What advice would you give your beginner self?

RuthPower

What advice would you give yourself when you first started learning the piano?
I want to hear your pearls of wisdom, folks! We have lots of brand new beginners coming through now and I want to pass onto them your experienced perspective!!!
Have a think - what did you most struggle with in the beginning? What doubts did you have? What did you really need to hear? Or what do you wish someone had said to you?

RuthPower

Always have fun - as soon as it doesn't feel fun anymore, you need to find something fun to play!
That's the advice I would give my beginner Ruth.

The best advice anyone has given to me? Probably to "let it breathe" - don't fill in notes for the sake of it, or just because you can- sometimes a melody needs space - or a chord rhythm can be sparse - simplicity is beautiful!

MikeClarke

Absolutely with you Ruth on your advice to 'have Fun' 🙂👍

My personal thoughts / shares are:

a little each day - don't save it all up for the weekend - little and often
be gentle on yourself if you don't 'get it' one day - sleep on it - tomorrow is a new day and you'll get it over time
it's not a race, enjoy the journey of discovery
when it feels hard - that's okay, just keep moving forward - it will come
Your fingers need to learn to 'walk' the keyboard, it takes a little baby time to learn to walk and coordinate everything, and have lots of tumbles on the way, your fingers are the same

Enjoy, all the best, Mike🙂👍

RuthPower

MikeClarke ooh I love this advice! Thanks Mike! "it's not a race" - is valuable for everyone at all stages I think. I also like the 'don't just save it for the weekend'! I'm guilty of doing that too. Lately I'm preparing for a solo piano gig at the end of October, so I've been playing every morning before work - and I'm excited to do it! I also find myself dreaming about the songs since my mind knows that's the first thing I'll do when I get up! (Also practising in your mind is a legitimate way to practise!)

RuthPower

I thought up some new advice I would give my beginner self today - GO TO SLEEP!
How many of you have practised and practised at a difficult passage or technique and you just can't seem to get it no matter how long or how hard you try?
There's now scientific studies to back up that SLEEP helps your mind and body process new information, so that if you 'put a pin in it' as they say and come back to it tomorrow, you'll be much better off and more likely to succeed with that thing.
have you tried this technique?
what would advice would you give to yourself when you first started? OR if you've just started - what advice are you looking for?
@Lyle @Joseph @Shaf @susanelizabethmartin @TonyP