Maintaining Interest

[bwmoon1]

When I first signed up for these lessons, I was all gung-ho and fired up about practicing and learning. Now after a few months, I have lost that drive...

How do you keep up the discipline and interest to keep you going during these "dry" spells? I was making good progress but now other hobbies have taken the place of my piano..
:confused:

[dond]

My suggestion is that you do have any expectations at all about how long it will take before you can play like you wish. Just tell yourself that if you keep practicing, even as little as 15 minutes each day, that you will someday be able to play much better than you can today. If you get tired of it and take a week or 2 off, it is not the end of the world. Just do not quit entirely or slow to a snails pace. Someday you will be 50 or 60 years old and you will be so glad that you did this because you will be able to play beautifully. It will happen if you just keep practicing.

[ricoche]

This is a good topic and one that I often think about.

What works for me is working through several different types of course material that I enjoy. At the moment I am do the following.

1. A mixture of JazzPianoLessons.com and FunkPianoLessons.com material.

2. I am working on a few Jamey Aebersold PlayAlong books where are very fun. In fact, I often come back to JazzPianoLessons to get ideas for the PlayAlongs. I am into improvization more than playing standards, so the combination of Aebersold and this site works well for me.

3. I am also reading a couple of books and working on exercises out of them. For example I am currently reading "Metaphors for the Musician" which is quite good. Another is "Jazz Keyboard Harmony" by Phil Degreg which has been awesome for some work on voicings in all 12 keys.

Finally, I set some time aside for improvising and having fun. Oh, and I also like to check out Youtube and subscribe to a channel by a user that goes by "jazz2511". His name is Doug McKenzie. His most recent cover tune is 'The Gravy Waltz' which is awesome and exactly the stuff I enjoy listening to. I pick up quite a few ideas from him that I sprinkle on my improv stuff. I get a lot of inspiration out of his playing for sure. Check him out.

Sometimes if I really get burned out, I find I need to just take a break from the technical stuff and just try to have fun for a day or two. Jazz Piano is hard at times and I just need to relax and remember why I enjoy it so much. Sometimes I'll play rock, pop, or some other genre. I even will jam on my bass or guitar to mix things up a bit. After a day or two, I always find myself migrating back to the piano and continuing with my goals.

So my advice is to try a mixture of different things to keep you inspired and do your best to set small goals and accomplish them. Finally, take a break and jam. Have fun and perhaps get on the forums and talk to people. There's nothing like sharing music and thoughts with other people to get you inspired and back into the groove.

Good Luck!

Jim

[wmyette]

Hey Brian, it is not always easy to keep interest. And, sometimes it makes sense to step away for a week or two to clear your mind.

I did a video in the Q & A section on what to practice. I think this might give you a few pointers.

I'll also add this to the list to do a video-response.

[zepafa]

How I maintain interest is by subconsciously going from playing to much - trying new tunes, new ideas and generally over-stretching myself and having fun. Then when I realize that I'm getting in a mess I focus on very specific goals. Narrower the amount of tunes I play and the styles I play to very few. Then when I get bored of that I go crazy and play lots of new stuff etc etc.

Another good way is to have a practice schedule. Write down what you want to achieve, how many minutes a day you will be spending on each element, and your thoughts on how it's going. I not only helps you concentrate your efforts but when you read your schedule back in months/years to come you realize just how far you've progressed. This makes you feel great and want to play even more.

Finally, try and play with other people.

Ultimately you have to find a way that works with you, so I thought I'd throw a couple more ideas into the pot.

[ricoche]

Over at Berklee Online they have a cool assignment feature that would be neat to have here sometime. Here is an excerpt.

In order to complete the assignments in this course, you will need to record yourself playing keyboard or piano along with background tracks provided during the course in MP3 format.

This might be a good way to help maintain interest and inspire members as well by completing goals or assignments and posting them. I remember when I studied with a music teacher, I always had to show up with my assignments completed whether I was "gung-ho" that day or not. This is one of the great things about a live physical teacher to study with in person. They keep you on your toes and unless you call in sick, they help you to stay on track with your practicing and goals.

