Granyala's Q&A regarding practice frustration and patience - 09/06/20 04:37 PM
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
I have a few questions rattling in the back of my head for a while now and, so far, I could not find satisfactory answers.
One of the questions I have already posed in another thread, whereas I was encouraged to create a topic of my own for the purpose of extended analysis. So I gathered my thoughts (and my courage) and created this topic.
As a preamble, a bit about myself.
I am 35 years of age, started piano lessons 2 years ago after doodling around on an ancient keyboard (yuck) for half a year. I play a VST setup of Garritan/Pianoteq with a VPC-1. I play purely for my own enjoyment (if that ever happens) and have no illusions of grandeur of impressing anyone in this life.
Pieces I have “learned” so far:
Detroit become human – Little One Kara
Very first piece, started before my lessons. Made some very critical mistakes regarding constant fingering, currently intentionally forgotten.
Beethoven Moonshine Sonata 1st movement
Second piece (first movement only, for obvious reasons
). When I played the first few chords, my teacher smiled at me “Do you want to learn that”. I can “play” it but the error rate is pretty annoying. Also the first half hurts my hands, teacher says I do not distribute my body weight enough, working on it. Took me 6 months to learn, I play it every day since then to keep it fresh, because this is one of the pieces that made me want to learn the piano.
Xenoblade 2 – Leftherian Archipelago
Third piece. A video game soundtrack I adore. Speed is completely out of the question. Some passages worked well, others remained in experimental stage. Currently in memory limbo, would probably need to learn it again.
Final Fantasy VII – Succession of Witches
4th piece. Another video game soundtrack I love. Some passages work fairly well, others are… umm beyond me. I’m keeping this current, playing it every 2-3 days but right now I lack the ability to bring some passages out of experimental stage.
simplified version of Aerith’s theme from Final Fantasy VII
5th piece, and to be frank: the one that currently causes the most frustration. I can play it but never w/o my hands doing stupid stuff. Compared to the other pieces this should be easy, no?
Other pieces: Preludium from Bach. Easy to play but stupid brain just doesn’t deliver the data fast and fluidly enough. Ugh. Played it a hundred times. Doesn't get any better.
The first question in question: *chuckles*
1. How can piano practice be enjoyed or even be perceived as relaxing?
Original topic: http://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3019661/re-sometimes-its-a-chore.html#Post3019661
I always wondered how this is possible.
To me, playing a musical instrument is like an advanced sport. Everything needs to run at 110%, the slightest slip in concentration for even the briefest of moments leads to a train wreck etc.
Is it impossible to enjoy playing as a beginner (roughly 2 years now)?
I did get a few answers but I do believe people misunderstood my intentions (especially @FloRi89).
I do not expect a piece or my playing to be at 110%. I am not a professional, I am a beginner, so I am aware that this is completely unrealistic. What I meant is that >I< have to be at 110% to get through it (in a rough way and with mistakes). That makes it virtually impossible to “relax”, it makes it impossible to play with emotion too, because as soon as I try to do that -> concentration slips and off the rails I go.
The other part is, that no matter how often I play a piece, I NEVER feel … well, safe. Or comfortable with it. It’s always a struggle, my hands basically always slip up. That makes “playing” the piano pretty much impossible. For me, it’s always practice. I simply can’t sit down and play a piece I deem easy and enjoy it because I do not have such a piece.
2. How do I keep stuff in my head?
This is another point of major frustration for me. We spend a lot of time learning our pieces and they fall out of memory so ridiculously easily. Since I have no reference in terms of other piano mates that learn with me and share the struggle, I have to ask: is this normal? Sometimes it feels that whenever I learn a few notes of a new piece, half a dozen notes of an old one just fall off the wagon. ._.
3. How do you guys deal with the “stupidity” of your hands?
Music is pretty straight forward on a cognitive level, is it not? If you can solve differential equations, reading musical notation and understanding the principles behind it is not hard. Tedious and a huge strain on the eyes but not in itself difficult. So, especially with pieces that are simple in nature, the brain “gets it” quickly and then you need to wait for the body to catch up. How do you keep your patience with yourself? Is there some hidden magic? Can you order patience on Ebay? I don’t know I guess I see myself as a machine that is supposed to function and I constantly ask myself: why? Why can’t you execute this simple movement pattern? Why can’t you remember this thing you did 100x already?
