Dealing with failures in piano playing

What actually failure is? Not many of you would have noticed that failure and mistakes are terms that end up giving similar meaning. However it is on us that whether how we perceive, deal and react on certain circumstances. Many of you may believe that playing wrong notes during a performance is your failure as a pianist whereas some would consider it as a mistake. Believe me it is all how you look at things and how you want certain event to affect your future? A true professional would be one who could take failures as mere mistakes and can make them more of a learning event than something that you would regret or feel ashamed of. Here we are going to share some ways for dealing with failures in piano playing so that you can turn your mistakes into a step towards success.

Mistakes are Normal!

Learning to play an instrument is not something really simple and when you can even make a mistake with a simple mathematical question, there is nothing bad about making a mistake while practicing or performing over piano. Making mistake isn’t failure but it is a part of learning. However thinking of mistake as a roadblock that you cannot cross is actually failure. We have witnessed many students who actually have fear of making mistakes and thus could not make progress as a pro pianist. So change your attitude and take your mistakes positively. Mistakes cannot be avoided but it is important to move on.

Ways for Dealing with Failures:

Following are some simple tips and ways that would aid you in dealing with fear of failure or failure with piano playing:

• Learn and Play only if it is your Passion!

Many people who lack passion and interest towards learning and playing this instrument are usually the ones complaining about difficulty and failure. The choice is only yours and forceful training would make you no better at this skill rather would just be a waste of time, efforts and money. Explore if you really enjoy and want to be a pianist. If you are really passionate about it, failure would not be a term in your dictionary as far as playing piano is concerned. True love for piano would only make your attitude of working harder, facing challenges and overcoming fears.

• Don’t Fear Challenges, rather face them!

It may not be failure actually but the fear of failure that may be restricting you from advancing in this musical journey. Fear of facing challenges and fear of failing is something that limits your potential. Take a stage performance of some minutes for example. Many pianists fear stage performance however the only bad thing that can happen is that you might make a mistake. In a 10 minutes performance, you may end up making a 10-20 seconds mistake of playing wrong notes. Audiences on the other hand may not even notice it or if they do they would overlook or forget it soon. The only person who might remember it could be you. So why fear it and why not be brave and give it a try! Having the courage of performing would not only overcome with fear but would also result in an absolutely flawless performance!

• Stay Relaxed!

Sometimes things are not as difficult as people make it for themselves. This happens when you overdo seriousness in any activity. This goes for pianists as well. Some of them become so serious that they overburden themselves with challenges and difficulties. For them learning or performing on piano becomes more of a winning and losing business than something you can have fun with. Such level of difficulty would not be good for you as a pianist. Try to stay calm and relaxed and notice beauty in what you are learning and things would be much simpler. Don’t think that taking things easy would hinder improvement but you will witness improved results.

• Work towards Winning than Crying over Mistakes/Failures!

Mistakes and failures are not end of the world. Instead of crying and regretting your mistakes, work in your present and towards your future to improve.

• Involve in other Activities!

A true pianist is not one who is taking piano lessons or is practicing all day long. After all there is world and life outside your practice room. You should socialize with people, get involved in other activities of your interest, rest well, enjoy your meal times, spend time outdoors and you will feel less stressed or depressed even if you have been through events of failure or mistakes. Spending time in other activities would prove as an inspiration for more productivity and for enhancing your piano playing skills.

Devastating Effects of Failure in Piano Playing:

No doubt it is your perspective that makes you win or lose a game. This goes for everyone whether you are a beginner, an intermediate level or a professional expert in the field of playing piano. All of them go through struggle and hard work, they face failure and learn from mistakes. However some of them even shatter by taking failures too seriously. They not only quit playing piano but get emotionally disturbed and think of themselves as failure. You must understand that mistakes and failures are a part and they can’t be avoided.

Conclusion

Music is a wonderful art and piano is one of the most fascinating instruments. Learning to play piano can change your life and make it overwhelming and beautiful but provided you enjoy doing every bit of it. Just learn to handle failure wisely and empower yourself to face them with courage and learn from these failures. Be focused and dedicated and with time, efforts and experience you can turn yourself in to a beautifully entertaining musician that audiences would love to hear.