I’ve mentioned quite a number of times before that often when I meet people for the first time and the conversation comes around to question about what do I do for a living and when I tell them that I teach the piano, I’m fairly frequently given a reply that they want to learn to play the piano. Over the course of a few decades, this would have happened at least a handful of times every year.
I understand that to some people I meet, this is interesting because they themselves have a desire to play the piano, but for me, it has become a predictable conversation. This is not to say that I don’t want to hear about other people’s interest in learning to play the piano – I think it is a privilege to hear about a stranger’s interest about playing the piano and if I can spend a few moments to encourage them to pursue their dream, then that makes the conversation all the more worthwhile.
Because I have had so many people tell me that they really want to play the piano, I have come to recognize a pattern in the conversation. The other person will show an excitement about wanting to play the piano. Sometimes I hear it in their voice and other times it is revealed in their eyes. No matter whether it is an overt expression or much more subtle, there is a genuineness that is always conveyed.
I think it is important to encourage people at every opportunity – I know how much pleasure can be gained from playing the piano and I want to encourage others to be bold and learn to play. I will always encourage people or help them get the information that they need in order to get started. I have learned to pick up the subtle clues that tell me whether or not they are going to take action on the information that I give them or walk away feeling sorry for themselves because they feel like they can’t do it. Here’s the disappointing bit for me (not that it is actually about me); most of these people I meet will never take any action because they have created too many hurdles in their heads to overcome.
I do understand that it is easy for me to state that learning to play the piano at any age is not impossible. Actually it is very possible to learn to play the piano. I understand that trying to get past a whole lot of roadblocks is actually quite hard, because I do this myself in other areas of my life. What you need to understand, once and for all is that everyone who has a desire to learn to play the piano has enough talent and enough of what it takes to successfully learn. This is absolutely certain, I guarantee it!
So if you are holding yourself back from learning the piano, please just stop it. You are depriving yourself of pleasure for no good reason. You can do this!