
Picture this: You’ve taken up playing the piano and are learning through youtube, an app, or from a book. Things are going well at first: You’re motivated, making progress, and wholeheartedly enjoying yourself. Then at some point, you started to feel differently: Now you’re feeling insecure, unmotivated, and exhausted whenever you play at the piano.
Is this you? It might be time to take formal piano lessons. Here are three signs with real-life examples:
- You’re just not getting it.
“I can play my pieces slowly, but when I try to speed up, everything falls apart. It’s such a struggle.”
“I know how the piece is supposed to sound but no matter how much I try, I can’t get my own playing to sound the same way.”
“My fingers won’t do what my brain tells them to do. It’s so frustrating!”
If you can relate with these statements, you need a piano teacher to help you address specific needs and technical problems in your playing.
- You’re getting inconsistent results.
“Sometimes, I’m really good about practice and can go for hours. Other times, I go for days without touching the piano at all. I just can’t stick to a routine!”
“I’ve been stuck on the same spot in my playing level for a very long time.”
“I can do some things really well at the piano but other things are really difficult for me to do. It’s really disproportionate.
If any of the above resonates with you, you need piano lessons to hold you accountable for and to structure your practice.
- You’re overwhelmed by info.
“There’s just so much content – I don’t know where to start.”
“Sometimes I’ll read a recommendation by one expert but then another pianist elsewhere completely disagrees with the first. I just don’t know which info is good or not.”
“I spend more time searching and watching the youtube videos than actually playing the piano.”
If any of the above rings true to you, you need a piano teacher who will present the right information in a systematic way so you can spend your time enjoying piano.
In the beginning, teaching yourself how to play the piano can be a very fun and low pressure way to enjoy music. Once you’ve advanced past a certain point, it’s normal for your learning curve to plateau. If you want to continue improving your skills and to enjoy playing the piano even more, it’s time to take the next step: Give formal piano lessons a go. You won’t regret it!