In 2017, my parents-in-law and husband gifted me a piano because I had been sad about my broken keyboard. I had played the piano since I was three years old. I stopped practicing the piano when I moved to Canada. I was traveling for work, and I had simply other priorities. Although, I had a keyboard. As the keyboard was not full size, I could not play certain piano pieces. Playing the keyboard was so different from playing the piano. The keyboard broke ten years ago, and I stopped playing the piano entirely. With great excitement, I opened a box of my piano books that I brought from Japan and Canada as soon as the piano delivery guys left our house.
Struggles
I tried playing some piano pieces I used to play when I was young. I noticed some problems, which made me think that I could not play these piano pieces.
I remember the notes, but I lost endurance. For example, I tried to play Beethoven’s piano sonata, No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2, commonly known as Moonlight Sonata. I could not play the third movement in one go because I had no endurance. I was so tired after 2-3 pages into the part, and I could not move my fingers anymore.
I tried to play Partita #2 from Bach. I could not play a trill with my left 4th and 5th fingers’ at the 5th measure of the sinfonia. I could not perform the trill because I could not move my 4th and 5th left-hand fingers independently from the rest of my fingers. Then, I tried to play one of Bach’s sinfonia, the three-part inventions. I still felt that I did not have complete control of all my fingers. With frustration, I told my husband Bach would cry if he heard how I play his music. He laughed.
My music seems to have lost dynamics. A piece of music without dynamic is like listening to static sounds from an analog television when there is no transmission. I played the Waltz in D-flat major, Op. 64, No. 1, which is a short waltz from Chopin. The first section of the music is fast and very lively. I remember that my Piano teacher told me Chopin composed from seeing a puppy chasing after his tail. I put all my concentration on the movement of the fingers; I could not focus on the dynamic of the music. Therefore, instead of a livery puppy chasing after his tail, it was a picture of a puppy standing still motionless.
I will be lying if I said I was ok with this. I was utterly disappointed with my piano playing initially. But it is not all bad. I still remember some of the music. I need to work on my finger movement. I need to drop few levels, and I rebuild my skill level slowly. After all, I have all the time to practice piano as long as I don’t stop. Well, I had some initial disappointment with my piano playing, but I had no desire to quit relearning piano. I was very adamant about some of the music I wanted to play in the future.
I think anyone can learn to play piano at a later age if they put their minds to it. It can take longer if you pick up the piano piece with much more significant difficulty than your current abilities. Some people managed to do that, too. Recently, I watched a YouTube about a Japanese 52-year-old fisherman who started to play Liszt’s La Campanella (NHK, 2028, July 28). The crazy thing about this was that he did not even know how to read any musical score. He practiced the piano piece for 8 hours every day for seven years. To commit yourself to that level of dedication, you should possess a particular personality. You should not feel bad for not being able to put the story of extraordinary commitment. His case is rare. Although, anyone can play the piano. It would be best if you took it slowly and tactically. If you are adamant about getting into the piano as I did, you need to do the following: (1) assesses your personality; (2) Define your goals; (3) build the tactic; (4) identify potential obstacles and how to overcome the obstacles; and finally, you must understand that the process to achieve goals can be a long process.
Assessing Your Personality
It is crucial to assess your personality before building your goals or tactics. Everyone is different. Just like the Japanese fisherman, some can work toward a significant challenge despite skill gaps. I do not have that type of personality; therefore, I had to build and approach my goals differently. I like my plans to be short-term and just slightly beyond my current skill. I learned this technique from reading Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book, Flow. Csikszentmihalyi (1990) explains that we must set our goals within our reach. If your goal is too far beyond your reach, you grow resentful or resign from achieving the goals. The research suggests most of us struggle with the vicious cycles of failures, leading to dissatisfaction. Unless you are in good condition, struggling to meet your basic human needs, we desire a sense of well-being. People gain satisfaction from achieving even partial goals, which leads to improving our quality of life. Why should we lower our quality of life? (pp. 8-10). This book was an eye-opener for me. I could make some big goals in the long run, but I make small goals to achieve larger goals. I feel fabulous even if the goal achieved is insignificant compared to the larger goals I created. I am making some progress toward my larger goals.