The concept of online assignments might be one way to help with "maintaining interest", however it does imply that Willie might have to do more work. With that said, he could always add an additional "assignment fee" that would help make it worth his while creating assignments and listening to our playing.

In any event, I listened to the Q&A videos today and found them very informative. Thanks Willie!

- Jim

[bwmoon1]

Thanks for all the insightful advice. It is reassuring that I am not alone!
I will check out all the resources available as discussed in the posts...

Brian

[bwmoon1]

I am already almost 50 years old!! LOL...
Yes .. what you say is true...I think that sometime I put too much pressure on myself to achieve a ceratin level of playing too soon...
I am also going to seek out other players to 'jam' with. Maybe we can keep each other going..

Brian

[bwmoon1]

Willie.

where is the Q & A section?
Brian

[dond]

I am already almost 50 years old!! LOL...
Yes .. what you say is true...I think that sometime I put too much pressure on myself to achieve a ceratin level of playing too soon...
I am also going to seek out other players to 'jam' with. Maybe we can keep each other going..

Brian

Finding other players to play with is always a good way to help maintain your level of interest or preparing things to play for others can help also. However, as simple as it seems, nothing really works except just plain sitting down at the piano and practicing things you cannot play. I started playing about 4 years ago and I have surpassed what I ever thought my ultimate level of skill would be. Now, it is all gravy ! How ? Just keep playing and it just happens.

Oh .... one more thing that I think is very important ! This has worked for me. If I find I am trying to play something that is clearly too hard for me, I just stop with that for awhile and work on something else that comes a little easier. Then maybe come back to that hard thing 3 months or so later. Now, you may have gained the skill to deal with it. If not, move to something else again and just keep moving around like that to areas where you can have success. Eventually you will be able to come back to that difficult thing and it may be something you can be successful with. I cannot stress enought ... Do not give up ... just keep playing ...

[wmyette]

Hey Brian, the Q & A section is in the member's area in the topbar (blue bar)

Great post everyone. A lot of great tips here.

What do you all think about having a special area of the website, in the same format as the Q & A, where you can post a video of your playing and get feedback?

I'm thinking that it is pretty easy now to get video up to youtube. However, the comments that you get there can be very UN-helpful. Instead, I'm thinking that you upload the video to youtube, name it very simple like movie2232 (so that it does not show up in the search easily), disable comments on it (so you do not have to worry about someone leaving nasty comments) and send me the link.

I'll then make a post that ONLY JazzPianoLessons.com or FunkPianoLessons.com (depending on the site you belong to) can view and make comments.

Now, these comments would be only coming from other paying students, so you know that they are much more serious and of a higher quality.

Anyone interested?

[bwmoon1]

Hey thanks for the advice and support! I also find that working on just one thing at a time helps me to stay focused..

[bwmoon1]

Yes that would be great. I just have to figure out to do it>>

[donnapalmari]

Just wanted to put my 2 cents worth in. If you have an opportunity to attend the Aebersold workshop in the summer, I highly recommend it. I went the last 2 years and am going again this year. Phil Degreg, among many other great teachers i.e. Chris Fitzgerald, Andy Laverne, Rufus Reid, Dave Baker and Dan Hearle are there. It's a great experience and a great motivator.

Willie, have you ever considered doing a summer workshop? I have family in MA that I visit each year and would love to get some lesson time in with you.
Donna

[bwmoon1]

You bring up a great point--namely, having a teacher with whom you can do a weekly lesson is invaluable both from a learning and motivational perspective.
However, these lessons by Willie are the next best thing for sure to having a one-on-one lesson..

[wmyette]

Hi Donna,

Funny tid bit, I have done a summer camp for kids (Suzuki piano students...I teach them jazz and improv) at the same college (LSU) thay Jamey does his workshop.

I would like to branch out into workshops, but the economy right now makes it cost prohibitive.

I could see something happening in the next 1-2 years though.

[michaelklouda]

I would do a workshop at some point when things get better.

[wmyette]

Maybe next year I'll test the workshop waters. I'll send out a poll and see if any students would be interested in meeting in a central location.

[donnapalmari]

Hi Willie,

I would definitely be interested in attending a workshop. Hope you can make it happen. Another funny tidbit, I use to teach Suzuki Method

Donna