Some days it can feel a bit blah and the motivation could be missing entirely, so you don’t actually feel like practicing. First of all, we have all been there. I certainly remember as a kid that there would be days I didn’t feel like practicing at all. You are not alone in your motivation.
There are several reasons why you can be lacking in motivation to practice the piano. The first reason could be tiredness. If you are lacking in energy because you are tired or unwell, then it is completely normal for you not to want to practice. If this is the case, then clearly your body needs rest, not piano practice and you are not a little kid using tiredness to get out of doing your piano practice.
Another reason why you might be unmotivated to practice, is that there is something new that you are working on, that you are finding challenging, or even downright difficult. I understand very well what that feels like and avoidance might seem like the best answer, but it isn’t. I encourage you to tackle that new technique, that hard bit in that piece, because procrastinating is not going to help you.
When you tackle that hard thing you want to avoid, try breaking it down into smaller sections and or playing it slower. When I say slower, I mean much slower, to the point where someone else might think it is so slow that it is boring. By going slowly, you have a chance at being able to learn what you need to play.
Unfortunately, a common reason why people lose their motivation to practice the piano, is that they get started and everything is going well and then they get to a point where something new makes it hard and then they start to doubt themselves. I have seen this happen too many times. The reality is that you can still learn to play the piano, despite some new things being challenging. Do not get discouraged if this is you. The only way you won’t get better at playing the piano is if you quit. If you do persist, then you will master what is not working now – I guarantee it.
While I have explored three reasons why a person might loose their motivation to practice the piano, this list is in no way exhaustive. In learning to play the piano, like so many other things in life, sometimes things are easy and sometimes they are not. The trick is to persist despite the obstacles.