Learning the Piano as an adult: a few tips that I will give you through my experience. (1)

For this blog, I want to share with you a few tips which made me a better pianist.

1. Age will be your advantage

One of the big differences between learning piano as an adult and children is that you have more patience and more passion for playing. Kids are often put in lessons by their parents, some kids love it but some hate it. Also, nobody is going to force you to practice so you can decide how much pressure you want to give yourself depending on your flexibility. 

2. Make Active listening part of your Practice Routine

My teacher told me, a good player has to know how to distinguish a good sound and how to imitate it. In order to achieve this, we have to develop a good ear. Imagine yourself with your instrument, do you have an idea of how the song is going, can you tell which chord has been played and in root position or inversions? Does the song change key? If you listen and try to distinguish frequently you will gradually develop these techniques.

3. Work on your Problem Area

If you ever get frustrated into a difficult passage - that is totally fine and normal. Don't move on to the next part, spend more time on spots that you feel you always got stuck on. A lot of the pianist they practice the whole song again and again, but they didn't spend enough time on the spot that is more challenging for them. That's the reason why you are not able to play the piece cohesively overall. Here is my suggestion: stop when you are stuck, and slow down your speed, spend ten to fifteen minutes just on that passage. Sometimes you might want to practice with one hand at a time. Then, put both hands together.