How to motivate yourself to practice?

[wenrii]

Hello everyone! I'm a somewhat advanced pianist; recent repertoire for me has included Rachmaninoff Prelude in c# minor, and Bach WTC II Prelude in f minor.
Current repertoire includes:
~Chopin Scherzo 2 (haven't really started the "real" work on it- just know the notes)
~Beethoven "Tempest" Sonata (same deal as the Chopin)
My problem is, that I have lost all my motivation to practice the piano.
I'm a high school student, so when I come home, I have to deal with lots of homework, and usually, spending all my energy on homework, leaves little energy for practice.
I truly want to major in music- I can't imagine my life without it. But...I can't manage to find any motivation to practice. I see my peers being able to achieve so much in their musical endeavors, and I long to achieve a lot, too, but because of my lack of practice, the only pieces I have learned in the last 2 years are my Rachmaninoff and Bach piece.

I think part of the problem may be my teacher- she is a very emotional lady, and makes extremely discouraging and negative comments when I do something wrong, and/or when she is having a bad day. Additionally, she comes to my house; she rarely holds recitals, and I do not compete in competitions, so I have nothing to work/practice towards, at least nothing in the near future. I really think my teacher is great, though; she is very smart, and very technical- she knows her music, and she knows it well. However, she isn't very "structured"- she doesn't tell me what to work on (specifically) in between lessons.

I live in the Los Angeles area, and one of the things I have been considering is going back to the Colburn school- I used to take lessons there, prior to switching to my current teacher. I was considering going back to Colburn, because I know there are many recitals/performances I could perform in (that is, if I practice), and I would hope there would be more structure than I currently have.

Does anyone have any tips or insight about my situation? I really, truly love piano, and would really like to get back into playing and practicing....I just am not sure how to.

[stevensk]

If you can't manage to find any motivation to practice and have to deal with lots of homework, quit your piano lessons and dont blame your pianoteacher

[bronnestam]

There is a time for everything. Maybe you should just focus on school work right now and let your piano studies rest for a while - not that you quit totally, but you keep it on a low maintenance level for now. Soon school term is over and you can work more with the piano over summer.
What you describe is a typical stress reaction. I also lose all my motivation for doing this and that fun activity when I feel too pressed. 

You know, there is no hurry. I am sure you will find your motivation again once you have got the chance to relax from school and have spent some good days off, preferably with outdoor and social activities.

[yadeehoo]

If you need to motivate yourself to do something you supposedly love, there might be a conflict somewhere. Reassess why you do what you do and don't be afraid to keep playing even without a piano teacher. Piano is life, keep some free time for it somewhere in your day

[michael_sayers]

Hello everyone! I'm a somewhat advanced pianist; recent repertoire for me has included Rachmaninoff Prelude in c# minor, and Bach WTC II Prelude in f minor.
Current repertoire includes:
~Chopin Scherzo 2 (haven't really started the "real" work on it- just know the notes)
~Beethoven "Tempest" Sonata (same deal as the Chopin)
My problem is, that I have lost all my motivation to practice the piano.
I'm a high school student, so when I come home, I have to deal with lots of homework, and usually, spending all my energy on homework, leaves little energy for practice.
I truly want to major in music- I can't imagine my life without it. But...I can't manage to find any motivation to practice. I see my peers being able to achieve so much in their musical endeavors, and I long to achieve a lot, too, but because of my lack of practice, the only pieces I have learned in the last 2 years are my Rachmaninoff and Bach piece.

I think part of the problem may be my teacher- she is a very emotional lady, and makes extremely discouraging and negative comments when I do something wrong, and/or when she is having a bad day. Additionally, she comes to my house; she rarely holds recitals, and I do not compete in competitions, so I have nothing to work/practice towards, at least nothing in the near future. I really think my teacher is great, though; she is very smart, and very technical- she knows her music, and she knows it well. However, she isn't very "structured"- she doesn't tell me what to work on (specifically) in between lessons.

I live in the Los Angeles area, and one of the things I have been considering is going back to the Colburn school- I used to take lessons there, prior to switching to my current teacher. I was considering going back to Colburn, because I know there are many recitals/performances I could perform in (that is, if I practice), and I would hope there would be more structure than I currently have.

Does anyone have any tips or insight about my situation? I really, truly love piano, and would really like to get back into playing and practicing....I just am not sure how to.

Hi wenri,

At some point one must face the fact that piano practice is work, and then approach it that way.  Use a calendar.  In addition to regular daily practice, learn one page of music a day and work out all the technical details - or every three days, whatever is realistic for you.  Write all of this information into the score.  It may not sound like much, but in a year that is 365 pages (or 121 pages) of music.  Then one keeps this knowledge in one's mind, with the scores handy to see how one's ideas unconsciously change over time, and one practices specific music only for specific performances or for particular teacher/academic requirements.


Mvh,
Michael

[quantum]

If you truly want to major in music and spend your life working in music, you must realize that opportunities to perform will not be handed out to you on a silver platter - you need to have the drive to seek them out yourself.  You may as well start getting into that mentality right now.  Ask your teacher for performance opportunities.  Seek opportunities out yourself, prepare a repertoire proposal and present that as a goal to your teacher.  There is nothing wrong with directing lesson material within your private lessons.  

If there are no immediate performance opportunities, do a recording project.  Record at home with whatever you have available. This will give you valuable experience with the studio recording workflow.  

Several of my university teachers were unstructured yet very knowledgeable and experienced.  The student needs to filter out the non-essential material and take note of the critical points being taught.  It would also be good to take note of what works and does not work in such teaching style, it will be of use one day if you decide to become a teacher - it will make you a better teacher.  

