Re:Kids and music lessons: why do many promising players qui...
by Fradow on Thursday January 05, 2023 @05:14AM
(#34257963)
I took 10 years of piano. I wanted to when I was a child (and I chose the piano).
The problem for me has not been the kind of music I had to play. My problem is I only learned to perfectly play a song with sheet paper, by repeating it over and over again in the course of a few months until every tiny little detail was perfect. That's because I was prepared to play in front of a large audience, where you are supposed to play perfectly.
What I never learned was how to improvise a somewhat-okay song, or play somewhat ok a song from sheet paper. Those skills could have made it enjoyable to play piano for myself or in a social setting where perfection is not expected.
But since I never learned those skills, the piano in my family house sit unused, and even the keyboard I bought for myself is collecting dust in a closet.
The problem for me has not been the kind of music I had to play. My problem is I only learned to perfectly play a song with sheet paper, by repeating it over and over again in the course of a few months until every tiny little detail was perfect. That's because I was prepared to play in front of a large audience, where you are supposed to play perfectly.
What I never learned was how to improvise a somewhat-okay song, or play somewhat ok a song from sheet paper. Those skills could have made it enjoyable to play piano for myself or in a social setting where perfection is not expected.
But since I never learned those skills, the piano in my family house sit unused, and even the keyboard I bought for myself is collecting dust in a closet.