Learning To Play The Piano 1
Starting with this entry, we’re going to break away from describing piano history, makers and construction, and talk a little bit about piano lessons. Assuming you got a lot of valuable information from our last 6 months of posts, including the entries on buying a new or used piano, you now have one in your home, and may need help learning to play it well.
How many people adore the sound of the piano? And yet, how many shy away from the thought of ever learning to play the piano themselves. Much of their reticence comes from an unneccessary concern about being perfect, and a certainty that, without that “born-with-it” gift of talent, they could never approach the level of fluidity they hear so often on their favorite recordings. “I’ll never play like that,” they conclude, and give up before starting.
I’m well aware of this attitude. I have been a victim myself of this addiction to perfection, this paralysis by analysis. Even as a naturally gifted player from childhood, I always compared my playing to those even better (there’s always someone better, no matter what your field,) and consequently, I never felt I was good enough. Depending on your temperament, this neurotic, constant comparison to your “competition” either makes you practice harder than ever, or just give up. Many times I fell victim to the latter attitude, and said, “The hell with it.” Bad idea, and really silly.
You see, the piano produces such lovely tones that even a beginner level student playing a very elementary piece can pour out something quite beautiful and touching. Many times, the simplest pieces I’ve played brought much more adoration from my audiences than those highly-accomplished expositions featuring a complex flurry of notes.
But perhaps the even more important lesson I learned – and believe me, it’s taken me most of my life to learn it – is that the joy of playing the piano isn’t just about being able to play a piece perfectly. It’s about the process. The learning and discovery of all the little nuances of the piece. The rewarding growth in your skills and abilities that each piece demands of you, just so you can play it. It’s as much about the journey as the journey’s end.
If your left-hand fluidity, and coordination between your two hands, is still somewhat stiff, and you decide you are so in love with Chopin’s “Revolutionary” etude that you just have to able to play it yourself, you’re either in for a descent into hell, or the treat of your lifetime…depending on your attitude. That piece requires the fingers of your left hand to be quite nimble, flying like the wind up and down the scale, and precise unison of both hands in the fiery intro.
But set aside any concerns of time or worries about perfection, and with no pressure or agenda, just work at a small portion of the piece at a time. You’ll unfold an entire world of discovery about how to best finger each run, as well as which finger exercises (those of your own invention or the perfected studies of Hanon and Czerny) grant you the fluidity you need.
Take a year or two just to master one beautiful piece – there really is no hurry, and you’ll discover just how satisfying the learning and practicing parts of your piano playing journey can be. There’s a great book that perfectly portrays this no-push attitude to your growth as a pianist. It’s called, “Piano Lessons,” a true chronicle written by the soft-voiced All Things Considered radio announcer, Noah Adams. He beautifully describes his choice of an upright Steinway for his New York townhome, and his timeless but pleasing blossoming from a beginner to a very fair interpreter of one piece for his wife, Debussy’s “Claire De Lune.” If you ever catch yourself stuck in pefectionism, give-up-ism, or frustration with your piano-playing journey, reading this book will turn you around.
In future posts, we’ll look at some of the best current methods out there for learning piano at any age. There really is a method for anybody, and “pre-born talent” is not a requirement.
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