Sometimes it’s tough.
I mean, you work hard, you practice regularly. But nothing.
Not the slightest progress. It seems as bad as the previous days, or even a few weeks ago.
You feel like swimming in a giant bowl of syrup: you don’t go very far and you stick to the same place. It sucks.
Watch the video:
What happens when you learn?
The thing is that learning is not a linear process.
What I mean by that is that at first you make a lot of progress but then it seems like you are stagnating.
And you are emotionally going down.
You feel like giving up.
After all, is it worth working that much when you don’t see any result?
You have to know that while your emotional state is going down, your skill level is still improving.
It doesn’t seem to be the case because it is not apparent.
But your brain is working at making new connections while you are practicing.
And what happens if you keep working is that you will reach the other side.
You will suddenly manage to play that difficult part of the song you are learning. Or you will be able to play this new technique you couldn’t play for days and days.
At some point, everything ‘clicks’ together like the pieces of a puzzle.
And you reach the next level.
What to do when you feel frustrated on the piano?
I assume that it happens while you are learning something new.
There are other sources of frustration, but that’s a story for another time.
This emotion that you feel is natural. We all feel that.
Actually, it is part of the process of learning a new skill.
It is even good sign.
This only happens if you are making progress. If you are staying in your comfort zone, you won’t ever feel like that.
Thus, acknowledge these feelings as a sign that you will soon reach the next level of your skill on the piano.
Don’t let these emotions or negative thoughts control you.
Focus on your practice. Making another step.
Stop thinking, stop feeling. Just work.
Push through this down moment.
You are close the reaching the other side.
I am happy for you because you will soon experience this deep joy of mastering a new technique, a new song.
It will feel so good.
Hang on, focus only on what you can do right now.
You’ll get there.
Conclusion
If while you learn something new on your instrument, you feel frustrated, that’s good news.
You are not making progress on the piano right now, but you are close to reaching the next level of piano skills.
Keep working and don’t let yourself control by your emotions, your thoughts.
I will meet you on the other side, when you will be full of joy.
My question: what are you trying to achieve right now which makes you feel frustrated? Let’s start the discussion.
