Motivation

[pianoamatuer]

Since February it seems that I have been struck down with no motivation. No motivation to practice. None. It's so hard to get through a single hour. I've tried everything - practicing different times of day, in the morning, a snack before practice. Let's not stray further then that.
Now it's come down to typically 30 minutes a day, and even then I'm struggling terribly to make it through. This is really beginning to irritate me, and I've done things like listen to great performers to try and revive my motivation, even temporarily.  But when I open up the piano and practice for a minute, my motivation has somewhat disappeared once again.

I cannot allow this plague to continue controlling my entire life. I've been sleeping like 8 hours a day, so there really ins't any excuse for me to be tired and bored of practicing. My futile attempts to ignite my motivation are really getting me upset. I want to get great at piano, but I can't even practice an hour a day!
Perchance, maybe it's because I'm going a little hard on myself. But I don't think that's the case. I've realized my phone has become a great distraction to me, and now I have my mother take it everyday to work so I can focus on practicing. Still nothing. Nothing fruitful.
Now in worry and fear, I type this topic to find some help. Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[timothy42b]

I will tell you what worked for me.

I took a church job.  Well, it wasn't paid!  but there wasn't anybody else who would do it, and I took on the task of selecting and preparing hymns for the Sunday services.  This task was considerably beyond my skill level at the time. 

At 1030 Sunday morning the first hymn had to be ready.  No excuses!  No recycling for another week until it's ready, no second chances, it's show time.

Sheer terror will motivate you, I guarantee. 

[visitor]

i would not worry about motivation so much. it is a fickle beast, and honestly in the long run doesn't matter that much. that is, motivation will naturally come and go, when it comes, just jump on that pony and ride it until it falls over dead.

as for making progress and reaching a goal, it  more important to be driven and disciplined. when you are driven you are deciding the end point is more worthwhile than any other short term distractions.

when you are disciplined you will do what it takes, when in needs to happen, even when and especially when you are not motivated. disciplined musicians will practice when they don't really want. is it always the most productive? probably not, but it is almost certainly more so than not at all.
 

[dogperson]

 What works for me, is to commit to play the piano every day. Please note I did not say practice, but play. If I just pick up the music that I love to play and play for a while, I restore the discipline to go ahead and practice.   I agree with visitor not to look for motivation, but try to shore up the discipline.


 Does it always work? Of course not  and I don't beat myself up when it doesn't .  But the habit of playing every day leads to the practice that I need .

[lostinidlewonder]

Since February it seems that I have been struck down with no motivation.

You notice the point at which it occurred, why do you think it happened at this time, what changed?

Now it's come down to typically 30 minutes a day, and even then I'm struggling terribly to make it through.

If you have your work set out clearly enough and you know the process that you need to go through to practice then you can get on with the job and stop thinking of studying in terms of time.

I cannot allow this plague to continue controlling my entire life.

I think this is the key sentence in your opening post. This is a problem outside of piano, it is not the fault of the piano, it is a bigger picture issue you are having.

I want to get great at piano, but I can't even practice an hour a day!

What exactly does "great" mean here to you? Why do you want to get "great" at it? What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve your desire?

Perchance, maybe it's because I'm going a little hard on myself. But I don't think that's the case. I've realized my phone has become a great distraction to me, and now I have my mother take it everyday to work so I can focus on practicing. Still nothing. Nothing fruitful.
Now in worry and fear, I type this topic to find some help. Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Go study away from home, somewhere you can do nothing but work. This often helps a great deal, when I was in my highschool years I would study in libraries because at home there was too much distractions.

[ted]

Lostinidlewonder is right. I don't usually bother with these psychological threads but it seems to me that, like many, sadly perhaps most musicians, you might be driven by the external consequences of your music rather than the love of the art itself. There is a big difference between these two drivers. With the latter, love and discipline tend to merge, making motivation a redundant consideration; with the former, goals are defined in externally verifiable terms, social, economic, competitive and the like. If your enjoyment of musical creation is insufficient in itself to sustain your progress, then maybe you would be happier with some other activity. Music is not compulsory, after all.

[Bob]

Do a technical routine.  That's doesn't require much motivation.

I've heard the idea of scheduling it and working.  No motivation required.  Doesn't rely on how you feel, etc.

Attainable goals.  Make sure you're working toward something and can actually achieve it.

Play music you enjoy.

[pianoamatuer]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I wasn't very specific enough.
Allow me to explain my situation:
When I practice, I have to practice three things :
Scales [to warm up my fingers]
Festival Song [will be anonymous. I have to practice this song, it's where I have most mistakes(about 2-3. I want Honors.)]
Sonatina [I used to enjoy this song, but after practicing it I've been beginning to not like the song anymore. I don't get energetic when I hear it, as I used to. Still, whenever I perform it I do it with musicality, as best I can. How does one not get tired of a song? That is a big question.]

