I have decided to resume to my daily practice at the piano again.

I must admit, I have not been doing my practice as regularly as I have wanted to: a lot of teaching (which I enjoy a lot), and other work. But lately, I have been giving some thoughts on my teaching, and one of the things I always believe in is, to set an example for my students. So, here we go. I am back to practice again.

I am going to work on a piece or two, as always, for the upcoming piano concert. I am really looking forward to this event, because quite a few more students have been composing their own music, and it is really wonderful to see and hear! So many lovely piano pieces by my lovely piano students, each song having a distinct character of its own, truly fantastic.

Maybe I should play my own piano composition this time too..

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Piano lessons should not just be treated as a weekly routine. In fact, it is about consistency and persistence on the students’ parts. It is okay to have to move the schedule around a little bit because of other events, but it is very important to stay in this music routine (other than practice itself). It is like exercising or dieting: people fall out of the wagon because they think it is okay to skip a day or two, next thing you know, they skipped a week, then a month, and the rest is history.

Piano training is not for everyone, because it requires the person’s concentration, time and work. It also takes quite a long time to become somewhat proficient at the piano, so a lot of people lose interest after a year or so because they feel they are not getting better. The same goes for other music instrument training, sports and languages. No one gets good in a day, a week or even a year. It requires regular time and effort; it trains one’s mind and character. People who have had long history of music training or sports training (or know a second language fluently) would understand what I mean.

I don’t mean however not to have fun at the piano, because it is fun! But, it does require some work to get to that fun part sometimes. I try to make it fun for beginners right from the start, because that captures their interest. In order to get more fun out of this piano training though, one has to put some effort into it. I myself have many many years of piano lesson and performance history, and I have taught many years to know that keeping consistency is the key to “success” – that can mean proficiency and enjoyment, not necessarily virtuosity and stardom.

Okay, let me get back at my piano, I got to go back and practice Rachmaninoff’s prelude (in G minor)…

Teresa