I taught myself how to play piano.
3 Life Lessons I Learned.
The Story:
During the first lock down in 2020 (UK). I watched a called film La La Land with my dad.
Afterwards I found out that Ryan Gosling (the lead male in the film) had learned to play piano for the role. I thought to myself that if he was able to do it, so could I.
That same day I got my dad’s old keyboard and started teaching myself how to play ‘Mia & Seb’s Theme’ (The main title song for the film), from YouTube videos. Within 2 weeks I had learned it.
Instead of just learning songs, I wanted to learn the instrument, how to read sheet music, the chords, the keys, etc. so, I went to amazon and brought ‘John Thompsons easiest piano course’ it taught me not only how to read sheet music but also that if I wanted to learn this skill up to a standard, I would have become even more self-disciplined.
For most of the time I was able to keep up the discipline of daily practice this due to other habits I had formed (such as cold showers), but my progress was slow and at time my skills would grow stagnant.
Fast forward a year, and many songs later, I decided to start getting piano lessons from a professional. After the first session and getting to play a real piano (after playing only a keyboard) and feeling how heavy the keys were, I realised that my skills were almost ineffective. I did not realise how different playing a real piano would be. Until I was able to get used to the touch, I would have to accept that I didn’t know what I thought I did about playing.
Also, after learning with a professional, I noticed I had learned triple in six months what I had learned in about a year on my own. I was progressing at an accelerated rate.
I’ve been getting lessons for almost 2 years now and the top 3 lessons I learned from it was:
1. It keeps you disciplined.
having to check in with someone weekly or attend a lesson keeps you disciplined your skills up to date. You do not want to slack because not only do you not want to waste your own money and time but the time of the teachers as well. So you keep practicing.
2 . You have to enjoy the process instead of the results.
when I started getting lessons it forced me to keep my skills up to date and not let them get stagnate. In doing so you were always learning, which was fun and made progress fell fast. However, I noticed that if I started worrying about not getting a piece learned for the next lesson or keep messing up, I wouldn’t make any progress. I keep a small printed out photo on my piano that says “Focus on the process, Not the results” To remind me that whenever I started to get frustrated, just take a breath and enjoy playing, don’t worry about the end result. Just keep going because in the end everything will come together and it will sound just fine.
3 . Experience
you don’t know anything. I thought for over a year that I could play a piano, never having actually touched one. It was only when I did for the first time and experienced playing that I gained further knowledge of the instrument. You need experience to move onto the next step and further your skill. No matter what they are, not just instruments.
Conclusion
I do have one last point that I would say to anyone trying to learn anything or build up any hobby (something that I have learned in the past) and that is, the journey never ends…
The never-ending journey
you never complete piano, you never complete working out, you never complete reading, writing, cooking or whatever habit/ hobby you enjoy. The journey never ends. Every one of us that learns something, that refines a skills, does anything self-development related or does any hobby knows that the journey never ends. You start and if you enjoy the activity and really want to make something of it you carry on. It Does Not End. You just improve, adapt, and evolve. It’s all maintenance. You start a skill and you maintain a skill. If you don’t maintain it you lose it.
Thank you for taking the time to read my article. If you found it helpful and think someone else could find it helpful too, please share it and 👏🏽👏🏽.
A writer mainly on self-development. I occasionally write on personal experiences, interest and other topics too. If you are interested in self-development, then please read some of my other articles (linked below). Enjoy.
