Over the years I have met many people that have always wanted to be able to play the piano and despite their wish to be able to play, there are a few things that can permanently get in the way of mastering the instrument.
There are a number of obstacles that can kill off a person’s ability to learn to play the piano. The biggest and most obvious reason that people fail to fulfil their dreams is that they don’t practice enough. People allow all sorts of excuses to get in the way of learning to play the piano. You don’t need to dedicate hours every day to be successful, you need as little as 10 minutes a day to practice and if you really think about it, most people would be able to find ten minutes every day if they built in into their daily routine.
I’ve often used the analogy of the routine of cleaning your teeth – no one ever complains they don’t have time to clean their teeth morning and evening because it is habit, it is part of their daily routine. If you think about it, the whole process of walking into the bathroom, grabbing your toothbrush, squirting an amount of toothpaste on your brush, actually cleaning your teeth, rinsing, putting your toothbrush and toothpaste away and drying your wet face and hands twice a day does take between 5 to 10 minutes every day. Despite the time it takes, no one ever complains that they don’t have the time for dental hygiene because it is a normal part of their every day routine. People wanting to learn to play the piano need to build into their day a piano practice time. Waiting for spare time is never going to work long term.
Something that kills of ability to learn to play the piano is a person’s self doubt. Way too many people convince themselves that they are not good enough or smart enough or talented enough and let their dreams disintegrate and die. Of all the hundreds of students that I have taught over the years have I never thought that someone was wasting their time or money in having piano lessons. Every student I have ever taught, even for a short while, has had enough ability and talent to make progress. Every single piano student.
Another way to kill of your ability to learn to play the piano, is by killing your interest. Believe it or not, but learning the wrong style of music is enough to kill off your interest. If you are into classical music and would love to play some Beethoven or Mozart, then learning the chords to the Beatles song is just not going to be enough for you, in fact it would actually make you frustrated that you can’t play what you really want to know how to play. Likewise if jazz piano is really your dream, then Mozart and Beethoven is just not going to work for you.
You need to be able to play the style or styles that are of most interest to you and no course or lessons are going to help you reach your goal if it is not what you really want. Sometimes a piano teacher will give you something to learn that is outside your preferred genre because it will help you gain some skills that will ultimately strengthen your ability to play your preferred genre.
The last killer to someone’s potential to learn to play the piano, is listening to someone who tells you that you can’t learn or that you won’t be any good or the classic line about being a waste of time. They are all lies and sometimes people say these things to others because they don’t believe they can achieve whatever it is they would like to achieve, so subconsciously they try to sabotage other people.
Now that we’ve covered what kills off the ability to learn to play the piano, avoid these things! With time, effort and a bit of patience you will be successful – guaranteed.