Every piano player has a weakness that they are either intentionally working on or they have found a method that helps them overcome their individual weakness. I have seen it with all of my piano students that I have ever taught and with all of the musicians that I have ever known. This doesn’t mean that no-one can become really good, it just means that for every person, there is just some factor or type of music that doesn’t come easy.
My personal weakness has always been my timing. As a piano student, this was the aspect that I really struggled with and it was the thing that frequently needed correcting or tweaking by my piano teachers. I have so many memories of each of my piano teachers either counting and clapping the timing as I was playing during my piano lessons, or they had me count aloud as I was playing. I really hated being forced to count aloud because I felt so embarrassed because it was the one thing that it felt like I could never get right. When I was about 16 (so after about 10 years of piano lessons) I finally accepted the fact that my timing was my weakness and it was always going to be the part that would require careful attention and work. That was a real turning point for me because I accepted my weakness and just made sure that every time I practiced the piano, I took extra care with my timing.
Decades down the track, I would still say that my timing is my weakness and I’m fine with that because whenever I am teaching I am always extra careful that my students’ timing is accurate. Especially with the more advanced students, I will frequently silently count while my students are playing their pieces of music, particularly when there is complex rhythms and timing.
In some ways I actually find my weakness with timing an asset because every musician has a weakness that they have to work one and when my students’ weaknesses become evident, they find it reassuring when I tell them that everyone has a weakness and that my timing is my weakness.
Maybe it is just a coincidence, but the vast majority of my students have had their weakness be their timing like me. Some of the other weaknesses I have come across is reading the notes inaccurately, or playing staccato notes. Some struggle with playing softly and some have trouble with learning to play loudly. A few students have struggled with piano pieces where there is not obvious melody. There really can be a variety of potential weaknesses.
My reason for explaining about weaknesses is that you either have one or your about to find one. It’s not a big deal and it definitely doesn’t prevent you from becoming a very good musician, it just means that you have or will have an aspect a ‘thing’ that you will find a way to compensate for and work on.