You may have piano discipline, but have you found joy in your studies?

Which parts of your piano studies do you find delightful?

Yes, it’s true: a healthy dose of discipline is necessary to get anywhere with your piano studies.  Piano studies can indeed feel like work when you’re sitting down to troubleshoot that difficult piece or difficult passage.  Again.  And again.  And again.  But if sheer grit is the only thing getting you to the piano each day, your piano journey will be short-lived, at best.  Working a healthy dose of the “fun stuff” into your journey, on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, will get you running to the piano to play even when the playing is tough.  How can you do this?         

Repertoire choice.  Are you working on pieces, or exercises because you ought to, or because you want to?  One of the amazing facts about the piano world is that we have such a huge selection of music we can play.  There is an option for every taste.  Slogging through a dry Sonatina from a composer you’ve never heard from to improve your technique?  Exchange it for something familiar, like Mozart’s Twinkle Variations (Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman).  Dutifully practicing through all 100 of your Hanon exercises?  Swap it out for a jazz version instead, giving you the same technical benefits but with more modern sounds.  Have your child work through a piano method book made up of pedagogical pieces created to instruct?  Mix it up by adding a book of familiar children’s tunes to their practice.

Or, simply pick a lighter song to add to your daily practice, and treat yourself by playing it at the end of your session each day.
   

Collaborating. Playing with others is pure joy.  At first, it can be hard, especially if you don’t know your part well.  But once you’ve learned your part and are collaborating with another, the connection of making music with another musician is special.  

Collaborating can be done in many ways.  Working on a traditionally written duet with another pianist is one option.  If one of the pianists of the duo is more advanced than the other, look for an “unequal part” duet, where one part is significantly easier than the other.  Asking someone who plays another instrument to play through tunes or jam with you regularly can also be fun- “jam sessions” can be exploratory, so let go of your perfectionist tendencies and have fun!  If you have a child working through very easy repertoire and you’re not much of a pianist yourself, simply play the same music they’re playing simultaneously, on a higher or lower octave, to give them a simple collaborating experience.

Sharing. Once you’ve got a piece, tune, or improvisation pattern worked out, share your accomplishment with your people!  Ask your partner, neighbor, or friend over to listen to your song.  Facetime Grandma or Grandpa and share.  Or record yourself, post it on YouTube unlisted, and share the link with family or friends scattered across the country, or the world. 

Don’t be shy about sharing.  Remember, it took a lot of effort to get your piece down, and your people will be delighted to hear it.  And getting positive kudos from your people will help inspire you to get back to the piano and start practicing your next piece!

Working on several levels of difficulty simultaneously.  Sometimes we get hyper-focused on some big challenge piece, and forget that simpler music played well can be just as beautiful.  Different learning occurs with a simpler repertoire.  As you advance in your studies, try and keep three levels of pieces going simultaneously: One piece at a level easy enough to master in a week, a second piece at a level you have to work at a bit to play, and a third piece that will take you a while to master.  Think of the third piece as a project you chip away at, maybe just learning a page (or less) at a go.  

Revisiting old favorites.  You took the time to learn a song, don’t forget to play it occasionally to reap the rewards of your efforts!  In my own practice, I keep an ongoing list of ten “favorites”, completed pieces that I play through from time to time to maintain and enjoy.  Once I get tired of an old favorite, I simply replace it with a new one.  

Having a list of favorite songs to play through can get you to the piano on days you don’t feel like practicing the hard stuff.  And it’s a good visual of the work you’ve done so far, and why you’re doing it.

So the next time you feel stuck with the sheer effort of your daily practice, don’t forget to include some fun.  Fun is motivating, and motivation will get you further on your piano journey than grit alone!