You might be playing your piano but are you really enjoying it?

Are you enjoying what you’re playing? Are you getting that *𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖈* feeling that we all chase in our musical journey?

I’ll be honest that it’s not a feeling that comes every time I sit at the piano either!

It happens when I’ve worked at a song (that I absolutely love) enough to play it confidently and have the brain space to actually enjoy what I’m playing - to get that magic feeling.

How do we set ourselves up to *purposefully* find that feeling?

Watch the video below or keep reading.

Way #1: Stop forcing perfection.

Do you find when you sit at the piano you keep working on the same thing over and over? Do you find that playing that piece brings you very little joy anymore (so bored) but you can’t seem to move past it? This may be because you are in a hamster wheel of pursuing perfection. And I’m going to encourage you to let it go.

Take a step back - think about your main motivations for learning the piano and your goals for this week/month/year… (not sorted these out? You need to check out my article on How to Learn Piano without a Teacher for some ideas of setting goals: https://www.pianopicnic.com/blog/how-to-learn-piano-without-a-teacher)

Does achieving perfection in this particular song help you achieve your goals? Or are you falling back into the habits reinforced by traditional piano performance lessons - that you must achieve perfection before you move on?

Perfection is not required before you move on - yes some skills and topics should be undertaken sequentially - but getting hung up on one piece is a surefire way to drain your motivation, and keep you stuck. Move on! Find a new song that you’ve been dying to play and give it a go - and you’d never guess it - don’t perfect that one either! Try it on for size! See how it feels to play it for as long as it is fun and then move on.

Of course, never finishing a song can become frustrating - we like to be able to play a song from start to finish - but if there’s a part that’s catching your fingers technically? Or your struggling to memorise? There comes a point where you have to move on.

Way #2: Be casual.

Not everything you do with the piano must be engaged with 100%, completed start to finish, or completely mastered before you move on! As a way to keep your inspiration, motivation and creative juices flowing you need to feed your curiosity! So regularly pick a song that you just want to learn the fun part too - learn the main riff, or the chorus, or just the part of that famous classical really love - and then move on! No one is going to come after you - and the more you sit in that feeling of not needing to work so hard at everything on the piano - you become more playful!

Way #3: Commit.

This may seem like the opposite of the above - and it is. if you’re someone who is constantly picking up new songs and never finishing them, moving onto the next thing with ‘shiny piece syndrome’ but you feel like you’re always searching for that special magic feeling and not getting it? It may be because you are never gaining the satisfaction of completing something.

If you’ve never really completed a song then it may be time for you to choose one of your favourites - something you would feel epically proud about achieving - and commit to doing it.

You don’t have to give up on the shiny piece syndrome all together, just make sure you do have 1 piece that you are working toward finishing, so that you can get that satisfaction.

Way #4: Understanding what you are playing.

When you learn a song from sheet music, or a tutorial, it removes the need to understand what is happening in the song. What are the pieces that come together to form the whole?

When you are been told what to play, you don’t have to think about it! But when you do the work to teach yourself a song, you understand it better, you appreciate it better, the feeling of pride is immense and…more of that magic feeling as a result.

One way to truly understand the music you play is to learn it by ear. The process of learning by ear forces you to make summaries about the notes in the piece - what do all these notes played together mean? How can I remember that in a short, easy way? This forces you to analyse the songs chords and chord progressions - and that brings an extra level of satisfaction.

Way #5: Get creative.

Sometimes the best way to get that magic feeling from your playing is to indulge in some expressive playing. Find a song you know well and play it slower than usual - allowing you time to add any embellishents that come to mind, or add your own expression and dynamics to the piece (ignoring the indications of the original version).

Or start completely from scratch - choose a 4-chord progression and circulate that progression adding your own rhythm, fills and embellishments as you go - the key here is to go slowly, be open to where your creative imagination wants to go, and whatever you do DON’T judge yourself for any perceived mistakes… go with the flow and practice being in the moment.

how to develop creative skills…

If you want more help with the skill of improvising or riffing then you need to join the Creative Pianist membership where you’ll have access to ‘Riffing Pro’, ‘Lovin’ Leadsheets’, ‘Peaceful Piano Improvising at Home’, ‘Songs by Ear’ and other exciting courses to develop your creative skills so you can get more of that MAGIC FEELING!!!