Overcoming the Rocks
Endurance
In 2017, I noticed I felt some muscle pains from playing the piano. I also noticed I felt discomfort from playing the piano for hours. Since I was not sure how much practice I could do, I took it very slowly. I started to practice whenever I had time between my other tasks. I began with practicing for only a few minutes, but I played the piano every day. I started losing track of my time during each practice. I noticed I was practicing for over one hour, and I did not even realize it. Playing piano was no longer painful.
Difficulty Level
I must drop the level of difficulty. Practicing piano music I played when I was young helps me to remember some of my problems. I dropped to Royal Conservatory level 8. I bought Royal Conservatory level 8books from Amazon. At least, I can still sight-read most of the songs at this level. It takes me approximately two weeks to memorize a 2-3 page piece. I found out my capacity by playing random piano pieces in 2017.
Finger Exercise
It took few years, but I felt ready to take my piano to the next level, which involved practicing piano the way my piano teacher showed me. I decided to work on my fingers’ agility, flexibility, strength, and endurance to fix my problems. Hanon is an excellent material to work on my stiff 4th and 5th fingers. I am currently using Hanon, Czerny, and Dohnanyi. Czerny is more melodic than Hanon, and I like it better for that reason. Dohnanyi is a good finger exercise. I struggled with playing Dohnanyi. I remember it was difficult when I was a child. I must put a lot of conscious effort into moving my fingers, even on simple exercises. The exercises wear me out considerably, and it can be pretty frustrating. My brain hardwires the movement. Eventually, my fingers will start to move. Dohnanyi teaches me how to play the piano properly.
Fear of many Flats and Sharps
I felt an illogical discomfort every time I play music with 4-5 flats or sharps, which I always had. When I was young, I got overwhelmed by music written in E major or C-sharp minor. To get rid of m illogical fear, my piano teacher made me practice Hanon no 1 to 20 in E major and C sharp repeatedly. I use the Brown Scale Book to practice scales, chords, and arpeggios, so I do not have to do any transposition of notes.
Use of Metronome to Start Slow
I use a metronome a lot. When I try to play faster than I comfortably can, I skip notes or hit the key with the wrong finger. So, I start slowly using metronome using correct fingering and dynamics until 1 or 2 levels above the recommended speed of the music. I practice a little section at a time because some areas require more attention than others.
Pedal Use
I do not use the pedal until I can play the music faster than its desired speed. Pedal-use masks my errors if I start using it in an earlier state. Then, I will learn the song improperly. It can be challenging to undo when you learned once. Sometimes these bad habits are persistent. When I was relearning inventions, I noticed the bad habits I developed in my teens. I remember my piano teacher pointing out those habits.
Compromise
Finally, I have to make a compromise regarding how much time I can spend practicing piano. I have full-time work. I have a family. There are other things I need to do besides playing the piano, which was my most significant obstacle to practicing piano. Fortunately, I live in an environment where I can play the piano early or late. I will jump on whenever I can make time. When I have only 30 minutes to play, I focus on the sections I need to learn after a bit of warm-up. It gets harder during weekdays, but I practice piano at least a little every day, so I do not feel guilty.
My Optimism & Future Playing List
I am currently relearning Bach’s 15 two-part inventions. I am relearning in the orders I once learned. I started mid-February this year, and I have memorized five as of the beginning of April. I expect it will take more time to relearn the 11th, 12th, and 15th inventions. At this level, I can insert some Sinfonias. My current goal is to complete the book by this fall. I am making progress with my practice slowly, but I do not mind at all. As long as I live and I have mobility, I can play the piano. The most important part is to embrace my progress, and I genuinely enjoy playing the piano again.
References
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (1990). Flow. [Kindle edition]. HarperCollins e-books.
NHK. (2020, July 28), Ohayonihon [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7PoiaMsJ1s&ab_channel=NHK