The Role of Talent
Are you suited to study music? A lot of times I hear things like “I took lessons when I was younger, but I never had any talent for it.”
I’ve always found this to be an interesting, or maybe baffling, reason to not study the piano. My reaction is “But do you enjoy it? Would you work hard at it?”
Yes, some people come to music with incredible natural talent. But most people over-estimate the role of this talent in the final outcome. The question isn’t so much what your natural talent is, but how much you can cultivate it, and what your end goals are. No doubt, those who make huge international careers have exceptional musical talent. But is that your goal?
If not – if your goal is simply to get as good as you can at the piano and maybe even to the point where you can play some masterpieces with some dexterity – then you’ll probably be just fine. It’s highly likely that you can get where you want to go.
The Role of Hard Work
So, the best musicians are borne of talent and hard work. And you can still go quite far with moderate or normal ability. Especially with patience and a good teacher.
Thoughtful persistence seems to be the ticket.
I’ve seen some extremely talented students who might start with a lot of speed and passion, but quickly burn out. I’ve seen other students who have moderate or normal talent, stick in there for a good amount of time, but then lose focus.
And every once in a while, you meet students who maintain their curiosity and work habits year after year. It’s this last group, the people who work consistently every day, who make the best long-run progress.
And that’s the good news: the most important factor is completely within your control.
The Role of Attitude
Besides consistent work year after year, there’s a certain “attitude” that seems to accompany the most successful music students. I some times call this the “learner’s approach”. If you frequent pianoblog.com, you’ve no doubt heard me talk about it before.
I like to sum up the best attitude for learning as “intelligent suspension of judgement.” In other words, you have to tap in to your curious and receptive side! I discuss this attitude in my article “The Best Learners”, which you can read at http://www.pianoblog.com/the-best-learners/
Read it now if you haven’t already – it’s important to understand these concepts in detail. But to boil it down, the best learners have a genuine desire to learn, take an active interest in their teacher’s advice, try to integrate what they are learning with past knowledge, and want to learn a lot about their field. Again I would strongly suggest reading the article for particulars.
When you cultivate this “learner’s approach”, find an excellent teacher, and make a habit of consistent long-term practice, you’re well on your way to having an excellent start to piano lessons.