“Piano on You Can Do This Banner” © The Mollusc Dimension. All rights reserved. — “Piano on You Can Do This Banner” © The Mollusc Dimension. All rights reserved.

My three main tips for learning a new piece or revising an old one are:

1 Think of a goal that makes you feel excited

2 Focus

3 Remember how hard you worked before

If you like, I will explain a bit more about each one.

1. Think of a goal that makes you feel EXCITED!

“WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?”

I’ve also found it hard to get motivated to get back into practising technically difficult piano pieces. (Note, I have been making music and exploring instrumentation and so forth!)

I’m an artist, not a psychologist, but this is what I have noticed: Sometimes, the more difficult I think something is, the more I don't want to do it.

I think this is my brain trying to protect me from the emotional pain of failure that I may have created around the task.

So I had an idea for a mash-up (a combination of 2 or more tunes). I suddenly remembered that I love surprising people with unexpected combos. Even though I don't only make music for other people, if I'm honest, aside from amusing myself, the response from other people plays a large part in my motivation to make music (and art).

What feelings & outcome/s might be fun / enjoyable / worthy of making an effort ?

Perhaps try saying these statements out loud BEFORE you decide whether you agree with them or not.

Feel free to edit/ add your own.

💡💡💡 EXAMPLE FEELINGS & VISUALISING OUTCOMES 💡💡💡

JOY & CURIOSITY: “I will feel great when I can do it, and I will have fun finding out how.”
GIFT: “I could use the music for a video as a birthday / wedding/ cheering up present for a friend or relative!”
ENJOY: “It would be so cool to play this piece with as much enjoyment and ease as the person I heard performing it.”
SHARING: “I will really enjoy being able to show this piece to a friend, family member.
SHARING: “I want to share it online because it's fun to share music projects and inspire each other.”

Sometimes it may be tricky to access feelings and ambitious outcomes. Maybe you liked music when you heard it but when you started to learn it, you realised it was going to be tricky, and that put you off. Maybe it’s a stepping stone and you don’t like it that much.

I remember as a student, feeling a huge sense of unspoken pressure to do well, but never verbalising what that wish was. Even though I don't think that exams are the main reason or even necessarily the best way to learn music, there are some music students who are currently working towards exams.

Verbalising the WISHES TO DO WELL can help us connect to our feelings & visualising outcomes

Try saying these statements out loud BEFORE you decide whether you agree with them or not.

Do any of these statements ring true for you?

Feel free to edit/ add your own.

“I will be happy when I show the examiner how hard I have worked on these pieces to bring out the character as best I can.”
“I will feel happy when I show my teacher / my parents / my friends/ my dog / cat / rabbit / teddy bear / partner how hard I worked on this piece, on the expression as well as the technical aspects.”
“I will feel satisfied when I have taken my exam because I am working hard towards it.”
“I hope to get a good exam grade because it will help me to pursue my studies/ work that I am really interested in.”

Important: Having identified a wish to do well, I HIGHLY recommend returning to the FEELINGS & OUTCOMES list.

2. FOCUS

Breaking down your work into manageable chunks can mean practising a small area.

Focusing will make your use of time and energy more efficient. Your work or project becomes more approachable.

I will briefly describe three ways here. But there are many other ways too, which I hope to share with you soon.

1 Patterns

2 Count and tap

3 Zoom in!

Patterns

Why: Many pieces contain patterns. When you look for and make a note of the patterns, you will probably find that you will feel that the piece is more manageable. Then you may find that you are more confident about playing it.

Find some pitch / rhythm patterns in the piece.

If you can't find any patterns, you might need help from your teacher to find them.

Or it may be a piece that doesn't have any patterns. If this is the case, you may need to look for other features.

Photocopy it.

Find and circle/ highlight patterns on your photocopy.

Count and tap

Pay attention to the time signature. This magical signage will be amazingly useful!
Be clear on the beat divisions.
You could get a piece of paper and sketch out a little chart of the beat divisions. (You could paper clip it to your music score so you can remember it next time).
First tap the pulse counting the sub-beats.
Then tap the sub-beats, counting the pulse.
Then study the rhythm and figure out how the rhythm fits in with the sub-beats / pulse.
Count and tap the rhythm. Loop a little bit to help you get to know it before you carry on.

If you are not sure how to do count and tap, perhaps you could ask your teacher to help you.

If you aren't able to ask your teacher or you do not have a teacher, there are ways to find out about time signatures and work out beat divisions on YouTube.

Look up Time Signatures on YouTube and possibly combine with a search term like: Easy, Beginners, Kids, Children.
Look up Beat Divisions on YouTube and possibly combine with a search term like: Easy, Beginners, Kids, Children.

Zoom in!

I mean “zoom” in the sense of zooming in on a photo.

Think smaller than you would usually. Maybe you WISH that you'll be able to play through a page or even a whole section of a piece, and I believe that you WILL! But I advise you to begin by starting small.

I propose trying for 2-4 bars of a new piece.
This is a general piece of advice because I have more tips on PLAY & SKIP methods.

Loop it. Once you feel good about it, you can add more.
If this doesn't work, zoom in. Go for ONE bar.
If this doesn't work, zoom in. Go for ONE note.

More suggestions for breaking it down coming soon..

WHAT'S IN A NOTE? | BEATS MAKE LOOPS FUN | TEST PERFORMANCE!

3. REMEMBER HOW HARD YOU WORKED BEFORE!

Think of what another piece you learnt that you worked hard on.

Notice, I didn't say that you “did well on”. I said, “worked hard on”.

Connecting POSITIVE thoughts and feelings with making an effort is important for self-esteem. (“Mindset” by Dr Dweck)

Think about the good times.

Moments of discovery when you explored a piece.
When you first heard it and decided you wanted to learn it.
When you realised you could finally play bits that were driving you up the wall.
A time when someone told you they enjoyed hearing your music.

Find something good to feel about!

It's hard to get started after a break, but I can think of two silver linings, and they are:

You took some time to rest. Now you have some energy!
You are potentially interested in a new project.
You came across / were sent / read some of this article!

Beginning or starting again can be an exciting time.

As with the nervous energy for performance, you could redefine apprehension as EXCITEMENT.

Such is the power of words, that they even shape our lives and societies!

So let’s find words that will help us…

Sometimes I wonder if the person who came up with the saying, “Curiosity killed the cat” was actually a dog!

I think that we can be sensible and STILL let curiosity take us to fascinating places!

Maybe we could ask…

What's going to happen?
What will I do with my skills once I've mastered them?
Who would I love to play this piece to?

Make it relevant to you, by visualising a goal that includes your deep enjoyment.

Make it possible by starting. A little at a time!

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Music Students - 3 tips on learning new pieces (also great for revision!)