Oof… sorry this got way longer than I intended. Maybe I’m already getting old and start being prone to rambling. Thanks in advance to whomever reads all that and even more thanks for any insight you could share. If you deem it necessary for further diagnosis (or your amusement), I can provide records of my "playing".
I have a few questions rattling in the back of my head for a while now and, so far, I could not find satisfactory answers.
One of the questions I have already posed in another thread, whereas I was encouraged to create a topic of my own for the purpose of extended analysis. So I gathered my thoughts (and my courage) and created this topic.
As a preamble, a bit about myself.
I am 35 years of age, started piano lessons 2 years ago after doodling around on an ancient keyboard (yuck) for half a year. I play a VST setup of Garritan/Pianoteq with a VPC-1. I play purely for my own enjoyment (if that ever happens) and have no illusions of grandeur of impressing anyone in this life.
Pieces I have “learned” so far:
Detroit become human – Little One Kara
Very first piece, started before my lessons. Made some very critical mistakes regarding constant fingering, currently intentionally forgotten.
Beethoven Moonshine Sonata 1st movement
Second piece (first movement only, for obvious reasons

Xenoblade 2 – Leftherian Archipelago
Third piece. A video game soundtrack I adore. Speed is completely out of the question. Some passages worked well, others remained in experimental stage. Currently in memory limbo, would probably need to learn it again.
Final Fantasy VII – Succession of Witches
4th piece. Another video game soundtrack I love. Some passages work fairly well, others are… umm beyond me. I’m keeping this current, playing it every 2-3 days but right now I lack the ability to bring some passages out of experimental stage.
simplified version of Aerith’s theme from Final Fantasy VII
5th piece, and to be frank: the one that currently causes the most frustration. I can play it but never w/o my hands doing stupid stuff. Compared to the other pieces this should be easy, no?
Other pieces: Preludium from Bach. Easy to play but stupid brain just doesn’t deliver the data fast and fluidly enough. Ugh. Played it a hundred times. Doesn't get any better.
The first question in question: *chuckles*
1. How can piano practice be enjoyed or even be perceived as relaxing?
Original topic: http:/
Originally Posted by Granyala
Originally Posted by bennevis
Practice = fun = play = enjoy (= de-stress = relax). Or not.
To me, playing a musical instrument is like an advanced sport. Everything needs to run at 110%, the slightest slip in concentration for even the briefest of moments leads to a train wreck etc.
Is it impossible to enjoy playing as a beginner (roughly 2 years now)?
I did get a few answers but I do believe people misunderstood my intentions (especially @FloRi89).
I do not expect a piece or my playing to be at 110%. I am not a professional, I am a beginner, so I am aware that this is completely unrealistic. What I meant is that >I< have to be at 110% to get through it (in a rough way and with mistakes). That makes it virtually impossible to “relax”, it makes it impossible to play with emotion too, because as soon as I try to do that -> concentration slips and off the rails I go.

The other part is, that no matter how often I play a piece, I NEVER feel … well, safe. Or comfortable with it. It’s always a struggle, my hands basically always slip up. That makes “playing” the piano pretty much impossible. For me, it’s always practice. I simply can’t sit down and play a piece I deem easy and enjoy it because I do not have such a piece.
2. How do I keep stuff in my head?
This is another point of major frustration for me. We spend a lot of time learning our pieces and they fall out of memory so ridiculously easily. Since I have no reference in terms of other piano mates that learn with me and share the struggle, I have to ask: is this normal? Sometimes it feels that whenever I learn a few notes of a new piece, half a dozen notes of an old one just fall off the wagon. ._.
3. How do you guys deal with the “stupidity” of your hands?
Music is pretty straight forward on a cognitive level, is it not? If you can solve differential equations, reading musical notation and understanding the principles behind it is not hard. Tedious and a huge strain on the eyes but not in itself difficult. So, especially with pieces that are simple in nature, the brain “gets it” quickly and then you need to wait for the body to catch up. How do you keep your patience with yourself? Is there some hidden magic? Can you order patience on Ebay? I don’t know I guess I see myself as a machine that is supposed to function and I constantly ask myself: why? Why can’t you execute this simple movement pattern? Why can’t you remember this thing you did 100x already?
Oof… sorry this got way longer than I intended. Maybe I’m already getting old and start being prone to rambling. Thanks in advance to whomever reads all that and even more thanks for any insight you could share. If you deem it necessary for further diagnosis (or your amusement), I can provide records of my "playing".