There are many people that search on Google or Yahoo for “how to play the piano despite years of lessons.” The fact is, many people simply don’t understand the relationship between taking lessons and actually being able to sit at the piano and play.
The biggest stumbling block to being able to just sit down and play is the way they were taught. Learning notes on a page and memorizing those notes is a highly ineffective way of learning. Do you remember high school? When you had to study for an exam, it’s likely that you crammed as much information as you could, into your head at one time, then wrote the exam. But, if you had to write that same exam 2 weeks or 2 months later, how well would you do? Probably not very well.
You see, the old way of cramming information does not work favorably for long term retention. What does? Only by learning why something is and comprehending it thoroughly through doing or practicing, can you hope to achieve lasting retention.
Therefore, when you were taught to play the piano you liekly had to cram a few thousand notes into you head over a few months period. Then, you played it at your recital, then a few months after that you completely forgot the whole thing. Right?
What’s a better way of learning? By understanding the relationship between how music is built and how you ear hears it. By learning the fundamental building blocks of harmony and hearing the difference between the chords you will begin to learn how to make music up based on the way it should sound.
It’s called improvisation. It is a skill which few people posses and even fewer can execute. But, by improvisation I mean; being able to pick up a tune just by listening to it. Then, using the rules of harmony and your ear, you will be able to sit down and play it.
Can this be learned? Yes! But it is a commitment which few people will ever undertake. But, I still encourage you to find out more about it. Download one of my free online piano lessons and you will quickly understand what it means to truly play the piano despite years of lessons.
