Piano practice Help!?

Question

I have played the piano for 7 years now, but i have lost intrest i don't want to quit becuase i know i will regret it in the long run, but i never get all my practice time in. So i am stuck ! Anyone know how to make practice time more fun?

Answer 1

1. Taking a break doesn't mean you are quitting. You may want to take a few days off and find out if you miss it when you go back.

2. Setting goals increases motivation. Take a little time to think about what you are doing with the Piano, what you want to do with the Piano, and what your short term, medium term, and long term goals are. Make plans for how you are going to get there, how it is going to affect the rest of your life, and what kind of support you are going to need to get there.

3. Do something genuinely fun with the piano every day. We all need to keep up with our performance pieces, the etudes that develop our technique, the scales and arpeggios that increase our fluency and dexterity, but few people find joy in this, at least at first. Pick up a few comfort pieces. It might be ragtime, rock, Jazz, or even something original. Reward yourself with some boogie woogie, or some Gershwin stride piano. Pick out some Fats Domino, or some Billy Joel! (I love playing through his Root Beer Rag) Even Serious Concert Pianists need some "ME" Time! (Check out Andre Previn's Jazz chops, or Leonard Bernstein's I Hate Music (But I Love To Sing!)

4. How much performance time are you getting in? It is no fun to practice, only for the sake of practicing. Get out and play, and I mean play some of that fun stuff. Do some solo work at a club, a geriatric home, a local adult or children's daycare center, or sit in with a band. Sometimes a little feedback from the audience is what you need to keep the interest alive.

Hope this helps. What you need to know is that having fallow times in any discipline is completely normal. You may be facing stress in other parts of your life, anxiety because of a relationship, or you may just have some complications from that Spring Fever you just recovered from (Summertime Blues?) so don't beat up on yourself.

Answer 2

I ran into the same problem after I quit taking lessons. I didn't want to learn anything new because I couldn't play it right away like I could before, and I got bored with my old stuff. I ended up getting some new music anyway. I started out with some stuff I knew, then I learned a page a day of the new stuff. That made me feel like I wasn't losing my touch, but I was keeping my mind exercised, too.

Answer 3

I have been playing for over 10 years and i found every now and then i need a break.

Otherwise you can try changing the style of music you are playing.

If you are getting lessons maybe you can get a different teacher who may have a different outlook on how to teach you and different learning style.

Answer 4

Its time for you to get some sheets on some current music that you enjoy listening to... that ALWAYS helps! Dont quit!!!!
When I was younger my mom would always yell at me for drifting off the classical to the pop stuff when she had her back turned....guess the jokes on her now cuz I have been playing keys in bands for 20 years now, make a living doing it!