When I was 7 years old, my mom sat me down and taught me the piano. Then I was “forced” to take ABRSM piano examinations each year. This meant weekly piano lessons and daily practicing.
I passed Grade 8 when I was 15 years old. (damn)
Later on, I started teaching classical piano. Then I picked up music production and went into arranging and producing music.
At one point, I got a girlfriend made a career switch to marketing, and stopped producing music.
I became rusty, tired, and lost that “fire” for playing and producing music.
After all, there was demand for marketing. There was little to no demand for my music production skills.
Music took a back seat, and became more of a hobby – a side gig.
Sound familiar?
If you’re someone who’s stopped playing the piano for some time, and now wants to get back to playing it, here are 2 practicing techniques that will get you going again. As a bonus, I’ll also share a mindset tip to getting back to playing, performing, or producing music – whatever you want to get back at.
You can start by watching this video:
Let’s start off with technique, then the mindset later.
Returning to the piano behind years away can be difficult. Your fingers have lost that agility and accuracy you once had.
But thanks to muscle memory, it should be in there somewhere. Here are two techniques that I’ve learned many years ago.
Technique 1: Play in Syncopation
I learned this technique when practicing for Grade 8.
In classical music, it’s common to have music with very fast passages. No matter how much I practiced, I would always stumble in those areas. It was extremely frustrating. And with the examination dates getting closer and closer, there’s always some pressure to get it right.
My teacher would see me struggle and suggest, “Relax… Play it syncopated. Long, short, long short, long short..”
Basically, you play whatever you’re having as a swing rhythm. In hindsight, the purpose of this practice is probably to make playing the passage tougher than it necessarily is. Here’s how it works:
- You begin by playing in a slow swing rhythm at a slow tempo.
- Gradually increase your tempo. (Play without making mistakes before increasing tempo again.
- Go faster and faster.
We’re not done yet.
Incorporate Dynamics: Play loud and soft
You’re already playing the passage in a syncopated rhythm. Now add dynamics, alternating between loud and soft notes, while maintaining the swing rhythm. This makes the exercise even more challenging.
Do this a few times.
Then take a short 1 min break, and go back to playing the passage in a straight rhythm. Did you magically find yourself suddenly playing it smoother and without (or with less) mistakes?
Technique 2: Play in Reverse!
Ok, if you’re still struggling to play the passage, let’s try something crazier.
Again, this is something my teacher taught me. Sounds silly, but I think the point of this exercise is to challenge your brain and hands – enhancing your mind’s understanding around the whole passage, forcing you to learn (and build a relationship) with every single note in that tricky passage.
Here’s how that would work:
- Break down long passages into shorter sections.
- Play the section backward.
- Practice it a few times.
- Once it becomes easy, gradually work up the speed of playing in reverse.
- Take a short break and play it normally again.
Again, this sounds crazy. The full disclaimer is I don’t know the science behind it or if there are any neurological benefits of playing in reverse, but this practicing technique has helped me overcome a few difficult passages when I was practicing for my Grade 8s back then.
Ok and now for the mindset part..
The reason you stopped playing music…
And fell out of love with it is probably because you stopped doing it for yourself.
For years, I struggled with the purpose of producing music.
When I was younger, producing music was something I had a big curiosity for. I was curious how music tracks were formed with layers of sounds and instruments. When Dubstep became popular, I was highly interested.
Plainly put, I had enthusiasm. I found joy in the practice itself.
But after a few years in, I started looking for ways to make money with music production. I started doing work in areas I didn’t quite enjoy. Over time, producing music became a job and no longer a hobby I once enjoyed. The grind of trying to make ends meet and build income killed the joy. On the flipside producing something like dubstep was fun, but hard to monetize from because customers don’t value it that much (unless you become an artist)
Here’s the lesson. If playing or producing music is your hobby, keep it that way. It doesn’t have to be a way to make a living. It’s also possible that maybe, you can’t make money with what you love (playing or producing music). And that’s OK. I rather you have a job that you’re committed to and spend your extra time making and sharing your music.
And quite ironically – sometimes, it’s when you focus on the art and leave all intentions of making money with it behind, that you find the secret to making money with it.
