Tips for Starting to Play Again
You may have a strong desire to start playing the piano again, only to find that you simply never get around to doing it. The occasional inkling of inspiration arises from time to time, possibly even leading to thoughts about how you might give it a try. However, these thoughts come and go all too easily without translating into any action.
Even if you have access to an instrument and are physically capable of playing, there are a number of barriers that can make it difficult to get started. The main challenge is overcoming inertia to build up some momentum. The following are some suggestions that I hope will help you achieve this:
Just do it — Start somewhere or anywhere, don’t fall into the trap of planning too much as this makes it easier to find reasons to put it off or makes playing dependent on an ever increasing set of conditions. In the early stages, making a commitment to start with ANYTHING is more important than what you do.
Start small — Even if you start with a piece hat’s simple and you feel is potentially “beneath you”, it’s the act of making a start that is important and you can always increase the difficulty subsequently. Tackling something too difficult from the outset exposes you to the risk of becoming frustrated and demoralised.
Consistency is key — Developing a skill like piano playing is very much about forming habits and consistency. Playing for fifteen minutes four times a week is far better than an hour once a week.
Consider your motivation — You may face some doubt about your abilities as you get started which grows into judgement and feelings of inadequacy. It’s important to remind yourself of why you’re doing this — you’re playing for pleasure and enjoyment, not to win the Van Cliburn Competition!
Be kind to yourself — Following from the above, it’s helpful to avoid having too many expectations and to keep your “inner critic” at bay (at least at first). Rather observe and accept where you’re at, avoiding thinking of what level you may have attained and how far off that you are at present. Hold back on the self-criticism until you’ve at least got some momentum and energy behind your endeavours.
Set realistic goals — Once you’ve made an initial start, it can be good to have something to work towards e.g. it could be to learn a certain piece or to play for someone. However, this should be realistic based on your ability and shouldn’t be too much of a stretch. I’d advise erring on the side of setting goals that are too easily attainable rather than being too ambitious.
Share your music — I’d encourage to work towards opportunities to share your playing with others. Before dismissing this as too daunting, there are many creative ways of doing this without it being a traumatic undertaking. You could just do a recording of your playing and share it with someone likely to be supportive, play for family and friends or join a meet-up group with others in the same boat as you (I’ll provide some suggestions for this in a separate article).
These suggestions are certainly not major revelations and are perhaps obvious, but I constantly encounter people who express a wish to play again which never goes any further. Invariably the reasons behind this usually relate to one or more of these tips.
Just to re-iterate, the most important thing is just to make a start and to dive in. What are you waiting for? Get playing now! …or if it’s 3AM and your neighbours might object, then make a commitment to playing something — anything — tomorrow!
