December 1
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Ever meet one of those people who works out a little too hard before they're ready?
Goes for a run that's a little too far?
Lifts too much weight before building the necessary muscle first?
Insists that the advanced Zumba class is just fine even though they only heard about Zumba just last week?
The result is almost always the same. They get injured. They have to take some time off of any exercise. And by recovery time, the motivation to exercise at all has gone.
We see the same thing in piano. Instead of working out too hard, it's students wanting to play advanced pieces they aren't ready for yet.
And the same thing happens as a result. The student hits a brick wall. Discouragement sets in. And before you know it, the student decides to take a break from piano altogether.
There's a misconception that tackling a piece of music that's very advanced will build skill. That's not true.
Rather, tackling a piece of music that's just outside of your skill set will build your skill.
Rinse and repeat.
Do enough reps of building your skill with this evolving "sweet spot" of difficulty, and you'll be confidently playing advanced repertoire before you know it.
And this is where ambitious students can challenge themselves.
Instead of saying, "I want to play this advanced piece," say, "I want to go through all the steps between here and there as quickly as I can to get to that advanced piece."
You can challenge yourself to learn 30 pieces of music in a week that are all well within your sightreading level.
You can challenge yourself to learn pieces that are at your level of ability faster.
You can challenge yourself to perform more frequently and with greater confidence.
Challenging yourself doesn't always have to mean harder repertoire. When you challenge yourself to build your skill sequentially, you build skills that are rock solid.
And then, you not only get to play the advanced repertoire, but you've gained the ability to learn any advanced repertoire you want.
For life.
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For parents, students, and anyone else who believes that music can and should be a meaningful part of everyone's life.
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