Feeling stuck

[aprilshowers]

Hi everyone! I struggling a bit right now with practice and motivation. I'm feeling very stuck in place, like I'm not actually learning anything... I've been working on the same pieces for so many months not and I'm not even halfway done with most of them. I love music and I love piano, it's what I plan to go to college for but I feel as if I haven't been improving these past few months and it's really bothering me 😞 I don't know what to move on with or what to really learn. My teacher is great, but she only helps me with the pieces I'm currently working on and doesn't really give me suggestions or teach me something new unless I bring it to her or if there's an exam to prep for.
Currently I'm learning Bach Invention 4 and Beethoven Sonata in G Op 49
I plan to go to community college before I switch to a uc or csu so I have more time to improve my skills, but I'm starting to doubt if I'll even make it that far because I started much later than others (around 13).

So I don't know, I guess I'm posting this to see if anyone could relate or if anyone has words of advice, I think I'm mostly just trying to get the feelings out and figure out how to move ahead despite all of this. Thanks!

[brogers70]

What do you want to do with the piano? Can you talk with your teacher about longer term goals?

When I have felt stuck, I've switched to easier pieces, sometimes very easy pieces, and just tried to milk all the music out of them that I can. After a while I go back to harder things and they feel easier. Just a question of getting mentally relaxed and having a non-stressful relationship with the piano. But I'm an amateur, I didn't even start until I was 40 and it's taken me 20+ years to get to the point where I can play in front of others and only in pretty safe, low stakes settings, house recitals, nursing homes, churches, etc. So a lot depends on what your ambitions are.

[lelle]

I find that I too get unmotivated and feel stuck if I practice the same thing for months on end. I think that's called "getting bored" and I don't think anything is wrong when that happens - apart from the fact that you are working on the same thing for too long, of course!

I think the sweet spot is working on things you can get in decent shape in 1-2 months maximum. When I studied piano in college, I never worked on the same thing for an entire semester. Some more long term projects were maybe 4-5 months, but the main learning took place during the first few months, and the rest were spent on polish and maturing the piece for performance. At the same time I was starting new pieces and rotating out older projects as they were completed.

If you keep working for months and keep getting diminishing returns, it's neither an enjoyable nor efficient use of your time. If something is difficult and you find yourself unable to complete it, there is no shame in dropping it and starting an easier project which can help you develop your skills faster. You will still have learned something.

[pianistavt]

I've read your other posts - sounds like an ongoing theme here - this questioning and dissatisfaction.  You're quite young - somewhere 12-14?  It's not easy to advocate for yourself at that age.  It's easier to discover what you want... you could write how your feel, your thoughts, in your journal.. see what emerges.
Here are some ideas:
- - take piano lessons on a semester basis so that you have a few weeks break in between, in the break time you can play what you want or not play
- - if you don't like doing the ABRSM/RCM  approach - with the grades and specific repertoire and testing, say so - - it's not for everyone
- - take at least 1 day a week to explore / play what you want
- - it's okay to stop classical piano lessons and explore music more broadly - other types of music, singing, maybe another instrument, you can always restart ( I stopped around 11, restarted 18 months later and never stopped)

[aprilshowers]

Thanks to everyone, im actually struggling to figure out how to reply to responses... But I took you're guy's advice and asked my teacher if we can prep more for college and I told her I wanted to take a bit of a break from the current piece I'm learning and try something new to get my motivation going again! Hopefully it all goes well.