It happens to everyone that sometimes we don’t feel like playing but we also know that we should. There might be a few very rare exceptions to this, but everyone I know has had a day or two, here and there where they really don’t feel like practicing. I know I have experienced this myself when I was younger.
There are those times when we don’t practice simply because of illness, travelling or family commitments that simply prevent us from having the time to practice – it is a little thing called life happening. However, there are times that we know that we should be practicing but we find excuses to delay practicing. It is during those times that doing some practice is a good idea.
Usually when someone procrastinates about doing some piano practice, is not because they don’t want to play, but rather it is more about avoiding. It could be avoiding working on a piece of music that you want to play but are finding it tough going, or it could even be a portion of a piece that is just annoying or frustrating.
Another reason why some avoid practicing the piano, when they know they really should, is when they doubt that they can actually learn to play the piano. They doubt themselves because maybe the journey has suddenly got harder or they feel overwhelmed by how much skill they want to acquire. There can be a myriad of reasons.
Regardless of the reasons, if you know you really should be practicing, but you have been putting it off, try to start with something fun and familiar that you already know how to play. Enjoy playing it and find other well known to you pieces of music to simply enjoy. Once you have done this, I would recommend taking it slowly with regards to tackling any new or daunting music that you are working on. Don’t feel like you have to tackle it all at once, often a section or a few bars will be enough to get yourself moving in the right direction.
Also, don’t force yourself to practice lots – its amazing how much improvement can happen with as little as 10 minutes a day.
If you find yourself not practicing as much as what you feel you should, do not give yourself a hard time – this is seriously a big waste of time and energy. Focus instead on playing what you already know and make sure it is something that you are enjoying.
If you follow these few tips, you will probably be soon practicing as much as you feel you should.