move on to playing something else or leave the piano entirely for the time.

Learning slowly, subsequent lack of motivation, moving on to another piece... these comments are typical of people playing repertoire too hard for them. Possible ADD (lol), but generally frustration leading to moving on is from overly challenging yourself. You are having trouble learning something for a reason, right? Building blocks are the method of life. You need to crawl before walking and running. Find pieces that apply similar technique and are easier. Or just practice several different (non-challenging) pieces to keep you from quick frustration.

This is not always the case, but it is fairly typical and seems applicable given your described background.

[bronnestam]

You've got to lower your ambitions even more. The most important motivation engine is the feeling of making progress - no matter how small. Try to analyze your difficulties even deeper than before: is your problem really a whole bar? To me, it is often just one little movement, one transition, that makes the whole "problem". And so I end up playing just two or three notes in a sequence, over and over and over and over again. Ta-dah-dah, ta-dah-dah, ta-dah-dah. Quick and slow. Sometimes the keystrokes have to be doubled or tripled, or been played punctuated and in other versions, in order to keep your brain "active".

And when you feel you make something better than before, you must give this attention and give yourself a little mental reward. The usual problem is that we ignore little progress because we focus on bigger ones, and hence we get disencouraged and hence we lose our temper, get frustrated and BLOCK ourselves. Compare this with a dog that you train - if you demand too much from him at a time, it will be too difficult for him, he won't get the reward when he needs it, and so he will lose motivation and walk away. You are not different from the dog, you need to get encouraged as well.

... and if you find this slow, baby-step way of working just too frustrating because you get impatient, you must play pieces that are more easy. Personally I don't see the point in playing things I don't want to play, in order to learn how to learn things I really want to play, instead of working more with things I want to play ... but that's me. I can accept that it takes forever to learn some things ...

[slobone]

You've got to lower your ambitions even more. The most important motivation engine is the feeling of making progress - no matter how small. Try to analyze your difficulties even deeper than before: is your problem really a whole bar? To me, it is often just one little movement, one transition, that makes the whole "problem". And so I end up playing just two or three notes in a sequence, over and over and over and over again. Ta-dah-dah, ta-dah-dah, ta-dah-dah. Quick and slow. Sometimes the keystrokes have to be doubled or tripled, or been played punctuated and in other versions, in order to keep your brain "active".

And when you feel you make something better than before, you must give this attention and give yourself a little mental reward. The usual problem is that we ignore little progress because we focus on bigger ones, and hence we get disencouraged and hence we lose our temper, get frustrated and BLOCK ourselves. Compare this with a dog that you train - if you demand too much from him at a time, it will be too difficult for him, he won't get the reward when he needs it, and so he will lose motivation and walk away. You are not different from the dog, you need to get encouraged as well.

... and if you find this slow, baby-step way of working just too frustrating because you get impatient, you must play pieces that are more easy. Personally I don't see the point in playing things I don't want to play, in order to learn how to learn things I really want to play, instead of working more with things I want to play ... but that's me. I can accept that it takes forever to learn some things ...

Excellent advice. Yes, when you're stuck, try and break down your difficulty into smaller issues. Would a change of fingering help? Pay attention to exactly what your fingers are doing. Are they moving in the most efficient way, or are they getting all tangled up?

Bach is notorious for being harder to play than he sounds. You can never put yourself on "cruise control" with Bach. You pretty much need to know what finger you're going to use for each note. Hence the frustration (but also the elation when you finally get it). But stick with it, you can learn more from Bach than anybody else (although some things, like octaves, you have to go elsewhere to learn).

Also, make sure you've learned the notes well enough so that you can almost play it by memory, then at least you don't have to worry about knowing what note is coming next. That comes with many repetitions.

[jpdennis]

This is really great advice everyone!  Thank you.  You see, I have been able to play through over half of this Bach invention (No.1) really well before so I know I can do it.  It's just I haven't practiced it in so long I was ready to "jump back into it."  Not a good idea but I thought it stay in my fingers, but I guess not.  Anyway, thanks for the comments.

Starting on something easier would be better I think.  What would you recommend?  I want something from the classical era.  Preferably not an arrangement or watered down version.

Thank you!  I feel better already.   

[slobone]

When you come back to a piece that you've learned before, but haven't played in a while, the best advice is to play it very slowly at first. I'm not sure why that works, but it does. It's more important to avoid mistakes than to play it up to tempo. Then you can gradually get faster.

[rmbarbosa]

I`ve seen in this Forum many members who say that they dont love Bach or that Bach is hard to memorise and to play without mistakes.
No one is obliged to love Bach. But Bach is simply wonderful when we understand his music and Bach techniques of composition. Only one example: In two voices Invention no 1, at the beginning, there are 3 bars where Bach presents simultaneously the theme, its reverse and itts mirror! And we may choose what we want to ear. Invention no 1 is quite easy, no one presents it in public. Nevertheless, those 3 bars are a delightfull "perl" of composition. When one understands Bach, one loves Bach.
Another problen is how memorise. Since my beggining, when I was a kid, I allways "study" Bach bar by bar or phrase by phrase, hands separated and accordingly the "aditif method": one bar, then the other, then de 1º and 2º bars, than the 3º, then the 1º,2º and third... and I repeat each bar "y" times, untill it becomes perfect. OK, this takes time, indeed. But tihs method works. You may wish to try it.
Good luck
rui

[slobone]

I`ve seen in this Forum many members who say that they dont love Bach or that Bach is hard to memorise and to play without mistakes.
No one is obliged to love Bach. But Bach is simply wonderful when we understand his music and Bach techniques of composition. Only one example: In two voices Invention no 1, at the beginning, there are 3 bars where Bach presents simultaneously the theme, its reverse and itts mirror! And we may choose what we want to ear. Invention no 1 is quite easy, no one presents it in public. Nevertheless, those 3 bars are a delightfull "perl" of composition. When one understands Bach, one loves Bach.
Another problen is how memorise. Since my beggining, when I was a kid, I allways "study" Bach bar by bar or phrase by phrase, hands separated and accordingly the "aditif method": one bar, then the other, then de 1º and 2º bars, than the 3º, then the 1º,2º and third... and I repeat each bar "y" times, untill it becomes perfect. OK, this takes time, indeed. But tihs method works. You may wish to try it.
Good luck
rui

I do something similar, but I try to avoid practicing bars in isolation. So I do bars 1 & 2, then 2 & 3, then 3 & 4, etc. With Bach I also do a lot of hands separate practice until I have learned each voice pretty well on its own. After that I mostly do both hands unless I need to fix something.

[jpdennis]

I prefer to learn by phrases or musical ideas.  That's what my piano professor taught me and it seemed to work then.  Anyhow, what I would like is a goal to work on it for so long each day.  I think that might help.  Starting small.

And then to take it really slow with a metronome and speed it back up.

[slobone]

I prefer to learn by phrases or musical ideas.  That's what my piano professor taught me and it seemed to work then.  Anyhow, what I would like is a goal to work on it for so long each day.  I think that might help.  Starting small.

And then to take it really slow with a metronome and speed it back up.

I go back and forth between the two methods -- learning mechanically vs focusing on phrasing. Each has advantages and disadvantages.

But getting back to the OP, we've all experienced frustration when a piece isn't going well. The best thing to do seems to be to narrow your perspective in the short run. Don't think, I'm never going to play this piece well. Set a smaller goal, like I'm going to work on just this one page for half an hour a day until I've got it. A week later you'll be surprised at how much progress you've made, unless of course you're trying to learn a piece that's too hard for you.