Lesson #2: Put Passion in the Driver’s Seat

This is part two of a series titled 6 Life Lessons Playing Piano Taught Me.

“Those who have a why to live can bear with almost any how.” -Victor Frankl

When I was eight years old my mom took me to my first and only childhood piano lesson. At that age I wanted to spend all my time playing outside, and the idea of practicing indoors every day didn’t sit well with me. I begged my mom to let me quit, and I’m so glad she listened. While I didn’t enter adulthood with well-developed piano skills, I was able to approach the study of music on my own terms when I was ready. I recognize that parental philosophies vary widely when it comes to children and music lessons, but because it was my choice to play I felt free to forge a new path that was perfectly tailored to my strengths and interests. Given the choice, I’d take passion over skill because when passion drives, pursuing proficiency becomes pure pleasure.

If something other than passion ends up in the driver’s seat, the desired results may not materialize. Rigor, discipline, hard work and persistence are admirable qualities that can be developed while learning to play an instrument, but on their own they may lead to burnout. Without joy, playing becomes empty and ritualistic—all head and no heart, hardly worthy of being called “play.” There are obvious benefits that can come from activities such as learning theory or playing scales and exercises. For those seeking the highest levels of mastery, such endeavors are indispensable. But if these activities are overemphasized, particularly in the early stages of learning before students have discovered their talent and preferences, boredom, resentment and rebellion can result.

I’ve created external reward systems for my younger piano students to keep them motivated to practice, but at some point music must become its own reward otherwise it will cease to be pursued. I recognize that not every second of every practice session will feel like a trip to Disneyland. Sometimes there will be songs that students won’t like, difficult concepts to master and moments of frustration. But every effort should be made to enhance and customize the experience to each person’s interests. For this reason I've compiled a large repertoire of graded music in classical, pop, blues, holiday, new age and jazz genres to satisfy a variety of tastes. My goal as a teacher is to keep my students playing for as long as possible, ideally for their whole lives. Tapping into what they already enjoy or can quickly identify with is the single most powerful weapon in my teaching arsenal.

During my early years as a pianist, when I felt very uncomfortable performing in front of an audience, I discovered that leading with passion could help me overcome my fears. I developed a repertoire of songs I loved so much that I wanted to play them for others despite my insecurities. I also kept my favorite piano music in the car where it would be available if I found myself with an unexpected opportunity to perform. Each year at my family’s Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations I prepared a few songs to perform, and I also began playing prelude music at church. Later I volunteered to play at rest homes, and these positive experiences bolstered my confidence as a performer.

There were negative experiences, too. I wanted so much to be reliable and consistently good, but getting there was a long process. One time I was accompanying my violinist daughter at church and the air conditioning came on during the performance, blowing two of my music pages off the piano. Someone noticed and dove for them, putting them back up in time for me to keep playing. But my confidence was shaken and it wasn’t my best performance. Another time I joined an organist for a piano and organ duet. I became so flustered during the performance that I dropped out entirely, turning it into an organ solo. If I hadn't loved music so much I might have allowed myself to be defeated by these failures.

When I was in the beginning stages of playing, a trip to the music store could be quite discouraging. The word “easy” often appeared on the front cover of music books, but those supposedly easy songs were still quite difficult for me. After I began to move beyond the basics, however, discovering new music was a delight. I started playing through entire books and marking the best songs, which did wonders for my sight reading skills. And I discovered that when I was passionate about a particular piece, doing the hard work required to play it well was a joy rather than a burden. The key was to find songs I could learn with a few weeks of focused practice.

There is a system for learning piano music that is quite effective. When my more experienced students learn and use this system it can take them from mediocrity to excellence in a surprisingly short time:

1)     Divide a song into short sections of about four measures each.

2)     Set a tempo goal and a tempo starting point. The tempo goal could be 120, for example, and the starting point could be 80.

3)     Practice with the right hand by itself while keeping time with a metronome.

4)     Practice with the left hand by itself while keeping time with a metronome.

5)     Play with both hands together while keeping time with a metronome.

6)     Increase the tempo.

7)  Repeat steps 3 through 6 until the goal tempo is reached and each section can be played correctly with both hands. The first tempo increase could be from 80 to 100, and the second could be from 100 to 120. Or for a more gradual learning curve the tempo could be increased from 80 to 90, then 90 to 100, 100 to 110 and finally from 110 to 120.

This system works best when a song is enjoyable and worth the effort required to learn it well. Otherwise it’s simply drudgery.

There are systems in life as well: tried and true principles that can enhance anyone’s ability to manage money, build a business, lose weight, find a better career or improve their relationships. But it’s not always easy to discern between systems that work and systems that don’t. Furthermore, when I find a system that works it’s not always easy to stick with it. And success is a moving target: what made sense for me three years ago might not make sense today. It’s a constant struggle to keep things in balance, and to find the happiness and success I’m seeking in a shifting and dynamic world.

Fortunately, passion plays a key role in my life, cutting through the noise and leading me to continually seek purposeful pursuits and positive interactions. As I develop a conscious awareness of what consistently makes me feel most alive and fulfilled, it can point me to my passion. And as I regularly make choices that bring me closer to what I most enjoy, I can significantly increase my satisfaction with life.