Natural talent is a myth in this regard and any person could be great at playing the piano. The term natural talent is commonly used as an excuse for why we should not do something. A common excuse is: “I am simply not talented enough”. Or we may explain away the abilities of a particular friend by simply saying that “he is so talented”. The message is that talented people are born that way. However, this is a myth, and talent can be developed.
How To Develop Talent
The answer to achieving success is unsurprising: ‘practice’. It is not the thing you do once you have become good, it is the thing you do that makes you good. Whether it is the coding prodigy of Bill Gates or the Beatles “appearing” on the scene as one of the best live bands in the world, the story remains the same.
Bill Gates has been writing codes since his childhood. In the same way, the Beatles were only good after clocking in thousands of hours of playing music, often six sets in a day.
Another question that may arise: How much practice do you need? The answer to this question depends on how good you want to be. If you want to become the best in the world, the Ten Thousand Hour Rule applies in the cases of sports and music. However, don’t panic. You don’t need to be the best in the world. Furthermore, critics of the Ten Thousand Hour Rule agree that excellence only needs a fraction of that time. Based on relevant research, these critics also agree that the quality of the practice is much more important than the quantity of practice. As long as you decide the best method for yourself, it will be possible for you to improve quickly. For example, James Rhodes played the piano as a child and then totally gave it up for a decade. After that, within two years, he performed at his first professional classical recital. Likewise, Alan Rusbridger was a journalist who first took to the piano at the age of 56. Within one year, he successfully played Chopin’s tricky Ballad No 1 at a concert.
You should take another look at your talented friends. The ones who are capable of playing two instruments or of speaking three languages cannot do so by luck or genetics. These are not available excuses anymore. All you need to achieve success in this context is a little time and some quality practice so that you can develop real musical talent.
However, certain factors can make learning piano more difficult, so you may want to try and avoid the factors mentioned below.
Learning Without A Teacher
Learning to play the piano with the help of a teacher is the most appropriate way to learn and to make progress quickly. A piano teacher can make the learning process easier for the following reasons.
Establishing Good Habits
The main part of playing the piano successfully is to learn the correct posture, finger movement and hand position. When you’re working under the guidance of a piano teacher, it does not guarantee that you are going to become a concert pianist, but it certainly makes sure that you will not pick up bad habits that will become difficult to break later on.
Making Stylistic Corrections
The music on piano sounds best when it is played at the proper volume, tempo, and rhythm. It is also the easiest to play if you can incorporate the right fingering and hand movement. A person may not recognize his own mistakes without the help of a teacher, who can point them out to you. It is not possible to get this one-to-one feedback with a textbook, and it is the key to progressing to the next level.
Teaching Materials
If you are having difficulty learning to read music or comprehending certain parts of music theory, it is unlikely that you are going to assign homework to yourself, but a private teacher will recognize the areas where you have problems and recommend extra exercises, which will help you improve quickly. Without this extra effort, you may have to struggle with music theory for much longer than you should have to.
Holding You Accountable
You must have noticed that it is very easy to set up a New Year’s resolution, and give it up within the two weeks. In the same way, you are also much more likely to achieve your objectives if you have a person who can hold you accountable for achieving your goals. A piano teacher can fill this role. They can set a particular expectation and hold you accountable for achieving it, making it more difficult for you to give in to the temptation of quitting midway.
Unwillingness To Practice
People often ask if it is difficult to learn piano. In fact, it depends on how much time you are willing to spend on practicing. If you’re going to practice only once or twice a week, you will probably not make progress at the speed you would like. It would also be a waste of money to hire a piano teacher if you refuse to practice frequently between lessons. The general rule in this regard is that you should practice for at least thirty minutes every day. You have to invest time if you want to achieve progress from week to week.
Not Having A Musical Background
It is possible to learn a particular piece even if you do not have any prior musical experience. However, you should expect that it may take you some time to start mastering the basics of reading music. Remember that everyone needs to start somewhere, so remain patient and stay focused. It is also very important to remain positive.
Having Too High Or Too Low Expectations
You should keep your expectations in check. You should not start piano lessons with the expectation that very soon you will be playing at the concerts. It is very important that, first of all, you care about the basics and creating a strong foundation. This will require learning one-handed songs and basic melodies before you can move on to more complicated works. If you jump into a piece that is beyond your skill level, you will likely become frustrated and feel the strong urge to quit.
Conclusion
You should allow your piano teacher to guide you in selecting songs according to your skill level. You will be surprised how impressive and fun these simple songs can be, particularly when you master the tempo changes, dynamics and other techniques that provide more feeling to the song.
