Everyone usually have love for music and you would have seen many people who have interest in creating music. For that purpose they get themselves involved in learning to play musical instruments such as piano, guitar, organ or many others. Most of them try learning but research concludes that over 50% of them quit too quickly and easily. Each one of them may have several different reasons for quitting up. Some may think that it is not their cup of tea, some lack dedication and commitment, some of them blame themselves for not getting results and the reason may be some false expectations. The list is just so long however in reality learning an instrument is not so difficult. There may be roadblocks hindering your learning process but there are ways to overcome those roadblocks too.
5 Common Reasons:
Here is a list of 5 most common reasons why people might quit learning to play a musical instrument quickly and we will be sharing some ideas to fight those reasons.
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Setting Unrealistic Goals:
Like in any other learning activity or task, it is important to set goals. As you begin learning an instrument, setting goals is fundamental. One mistake that most beginners make is that they set unrealistic goals, like learning to play a piece in one day etc. and when they are unable to meet their goals, it results in disappointment and frustration that leads to quitting the activity.
It is imperative to set realistic goals. Prefer setting smaller goals that you can easily achieve. These goals would vary according to your level or individual learning preferences but as far as you can make improvements and can stick to learning, you are moving in the right direction. For example you can set a goal of learning a scale or a tone in a week or two weeks and you can reach for bigger goals as you progress as a musician.
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Don’t have Enough Time for Practice:
Dedication both in terms of time and efforts is most important. If you think that you can skip practicing or can do well by trying your hands on the instrument only once a week, you need to rethink on your strategy if you really want to make progress. Many people don’t practice for enough hours and thus in the end feel discouraged by not making progress. This is not the right way of learning an instrument. It needs time, regular consistent practice for hours and several times a week. It is simply not possible to learn a musical instrument in one day and believe me there are no shortcuts.
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Fear of Mistakes and Lack of Fun:
Many people who fail or give up learning instruments are fearful and self-conscious about making mistakes. Learning anything is a process where you would be making mistakes and it is completely okay. Many people think that they cannot master at fingering or if they have hearing problem or have fear of embarrassment for their mistakes. These become common reasons of quitting. However people who are more relaxed and easy to go with the process of learning would not only stick to learning but they would be making progress much faster in comparison to others. Think of your practice and learning sessions as more of fun than something forced to you. It may take many thousand hours for you to practice yourself with the instrument and becoming a professional expert. Mistakes are no big deal, everyone makes them so need not to worry about them but remain focused.
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Lack of Encouragement!
Another vital reason is lack of encouragement or moral support that students look for in their surroundings. It could be encouragement from teacher, from family, from friends or any other audiences listening to their practices and early performances. An encouraging and motivating piano teacher could be the best gift for an early musical instrument learner. A proper teaching style with positive reinforcement enables you to make impressive progress. If your music teacher lacks these qualities, you may need to speak up or change your instructor. Apart from that people often overlook practicing musicians, so don’t be discouraged if you get no appreciation in the beginning. Remind yourself that you are learning something that is a skill that not many people have and it is a practice of years.
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Your Instrument is not in Proper Shape!
One of the prime reason for frustration is often new learners are seen to practice over cheap quality or very old instrument. They do not like to spend money on purchase of new or properly maintained instrument. I have seen many young students taking piano lessons on a piano that is not properly maintained. An instrument that is in improper worn out shape and needs proper repair can hinder learning capability of a student. Malfunctioning of the instrument can lead to moments of frustration and thus resulting in students skipping lessons and finally quitting learning. In order to avoid that parents or instructors or learner himself should make sure that the instrument is properly maintained or repaired (if needed) before beginning the learning sessions.
Conclusion
People usually opt for simpler things. Though taking lessons for learning a musical instrument is difficult and it needs complete focus and commitment; many people could not stick to it for long. Reasons can be several including lack of interest, limited practice time, unfriendly teacher and many others but remember that learning an instrument can be rewarding at a later stage. It does require hard work but it would give you greater value over long run. There is no good companion than music or musical instrument so it would have some ups and downs that you have to deal with in order to become a pro instrument player.
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