TEMPLE_ARCHIVE

STATUS: INACTIVE // READ-ONLY

Tag: daily

  • What is “Fun” Supposed to Mean?

    “I’m just playing for fun…”

    What’s this “fun” thing all about?

    Can’t serious things be fun? It’s as if there’s some kind of inherent contradiction. Either it’s work, or it’s fun. I guess fun means anything that isn’t work…

    Is this a defense mechanism? Maybe you don’t want to really commit, because then it won’t be fun? After all, if you don’t commit, you’re not putting anything on the line. If you don’t play the game, you can’t possibly lose.

    Piano needs to be more fun for kids, right? Otherwise, they will quit and do something that is actually fun… (I’m not exactly clear on where the tragedy is in this)

    It’s more fun when you are playing well, right? It’s also more fun when you are making fast progress, and certainly less fun when you are struggling.

    But, why can’t you struggle, and still be engaged in the struggle? Why do you always have to be making progress?

    So, is this concept of fun useful, or not? Try experimenting with this. Notice what effect labeling something as fun has on how you go about doing it.

    If you’re practicing the piano, focus on what you’re doing. Whether it’s fun or not. If you’d rather stop and do something else, then stop and do something else. Whether or not that other thing is fun.

    Pay attention to what you’re actually doing.

    Fun is just a way of avoiding having to pay attention.

    My questions to you:

    • Is music practice fun?
    • What do you find more fun?
    • Less fun?

    I want to hear from you!

     

  • Tension is a CHOICE

    It’s not some random force that happens to you.

    The reason you get tense is because you are trying really hard to get it right.

    It’s not because of your posture, or because of your technique is wrong, or because you’re stressed out. It would be great if there were such a simple fix.

    It’s because you’re trying to do two things at once.

    So, you have a choice: either let go of the need to get it right, or let go of the desire to play without tension.

    This is not an easy choice. Of course, you want to get it right. And, you also don’t want tension.

    This choice requires you to take a close look at what is really important to you. Not what is really important to your teacher. Your teacher does not live in your body and has not lived your life. So, there’s no way your teacher can understand exactly why you are messing yourself up.

    If you don’t see how you are causing tension, you need to look closer.

    (Check out my free course on how to pay closer attention to what happens while you practice.)

  • Stop slacking off! You need to make PROGRESS!

    If you grew up in modern society, like I did, chances are you have these two competing voices inside you.

    While you are practicing, one of them says “Work hard! Stop slacking off! You need to make progress!”

    Meanwhile, the other says, “This is so stressful! This is not why I signed up for this…I wish I could just enjoy playing…”

    It may seem like these two voices are working together to make your life miserable. But, you can notice that each pulls you in a very different direction from the other.

    And, if you pay close attention, you’ll notice that only one of them has control over you at any given time.

    What directions are they pulling you in? What are the voices trying to make you do?

    Do you think there’s any way to make both of them happy?

    For example, suppose you are practicing sight-reading. Well, I’m guessing you’re not practicing sight-reading, because it’s just too frustrating. That is, unless you’re really good at sight-reading. Am I right?

    One voice (your teacher’s?) is saying “You need to practice sight-reading! You will never get good at it if you don’t practice!”

    And the other (whose?) is saying “This is too hard…I wish I were better at this, because then it would be fun…”

    I want to know what the voices are trying to make you do.

    Comment and let me know!

  • You CAN’T Teach What You’re GOOD At

    “I can’t figure out how to get my student to keep a steady beat! It’s so easy, but I have no idea why they can’t do it. What am I doing wrong?”

    Music teachers ask this kind of question all the time. Before I tear it apart, let me empathize with it for a second.

    It’s frustrating when it’s so obvious that if they could fix this one little problem, they would play so much better. And yet, you can’t figure out how to get them to do that…

    At the same time, teachers often have little interest in improving themselves. The focus is only what the student needs to change.

    Yes, teaching is a different skill than learning. But, don’t let this be a distraction. If you’re a teacher, most of your focus should be on improving yourself.

    Stop saying “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know how to do it myself. But, how do I teach it to students?”

    If you know what the student should be doing, but you can’t make it happen, stop reading about “piano pedagogy.” Instead, read books about interpersonal communication. Read books written to help psychotherapists work with their clients.

    Piano teachers don’t know anything about that stuff.

    You can only teach what you know.

    If you want to get better at teaching piano, get better at learning the piano.

    This is not about achievement, status, social recognition, or anything like that. I’m not saying “get a degree in piano performance” or “win a competition.” This doesn’t mean you have to be a world-class pianist to teach piano. It doesn’t even mean you can’t teach a world-class pianist if you are not one yourself.

    Achievement is worthless because you can only teach what you’re bad at. Not what you’re good at.

    Again, you can only teach what you know.

    So instead of trying to teach what you don’t know, try this plan:

    1. Figure out what you are not so great at.
    2. Get better at it.
    3. Pay close attention to how you improved. Write this down if necessary.
    4. Find students who have the same problem you used to have, and help them follow the same steps you followed.

    If you do this, you will have a chance of actually being effective.

  • Music is NOT Frustrating

    There’s no such thing as a difficult piece. Come on. Where does this idea even come from?

    OK, I know this sounds crazy, so let me try to put it into a little bit more context.

    When you say “this is piece is so difficult!”, what are you trying to say? Do you mean “if I want to play it exactly as the composer wrote it, it is probably not going to happen”?

    Or, do you mean, “I get really frustrated when I try to play it”?

    Is it the piece that’s frustrating you?

    I don’t believe that this is even possible.

    You will say that yes, of course it’s the piece that is frustrating you. After all, you get very frustrated when you try to play the piece. Right?

    No.

    This is nonsense. The task does not cause the feeling.

    Imagine you are trying to climb a set of icy steps to get to the front door of someone’s house. Every time you get halfway up, you slip and fall all the way back down. Bloody and bruised, you pick yourself up and try again. And again…

    After a while, you might draw the following conclusions:

    • Climbing these stairs is super-painful.
    • I’m in pain because you left ice on your steps.
    • I’m in pain because I kept trying to climb the stairs and didn’t know when to quit.

    No.

    You’re in pain because you kept falling on the ground.

    So, back to “frustration”. My guess is that it’s caused by a pattern like this:

    1. Start working on a task.
    2. Get into a “groove.”
    3. Notice that you’re not doing as well as you should be.
    4. Change tactics to try to make it “better.”
    5. Get into a new “groove.”
    6. As this continues, all the “groove-switching” creates agitation (frustration) in your mind.
    7. Notice this agitation, and make up a story about how “the task made me frustrated.”

    So, what’s the solution?

    Work towards staying in a groove.

    Easier said than done, of course. But, here’s where you can start:

    Recognize that what you’re doing causes the frustration.

    Not “the task.”

  • Enjoying Your Mistakes

    You have to enjoy your mistakes.

    This is non-negotiable.

    If you are spending all your time trying to prevent mistakes, this whole thing is going to become a drag, and sooner or later, you will just quit.

    Or worse…you won’t.

    “But, how can I enjoy my mistakes!? I hate making mistakes!”

    You will enjoy your mistakes when they become fun. It’s your responsibility to figure out how to make this happen.

    Here’s a tip: take a closer look at the discomfort caused by trying to prevent mistakes. Let yourself feel this discomfort. Completely.

    If you let yourself make mistakes, you won’t have to feel this discomfort anymore.

    What’s that worth to you?

    (If you want to learn more about how to explore mistakes, check out my free online course.)

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