Do you wish you could improve your piano playing more quickly?
Are you struggling to stay motivated to practice each day?
Is so, read on…..
There’s a lot of talk these days about setting goals.
Unfortunately, even if you do set a goal, you may not achieve it.
Perhaps it’s because your reason for accomplishing the goal isn’t important enough to you.
Have you ever prepared to perform at your spring piano recital and put everything else aside during the few days before? Perhaps this is because you wanted to play well. Or you may simply have been motivated by the fear of embarrassment.
In his famous book, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill said “The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.”
Think about the day before you go on vacation. Won’t you work like crazy to accomplish all of your tasks so that you can pack your suitcase, change into your casual clothes and get going?
If you want to stay motivated, improve your piano playing more rapidly and get to the point where you can play the piano with ease, you will need to discover your deepest reasons for accomplishing these goals. In other words, you will need a very strong desire to achieve your piano playing success.
Desire is the powerful fuel in your goal setting process.
But how can you access desire and use it to succeed?
You need to keep asking yourself WHY?
Why? The Key Question to Ask and Answer for Your Keyboard Success
? Ask yourself WHY you chose to play the piano in the first place.
o Were you inspired after watching Horowitz performing on television?
o Do you remember hearing your grandmother tinkling the ivories?
o Did you become energized after experiencing the excitement of a Billy Joel concert?
o Is it because you inherited a piano, and it’s now sitting in your living room?
o Were you forced to take piano lessons as a child? (Hardly your choice)
? Ask yourself WHY you now want to play the piano-this is your long term goal.
o Do you want to play for relaxation?
o Do you want to be able to entertain friends at parties?
o Do you want to play in a band?
o Do you want to play piano on a cruise ship or in a piano bar?
o Do you want to compose and record your own music?
? Ask yourself WHY you are making your piano playing a priority at this time of your life- this is your medium term goal.
o Are you anxious to finally focus on playing the piano now that your children have grown up and moved out?
o Do you really want to be able to play the Moonlight Sonata or memorize five Gershwin tunes?
o Are you eager to learn to improvise or play the blues?
o Do you want to open a fake book and play any song you choose?
o Are you anxious to develop your technique, sight-reading skills or knowledge of music theory?
? Ask yourself WHY you want to practice the piano today-this is your short term goal.
o Do want to have a good lesson on Thursday?
o Have you had a stressful day today and need to unwind?
o Do you want to feel the satisfaction of playing 4 measures of Misty from memory?
o Are you excited about jamming with your Band-in-a-Box computer music program?
o Do you wish you could master the last 8 measures of Chopin’s Nocturne in Eb?
Action Exercises
Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, ask yourself WHY you really want to play the piano, WHY you want to reach a certain musical level, WHY you want to achieve your specific goals and WHY you want to practice today.
Second, answer each of your WHY questions and write these responses on index cards, in your notebook or in a computer program. The act of writing will reinforce your reasons for staying motivated and focused.
Third, remember that the way to keep fueling your desire to persevere on your keyboard success journey is to continue to ask WHY and then regularly answer your specific questions. The more consistent you become with this process, the more motivated you will feel.
If you want to get great results from all of your piano playing and really achieve your keyboard success, keep asking the key question: WHY?
You’ll be amazed at how quickly your piano playing will sound super!
Before you know it, you’ll have fueled your desire to succeed because you asked and answered the Key Question for Your Keyboard Success: WHY?
© 2007 by Ed Mascari All Rights Reserved. ed@edmascari.com
