Three new recordings reflecting my growth – I hope – since beginning to learn piano about eight months ago. I try to do at least 15 minutes a day. Missed a few more days recently when I drove with my son to Pittsburgh (where he auditioned on trombone at CMU).
The Trolley Song
I Want to Be Happy
I Get a Kick Out of You
A few things I’ve recently noticed
- Piano has become a habit. I now naturally remember to and generally enjoy sitting down to the piano. I read recently that researchers determined that it typically takes about doing a task roughly 66 days for it to become a habit. I’m way past that, and daily piano long ago became a natural habit, not something I need to be reminded to do.
- I’m now enjoying my piano time a bit more than when I began. It feels like less of a chore and more an enjoyable break from the rest of my day.
- I suspect I’m practicing a bit more than I did months ago. I don’t measure my piano time but suspect I’m occasionally spending an hour at the piano. And I definitely now occasionally sit down to practice a second or even a third time in the same day.
- Certain chords have become automatic. My muscle memory for chords I’ve played many times has become very strong, and my conscious brain isn’t needed to play them.
- I’ve developed an (imperfect) system for learning a new song. I try to figure out my fingering early and write down numbers on the score telling me which finger to use whenever there’s ambiguity. I previously waited longer to work out the fingerings but eventually realized how important it is to practice identically each time, which I can only do once I figure our which fingering to use.
With appreciation to Dolo Iglesias for their photo on Unsplash