Dust off those piano keys and get back into the swing of it

Piano lessons are attended by many children, but unfortunately not all of those children continue to play the piano once they leave school and move into the adult world. Other pastimes along with busy college courses will quickly eat into your free time. Then when working lives take over, it makes it very difficult to find the time to practice.

Despite a lapse in your practicing, you will probably find that the many years of lessons and hard work will not be lost. If you reached a reasonable standard of playing then you will have a very good foundation that you can begin to work again from. Yes your fingers will be rusty and probably not as flexible as they used to be, but the patterns and positioning you spent so long perfecting will still be there. It’s a bit like riding a bike!

If you spent any considerable length taking piano lessons then presumably you will have learned how to read and interpret music to a reasonable standard. Getting back to playing only requires you to get your hands on some new music and you could probably make a good attempt at dusting off the ivories. But if it has been a while since you last played then if may be more advisable to consider getting some lessons.

Lessons taken as a child will be vastly different to the type of lesson you now require as an adult. While your parents may have sent you to lessons to a teacher that maintained a strict adherence to an examination syllabus, that is not necessary now, unless you require it. Exams are a great way to focus a child’s learning and get them practicing. Structure and a defined end point are generally needed to keep a child on a steady path of learning, but as an adult you will only be taking the lessons because you wish to. Therefore the direction of the lessons can be decided by you.

Check out teachers in your area. Find out what teachers are attached to local music schools or who works privately. You may need a flexible approach to learning. Perhaps a weekly lesson will not suit or even be necessary. It might work out better to have an intensive session every few weeks, giving you time in between to work on certain techniques or pieces. Before deciding on a teacher, be clear about what you want to achieve from the lessons. There is a reason why you did not keep playing as an adult, and you don’t want that to happen again. Focus on the areas on piano playing that you really enjoyed and use that as the starting point. Maybe you preferred to improvise or even write your own music at the keyboard. Or maybe you would like to accompany singers or other musicians.

There is a lot more to piano playing than following a set syllabus and completing grade exams. Get your thinking cap on and decide what fires up a passion in you. Then before long you can be tinkling the ivories once more!

HelenElizabeth is an Irish writer available for proofreading, editing, and general writing work.