The balance of school and music study can be a challenge.  Realize that you won't be able to complete all tasks you desire in either school or music.  What you need to do is prioritize tasks: grade items on their importance, and complete the essential tasks before those lower down on the list.  Learn to work more efficiently: sure it would be great to spend 5 hours on that Bach piece you love in order to get it perfect, but is that really necessary considering your list of prioritized tasks?  Can you get the essential work done in 30 minutes?  

Make small achievable goals that can be accomplished in a short period of time.  For example:  In one session work out and write down all fingerings for page 3 - very doable.  In one session sight read and bring up to performance tempo the coda from Balade 1 - not realistic.  In the free 15 minute time slot today sight read a new piece - good use of available time.  If you can't see yourself accomplishing the goal in a short time period, then the goal is to broad or big and needs to be broken into smaller chunks. 

For school academics, make sure you read and understand the requirements of your assignments and test materials.  It is often not necessary to learn a textbook cover to cover in order to succeed in a course.   Work efficiently.  If your assignment is to read a fictional novel, understand why you are reading it and what the pending assignments will be before you start reading!  You don't need to memorize the novel if the resulting assignment is only a 500 word summary.  When you are studying for tests, study only what is on the test.  Work through sample test questions as opposed to trying to memorize raw theory.  

[amytsuda]

Hi Wenrii,

Do you actually have time to practice? Now I see my niece and nephews growing up to be teenagers, I am noticing how much they have to study after school. Sometimes, they say they didn't do things because they didn't feel like or didn't feel motivated, but I do know, they call it that way, but they actually simply don't have enough time. Don't blame your motivation. No one can be at 100% at every moment. Don't compare yourself with other friends. You have no idea what they are doing when they are not in your sight or you don't know the scores of all the exams they are getting! I personally am very concerned of wellness of those teenagers nowadays. Based on what you wrote, you seem to be a hard-working student doing all the homework and preparing for the college.

What other pieces do you play or like to play other than Bach and Rachmaninoff you mentioned? Or are there any piece you wanna try playing? Sometimes, just play piano for fun. Play those pieces you learned and loved when you had more time. Or download some sheet music for free and tinker around. I totally understand. After the stressful long day of work, and trying to start on another mentally challenging work (= piano) is HARD, no matter how much you like it. Particularly Scherzo 2 and Tempest are both masterworks. Even if you are a great pianist, it takes a huge mental capacity to work on those pieces.  

On those moments, I just forget those assignments and simply play piano for fun. Try to see if I can play Fur Elise without a score to download La Campanella sheet music and stumble around the first few pages or simply play my favorite Chopin Nocturnes that I played years  And then, if I am still stressed, just call it a day. Often, I get my energy back, and finally pull my assignments in front of me. So just use piano rather as your stress relief, and you'd even more enjoy your piano

[wenrii]

I realize that some of these things factors can't be helped (such as my amount of school work, and amounts of stress that come from school-related things), but some can be (such as trying to get more performance opportunities).
I do have time to practice, but I just feel very tired and stressed when I come home from school. I think what I may start doing is setting small goals for each day (like reading through one page of a piece), but it's initiating the practice that's tough for me. I sat down and practiced an hour today, because the impulse to improve all of a sudden. I find that sometimes, I'll get the random urge to practice, but there will usually be something getting in my way of practicing when I want to (and, there will be nothing in my way when I don't want to).

There are a few other pieces I enjoy playing- to be honest, I think part of the problem may be that I've gotten bored with the pieces I've been currently working on (I put the Beethoven on hold for about a year, and the Chopin just really hasn't progressed over the last 6 months).
I kind of want to switch out my Chopin piece for another (Ballade 1, because it's one of those pieces I always love to listen to, and sight-read when I don't feel ready for practicing), but I'm afraid my teacher will tell me I'm not ready; I don't mind staying with my current Chopin Scherzo, but I was thinking that maybe a change of pace would be nice.

[chopincat]

I'm also a high school student and I was in a similar situation a year or two ago. I lost a lot of motivation and just wasn't really practicing. I totally get what you mean about school being so draining, I still feel that way. There were a lot of things that helped me get back into piano, many of which have already been identified (like having more performance opportunities and finding pieces that I really liked). Another big thing was just reframing the way I thought about practicing. You can think of practicing as work, but you can also think of it as the time you get to spend making music. This is even easier to do when you have all that awful homework to contrast it with. Practicing has kind of become an escape for me with all the stress of school and homework. Best of luck to you!

[michael_sayers]

There were a lot of things that helped me get back into piano, many of which have already been identified (like having more performance opportunities and finding pieces that I really liked).

If a pianist plays music he or she doesn't like, audiences sense the ambivalence or aversion, in my opinion.


Mvh,
Michael

[visitor]

You should take breaks from practicing both short and long as needed.

Take actions to set yourself up for success
Pick better music
Picket a better teacher
Cut out other non essential activities. We make time for the things that truly matter to us doesn't matter how much you claim to love and need it. If you really want to, you'll make it happen

[chopincat]

Cut out other non essential activities. We make time for the things that truly matter to us doesn't matter how much you claim to love and need it. If you really want to, you'll make it happen

I don't know if that's a fair assessment. I remember on another thread when I complained about the ridiculous amount of homework I get, people got a little hostile and started calling me a liar because according to them there was no way someone could have so much. School and homework really aren't what they used to be, and often it's literally not possible to practice without making serious sacrifices that can cost you your grades. I can relate to where OP is coming from.

[coolpianoman]

I suggest you read what you have written about your teacher and ask yourself ‘is this the teacher you would want teaching you?’  I certainly wouldn’t!  It seems to be all about her when it should be all about you.  It doesn’t sound very motivational either.   Sorry if I have misunderstood but I am only going from what you have written.  She might be good technically etc. etc. but does she get the best out of you?