Now of course, this strict routine was established in February because I wanted to get Honors in my festival TOMMOROW. And the 'strict' part of this was I removed all my time to actually enjoy piano to practice difficult and boring music. I spent no time enjoying the piano. For instance, I enjoy sight reading. I want to learn fun songs, but I suppose my teacher wouldn't want that. From all the answers here I think I'm creating a too 'intense' "diet" and now the fun in piano is sapped right clean.
Now, I know I said "I cannot allow this plague to continue controlling my entire life." What I meant in the context was I wanted to pursue piano potentially for a career - but if my motivation won't go up, I cannot be a musician for to make a living at music, one must be very talented. (OFCOURSE, now I know motivation is not the only integral thing to practicing)
What I consider great? That is a dynamic question.. Supposedly right now, I could say I want to learn at least Bach Pathetique. I consider that song very advanced for my level. However, my answer changes to more difficult songs when my level progresses.
I know even after the festival I will not allow myself to quit practicing. I need to discipline myself. My piano is surrounded by two computers and a bunch a books, things that can attract my attention easily. I need to cut down on myself. Thanks for the insight.
Sheer terror does motivate. That's why I cut down my practice time to no enjoyment and just pain. Because I tried to do deliberate practice - practicing difficult parts of my playing. not enjoying anything. no fun stuff. practicing boring stuff. using my time efficiently. This would backfire, as apparent as it is, only shrinking my practice time exponentially and attacking my enjoyment for piano I went at it the wrong, wrong way.. Maybe I cannot be a master pianist, if I cannot endure pain for an hour. I really want to though. I understand that the title of "master pianist" can be very hard to achieve.

I like the idea that love and discipline create great practice. Maybe what's going on is I'm missing the love. Because of how hard I'm going on myself. But isn't that what it takes to be a great pianist?
I've tried doing goals, pretty much "practice perfectly" and "play perfectly." First one? I guess I make it half the time. The other? yeah.
Sometimes I even get discouraged that I cannot play a piece perfectly. Sometimes I have flaws. I hate this aspect of performing.

[Bob]

Looks like I'm late.  How did the performance go?  You can learn from it and use that for the next time.


I was stopping back in to mention settings smaller, attainable goals and practicing music you like.  Sometimes there's a fog of confusion that can settle over how everything works.

As far as love of music and being "in" the piece, the performance will up emotions/stress and probably create that a bit.  There might be a trick to create the "vessel" in the form of the piece for that, which can be done dully, mechanically, etc.

[pianoamatuer]

@Bob The performance went great. I got what I want. Superior with Honors. I can't believe it. I made two little errors in my festival song, but when I played my sonatina, I gained a lot of points. I don't know. Something like that. I was playing the sonatina with a lot of musicality though. I guess my practice was sufficient enough. But clearly I need to do more!
I do know that I should practice music I like. That's what I've been doing for the last few days. I've just been playing around with sonatinas, playing a sonatina I've already learned and enjoy a bit and sight reading and learning a new one by myself.
For some reason, I've noticed while I performed that, I was playing with a new level of expression and artistic-ness that I was bewildered at realizing. I've never played with such energy, passion, even during practice when I was most focused and determined. I think the key is to utilize your anxiety and use all the nervousness as, like power to really bring your pieces alive, and really varnish it off with that great sound. Either that, or it was because the piano had a REALLY nice sound. It sounded better than my teacher's grand piano -- at least to me. 
Just wanted to share the little story.

[mrcreosote]

I dare say if you don't want to practice, it will be difficult to accomplish anything if it is forced.

Is the piano your calling?  Who are your favorite composers?  What specific works do find magic, mystery, and passion in?

And here's the rub, these pieces will be difficult and since you have to play them - but to play them, you will practice to do so.  And none of this will be forced or unwelcome.

If you didn't have to practice, what would you do?

We all want to be a rock star.  Unfortunately, that pretty much has nothing to do with actually achieving it.  The motivation is not from the goal, but from the calling.

EDIT:  Here is the Crux of the Buscuit:  If you get to the point where you realize you are not blessed with enough talent, that will be the point where your real metal may be realized.  Some quite because they can, others don't because they cannot!

[bernadette60614]

I can drain my motivation by comparing myself to great performers or by having unrealistic goals.

I can enhance my motivation by actually writing down an achievable practice plan for the day.

Today, for example, I'm working on 6 measures of a Mozart sonata, 3 scales, hands alone on page 2 of a Schubert piece just to get a feel for the piece, and hands alone on 2 measures of a new Bach fugue.

And, then I'm "done"...I'm not perfect, but I'm done with a reasonable, achievable set of practice goals.