Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales
It is possible in our piano journey, and not uncommon, to take a wrong turn. Sometimes, a single step is enough before we get cold feet. Other times, we persevere, venturing in a direction which instinct warns might not be our right way, but stubborn in our commitment to see through a decision.
Back on track…
The process of mastering the piano to the best of our ability is never a straight line; nor is it ever complete. There will be plenty of opportunities for playful detours, casual exploration, and diversion. But on occasion, we might sense that in our adventures we have gone somewhat astray.
Here are just a few examples of such wrong turns:
- Attempting repertoire that is either too difficult for us, or too easy and a bit dull.
- Working towards a goal, only to find it uninspiring.
- Taking on a musical role for which we are not well suited.
- Beginning lessons with a teacher with whom we don’t gel.
When we actually head in the wrong direction entirely, we need only obey our intuition and return to our way.
We should never let pride or ambition prohibit us from revisiting past landmarks that have inspired us, or from returning to strengthen the foundations of our piano playing.
Here are a few suggestions for getting back on track:
Simple Exercise
How long is it since you last played scales, arpeggios, and simple exercises? Try them again, slowly and in sequence, once more warming up your playing technique ready for new beginnings.
Quick Study
Try to sight read, practise, learn and memorise a short piece that is easier than you have been capable of, but musically inviting and rewarding to listen to. Aim to complete the project within a week or two.
Active Repertoire
Look back at the pieces you can still play well from the past, and set about compiling a list of your Active Repertoire. Can you reevaluate these pieces, bringing them a fresh interpretation that matches your maturing piano personality?
Creative Experiment
Sit at the piano and simply doodle, messing around with a simple chord or note pattern. Try to develop an improvisation or composition, exploring the sonorities of the whole piano, dynamics, articulation and pedalling.
Beyond the Notes
As in our piano playing, so too in life.
As in life, so too in our piano playing.
The process of returning invariably involves simplification, but our competitive ego might wrongly confuse our returning with defeat.
Remember: true accomplishment is always about making the difficult easy. And retracing our steps with a newer, more advanced skill set can provide us with an emblem of how far we have already come in our journey.
Returning is also a matter of coming back to our own, personal centre, to our home, tribe, and to the place where we most truly belong. There is a time for comfort, for rest, and for the renewing of our strength. Refreshed, we continue our journey with enhanced purpose and vigour.
Returning is an entirely natural process, and one which should be celebrated. As Deng Ming-Dao puts it in his masterful book The Lunar Tao (which, if you are interested, I have reviewed here):
“There is a path that we each are on. If we lose sight of what that is, if we fly away and become lost, or if we are pushed off by circumstance, then we return to our Way to regain ourselves. Each night, as dusk falls and the moon rises, we see swallows returning to their nests. If we forget where we should go, nature provides us with so many examples each day.”
Take a moment to reflect deeply and sincerely on these words.
Are you ready to Return?
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