New Year's Resolutions: I want to learn how to play the piano

Learning and being familiar with an instrument is such a privilege. It really is. Although it does comes with hard work. But for those who do know how to play the piano, the guitar, the saxophone, or the xylophone: they always seem to describe it as being worth the effort!

As a teacher I would like to give you a few suggestions regarding what you should consider if you want to learn an instrument, and I also want to touch on a method recommended by psychologists to help you stick with your new hobby!

Suggestions from a piano teacher

To begin, aim to have lessons for at least six months, any shorter period of time and you won’t get much from the music lessons.

Aim to get to your instrument most days of the week, even if for a short period of time. Please read our blog post ‘Piano Practice: 5 minutes, most days’ which outlines why I ask my students to get to the piano for five minutes a day, most days of the week.

You don’t need an expensive instrument to begin. I encourage students to begin on a low cost keyboard. This means that students will be knowledgable about their instrument by the time it comes to purchasing a more expensive one down the track, and they will make an educated decision. Secondly, if a student never falls in love with their chosen instrument, as they had planned, it won’t be an unsuccessful love affair that has dashed your pockets. Please see the blog post 'Buying A Keyboard: A Brief Guide' that I have prepared for students. 

A suggestion from Psychologists

There are probably endless recommendations by psychologists to help one commit to their goals and activities that they want to pursue, but I am going to focus on simply one of these today.

Psychologists say that we are more likely to commit to a task – such as practicing an instrument, or exercising more – if we form the intention to do it when we encounter a cue.

A cue can be anything. For example, by planning to practice the piano in the morning after you have dressed, or otherwise planning to practice the piano in the evening after your meal, means that you will be more likely to follow through with an action compared to if you didn’t rely on a cue.

Having a cue helps you integrate the task into your day-to-day; otherwise the task may not be achieved at all.

If you were to implement a cue for your daily practice, what would be your preferred time of day be to practice? Do you have a preference to practice in the morning or in the evening?

Piano Practice: 5 minutes, most days.

Often when a student begins piano lessons they ask their teacher how long and how often should they practice. After teaching for many years, and after discussions with many students, I’ve come up with a figure that I believe is realistic and achievable.

5 minutes of practice, most days of the week.

While learning an instrument, if we demand a twenty-minute window every time we practice it is unlikely that we will practice most days of the week.

What is likely to happen is that students will fit in two, possibly three, practice sessions a week, and on the other days of the week, unable to put aside enough time for practice, students will walk past their instruments filled with a sense of guilt.

First of all: Students should always feel GOOD that they have chosen to learn the piano. Learning an instrument is a challenging task that takes time and effort and it is a wonderful thing when students welcome music into their lives.

Secondly: We all have busy schedules. Students aged from seven to seventy-seven have many commitments during the week. Most of the time, planning long practice sessions isn’t the best way to ensuring regular practice.

Thirdly: Long practice sessions can be daunting. Students may feel overwhelmed by long stretches at the piano, and long stretches at the piano can be both exhausting and demotivating for a student.

As a teacher, what I feel is best for students is short practice sessions most days of the week, that is, short practice sessions often.

I ask my students to aim for five minutes of practice. If the student is enjoying the content, feels mentally strong and clear, and has more time up their sleeve, students can practice longer than the set five minutes.

Students following this method are more likely to practice most days of the week, are more likely to feel pleased when they regularly exceed their practice goals, and are more likely to find learning an instrument an enjoyable process. Furthermore, a student following this method is more likely to commit to their instrument for longer, and like learning a language, learning an instrument works best when it is done so over a long period of time.

As a teacher, I have found this to be the best approach to practice and I often have positive feedback from students regarding this method. But don’t only take my word for it - research suggests that this style of learning, which could also be described as distributed practice, is an effective learning method, especially when compared to long practice sessions less often, which could also be described as massed practice.

Are you curious about this approach? Why don’t you try it yourself and see how you go? Following this method do you find that you practice most days of the week? And furthermore, do you feel good about your practice?