Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum I can't stand days like today...

Like BlakeOR, for me it depends if the problem is morale or fingers.

If my fingers are refusing to cooperate, constantly making silly mistakes, I’ll cut down my work to the tiniest morsel of a tricky part - no more than 2 measures - and tell myself I’ll only practice it a few times, less than 5 minutes, and then stop. Sometimes that is enough to trick my fingers into working again. Otherwise, I’ll focus on chords or a new form of scale, whatever takes maximum concentration.

If I’m in a mental slump, I’ll read through easier older pieces, have a sight-reading binge, or simply tinkle, letting my fingers play whatever soothes my soul.

My take on it is that learning the piano is a long journey with many skills to master. Sometimes taking a break from working on one gives my brain time to consolidate what it knows to date. I can use that break to practice other skills. Finally, the occasional total day off isn’t what is holding me back from surpassing Horowitz...

I'm happy to hear that other members benefited from all the responses too. I read them all and appreciate all the advice it was very helpful. Yesterday was just an off day all around too much brain fog. However, I took a long break then ended up still getting in a good practice session thanks to support here.

I think I figured out the primary cause that kicked off the frustration. Woke up early and jumped right on the piano and went straight into my exercise where I had to apply swing 1/8s and it has some ties, all new to me and I went straight for it and failed. Today I took many steps back on it just counting out loud with a swing feel, with metronome, then clapping a swing, then using a single note swing, and today I made a huge step forward on it. While yesterday was frustrating at some points I learned a lot from it now I can apply all the advice here next time it happens.

Thanks, everyone.

I think this a perfect example of solving a problem at the piano.

All of these. For me "nap" can go in either #2 or #3.
And sometimes, it's so bad I just have to laugh.

If I get days like that I just stop playing and go make a coffee.

Hi, I would like to share a thing as what you described above resembled my own experience. I always played by ear or used chords as a basis for playing songs (church or pop). Playing with a score sheet is is relatively recent experience to me.

I am studying Alexis FFrench's Dreamland. Measures 13-16 were very challenging, as both hands fight for the space (video below atarting at 0:18). Maybe for players used to classics this is trivial. So I practiced one or two hours (split in several days) very slowly; it felt very awkward, to say the least. Then, suddenly, one day, I could naturally play those measures. One day, that awkwardness, the other playing reasonably OK, and from that on improving with practice. They say our brain burns memories on permanent synapses while we sleep. We call it muscular memory but once I read there is not such a thing, the memory is really in our brain. That may explain why taking a rest helps learning these pieces.

I hope all this makes sense.

I can’t remember the last time I felt frustrated at the piano- maybe 35 years ago. Every practice session now is just an opportunity to learn something new or play something I enjoy. Learning takes time and patience. The more difficult the piece the longer it will take. I struggle with learning new pieces just as much as anyone else out there. I’ve come to realize that professional concert pianists differ from the rest of us by the fact that they spend much more time practicing then we do. They are more efficient at practicing and have more experience and years being under fantastic teachers themselves and the rest is God given talent. But I think it is the first 2 that really limits the hobbyists progress and the fact that most of us started later in life. I’ve learned over the years that if I trust the process and practice efficiently the results will come and they always do. 2 years ago I took on the challenge of learning Busoni’s D-minor Chaconne. When I began I thought I was looking at Mount Everest but 2 years later the piece has been read through most technical challenges figured out but now it’s all about polishing the piece at my own pace and I’ve moved on to other pieces. That 2 years were with an average of 20 minutes a day of practice some days very long some days no practice time at all. If I had 4 hours a day I probably could have finished the piece in a few months but 15 hour work days get in the way.

If you just practice you will improve. If you allow yourself to get frustrated you are just wasting time. It doesn’t matter how much talent you have or how many years you have been at it. Work small sections at a time. Sleep on it and like magic the notes and technique are under your fingers. I almost feel as if I learn the piece in my sleep not actually on the day I practice. It’s on the following practice session that the improvement manifests itself. Most people who have been at this for a long time should notice this as well. We rarely really see great improvement on the day we practice. If you try to look for the improvement on the day you practice you will just get frustrated and that’s all you are going to retain to the next practice session. Frustration. Trust the process. Take it slow and the results will come.

I used to have off days when I was young but haven’t had one for many years. I usually find that everything comes right after a few minutes. The dystonia required a lot more push and shove but after getting rid of that nothing seems much of an effort any longer in comparison. In any case I find it more productive to think about the possible causes of exceptionally good sessions rather than brood on less remarkable efforts.

Well, I'm older too, and cannot play to the degree I used to even a year or two back. So I practice stuff I once knew, stuff I like and the occasional new material. But there's som much other non-piano stuff I do that I can't really spend too much time worrying over a bad day . . but my piano still sounds good on a bad day.
So that makes it a good day!

I think my brain wakes up about half an hour after I wake up.

Yesterday I worked on only 1 connecting measure that tied 2 lines together. Not even a section of a piece but nonetheless made progress...

Work like that is what even the most accomplished of pianists sometimes must do. My teachers who are all fantastic concert pianists tell me they do such things for hours sometimes. A few bars here or there or one specific area in a piece. I couldn’t believe it at first but it’s true and it keeps things for me in perspective.

For the first time in about two weeks, I was able to connect all measures of the 2nd passage of Chopin Waltz B.159. Immediately my impatient self attempted to perform it at high tempo, which almost threw me down in confidence. I stopped and picked myself up at slow tempo. The days I hate most are when I assume too much when all is needed is slow practice.

When I practice slow, I'm able to relax the fingers, breathe, and most importantly I'm consciously aware that I am feeling so!

I read something about dopamine deprivation states which occur both as a natural cycle, but also induced by spikes caused external stimulation, such as coming off of caffeine highs, these cycle disruptions can bleed across multiple days, so it isn't always the case that sleep fixes the cycle.

This is an incorrect description : precisely because the are most accomplished of pianists , they know when such in-depth work is required. This is the norm.

I’m missing the subtle difference but I’ll take your word for it.

Very interesting.

I hope I understood you correctly; then even the most is completely redundant when it comes to professional pianists. If you know how difficult it is to play Mozart, then I often sat with the students for a whole lesson over 2- 4 bars of his music.

I think it's somewhat of an expression in English language, "by even the most". But it's just semantics and I understand what you are saying.

explanation