Piano Forum

Yes but what I mean is that I see tangible improvement with every practice session, and that is why I feel the motivation to put in the time. If it was largely the same week after week, I would not be as inclined to practice regularly.

"Persistent" practice is the key term that I was interested in, practicing every day. This is a challenge for the average piano student who actually doesn't practice daily on a regular basis even if there is progress to be made and observed with each sitting. Humans are actually naturally lazy.

I can't stand the feeling of endless effort seemingly going into a black hole. So I forced myself to quickly get to a level where my practice was efficient enough to observe rapid (at least what it seems to me) progress. And I tried to think out of the box and look for "shortcuts", as much as piano teachers tend to hate that term.

If one fast track through the syllabus of course there will be holes in ones ability level. There is generally an opportunity cost when one rushes through and expands their ability by simply learning more and more challenging works without solidifying the basics.

So that's what I mean -- if after two years of persistent effort I was at a grade 2 level, I would personally not want to continue. I am not a very disciplined person who sets up schedules and grinds for years. I need instant gratification lol -- you know the times when I attempted to play pieces like HR2 just so I could feel they were within reach. I just feel that being so tenacious is unnecessary -- if that was the case I would have quit long ago -- and that progress in itself would be the reward if people realized how to do it.

When it comes to teaching (and this is the teachers board) one has to see past their own experiences. In fact I have come across a number of students who are impatient and want to learn harder works which they dream of playing only to see them flounder about and never really master it. It leaves one thinking the piano journey is about unmeasurable amounts of time towards mastery, or forever trying to reach the summit of a mountain only never to get there. In fact the vast majority of students of piano will have to put up with slow progress but find enjoyment within this path which is very much possible.

So I feel, if only people realized how quickly effective practice can improve your playing, a lot of the motivation might come automatically.

It is just not so. I have taught many students who progress very fast during lessons only to not apply it on their own when left on their own, this even if they actually know the process that needs to be done. To me it feels like a game of golf where I watch the student hit the ball then drag them towards the next shot, in the lessons they do get up and walk on their own, but when I am gone they have no one to push them and motivate them to actually do the work in an efficient and persistent manner. I think people who work effectively highly underestimate this lazy human nature which I see all the time being a teacher.

With sporadic practice one doesn't see the results of their input, so maybe that's why piano students feel like it's a slow grind for years and years. It has not been my experience at all, assuming you put in at least a couple hours a day of solid effort. I personally feel like a lot of the difference can be attributed to amount of effort and quality of practice rather than talent.

A couple hours a day really is not feasible for the vast majority of students. Start teaching more of the genreal public and you will see the THOUSANDS of reasons why it is not possible, of course it is not impossible but it's just too troublesome for many. So what do you do, tell those students who cannot make regular practice a thing to simply quit? I guess you can be a teacher who only deals with students who work hard and listen to everything you say, that is an easy pathway to take. Personally I have always enjoyed teaching the troublesome student who struggles to achieve, there lies much to learn about human nature and how one may coach others to make adjustments over time.

I tried it out with a student, and it did work: in four weeks, he understood the principles of weight and how to effortlessly get strength and control, his left hand was getting much better as I explained how to use mirror practice and how to observe and mimic hand movements, and so on. And this was with fairly little practice, less than 30 minutes a day (he was a busy person but very interested). So I feel it can work, and it's just that I see so few teachers actually teaching along those lines that it makes me wonder.

Like I said you will get students who do regular practice and work hard and make time and listen to advice etc. It is just not something you are normally going to come across if you teach the general public. Most teachers of piano do not teach just conservatory music students or hard working students, most of them are young kids who have a "play" mentality rather than a disciplined work hard mentality. You also come across adults who have a family, work and other commitments in their life but like the idea of learning some piano, do you merely say to them to give up until they can find dedicated time? A teacher needs to solve these problematic situations which are very common, I assure you any teacher of piano who teaches the general public will attest the same.