Did you use to play the piano once, which has now become a yesteryear story? Do you wish to play the piano once again and enjoy the skill you mastered once? Buck up! It’s never too late to start playing piano over again.
During the initial stage, you may feel discouraged and doubt your skills but deciding to play the piano again is one of the best decisions you can make to value your mental health, skills, and creativity.
The thrills and adventure of learning piano remain the same for a music enthusiast even if you return after years.
Here in this guide, we are going to help you out with a few basics that you should know while getting back to your piano after years:
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Advice For Relearning Piano After Years
Relearning piano after years can be intimidating as people usually tend to develop a belief that they have become too old to relearn piano. But as a thumb rule, one should remember that it’s never too late to start, especially for learning something you loved and aced once.
Here are a few things that you should swear by while relearning piano after years:
1. Do not rush
When you plan to relearn piano after a long gap, start slowly and do not rush with your lessons. Sometimes you may feel quite tempted to keep practicing for hours when you try your hands on the piano after a long time.
But keep such enthusiasm at bay for extended sessions and start slowly so that your fingers get adapted to the strength and flexibility required for playing the piano.
Short practice sessions on a daily basis can restore the connectivity between your brain and fingers and will help you slowly ace the art of playing piano again.
2. Keep your instrument well-tuned
Before getting back to your old piano, you need to check it out thoroughly and ensure that it is maintained and tuned correctly before you get back to playing piano again.
3. Warming up sessions
Before you get yourself playing piano like you used to do once, make sure that you make way for warming up sessions to relax and feel comfortable with playing the piano.
Practice simple stretching of your fingers over the keys, try high scales and similar activities to get over any stress and tension to stay geared up for practice sessions.
4. Be watchful for any sort of pain
A little bit of pain and soreness is normal when you get back to playing piano because you happen to use your finger muscles which were not being used consistently previously and hence the soreness occurs.
In such a case, you can consider taking a short break and involve yourself in something else to trigger recovery.
But if the pain persists and is long-lasting and sharp in nature, it is an indicator that something is not right, and you may require to seek lessons from an experienced teacher to get your playing techniques falling in the right place.
Also, seek medical assistance from a physiotherapist or a doctor.
What Not to Do for Piano Relearning?
There are multiple mistakes that pianists happen to make while learning piano. Here are a few things that you should avoid while relearning piano:
1. Taking notes and keys to be the same
Though notes and keys may sound the same, they are not. Notes are what appear on your page and can be written in a plethora of ways while the keys appear on your piano, so do not confuse the two.
2. Skipping the traditional method of relearning
In today’s era, Google can help you out with almost everything. Even for relearning piano, you may consider seeking shelter at Google tutorials.
While there is no harm and nothing wrong in doing this, it is always better to take private lessons from a trained piano player because traditional teaching methods have no substitute and help make your learning easier and more specialized.
3. Waiting for your mood to give you permission
Yes, we agree that playing piano requires creativity and the need for you to be in a good mood. But practicing while relearning piano should not be based on your mood swings, or ultimately you will tend to forget to play the piano again.
One of the best tips for relearning piano is to make a schedule and take out time to practice piano daily irrespective of your mood for efficient learning.
4. Usage of wrong fingers
The fingers printed on the music sheet are there for a reason, and there are umpteen benefits of using the correct fingers on the right keys. Not only do you get to decide a sequence by using the correct fingers, but you also develop stability over your muscles.
The physical learning and physical movement of fingers are also enhanced when you use the right fingers and make you feel more confident about yourself while relearning piano.
Tips to Get Back to the Piano Quickly
A lot of control, dedication, and focus are required to get back behind the piano board. Also, this may require the piano player to put in a lot of effort to lay a strong foundation for piano playing. Here we pen down a few tips that one should follow to get back to the piano quickly:
1. Keep a slot for fundamentals
Besides just playing the piano, you also need to tie yourself to the fundamentals such as accuracy scales, timing, run, etc. Technical skills can be mastered only when you pay heed to the fundamentals and devote time to the same.
Hence, make sure that you save at least 15 minutes for the same to be a pro at playing technical pieces.
2. Keep imitation before innovation
You might feel like bringing out the artist inside you and trying innovation while playing a piece of a song that you love.
But before you try on innovation, make sure that you learn to imitate the song as it is at first. Being great at playing music should be given priority over being unique.
3. Beginning and ending should be fun
When you start practicing and when you end your practice session, play something that you are good at. This will help in boosting confidence inside you for relearning the piano and will keep your spirits high.
4. Listening is the essence of playing
When you plan to relearn piano, you may feel quite desperate, and all you may think of is playing in a hush-hush. But to learn, you should understand the importance of listening.
Before you get started, jot down your top five favorite pianists and listen to them. This will help you discover great art and help you play great music.
Final Thoughts
We hope that the tips above-mentioned are surely going to help you to start playing the piano once again. So, what are you waiting for? If you have made up your mind to return to playing piano, try out the above tips and see how you can improve your skills in no time.
