Ten months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 318. Yesterday, I talked about not worrying about perfection and just doing what we can. Today is a new day.
I started picking up a song that I hadn't played in almost 2 years, and what originally took me a few weeks to learn was being picked up in a 30 minute practice session. It was so weird. It's usually easier to learn things the second time, but I was surprised at how quickly I was picking it up and how much muscle memory I had retained. Although I didn't remember which keys to play exactly, as soon as I started playing my hands generally knew what to do without me really thinking about it. I could "feel" if what I was doing was right or not.
It's like my focus kicked in and and all of the dots started connecting super quickly. I didn't have to read the notes in much detail. It was more like I skimmed them to remind myself of what I needed to play. It's like riding a bicycle for the first time in 10 years. You might be a little awkward at first, but you never truly forget.
I've been looking into other sheet music and reading the notes, which had always been one of my weak points (I tend to get impatient and just want to play), had become much easier. Although I still can't read and play simultaneously in tempo I'm becoming much faster at learning new pieces. Again, a lot of it has to do with experience with picking up on patterns. What used to be a really long and arduous process is now coming to me more naturally. I felt like I could see my progress come to fruition, and that feels amazing.
I feel like this applies with anything we do in life. When I was doing my Inktober challenge (that I half-completed) I noticed the drawing ideas coming more quickly and naturally. The more I've studied and practiced Japanese the more quickly it's become for me to pick up on new vocabulary and my speaking has become much more natural compared to before. Cooking, which I use to be terrible at (still not so great), isn't so intimidating and I've become much more comfortable with trying out new recipes. That's how progress works. Whatever we try, it may be difficult and awkward at first, but with time it comes more naturally and it does get easier. Just stick at it and keep it up.
Peace
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress." - Frederick DouglassWhen it comes to playing the piano, a lot of it has to do with your ability to pick up on patterns. Memorizing pieces is mainly breaking songs down into their components and stringing them together. Every song has its own pattern of chords, melodies, etc. The easier the song, the simpler and more recognizable the patterns tend to be. Another other key to playing is experience. The more experience you have the more patterns you'll come across and learn to recognize. All of this is also stored as muscle memory. It's the reason why practicing drills is so important.
I started picking up a song that I hadn't played in almost 2 years, and what originally took me a few weeks to learn was being picked up in a 30 minute practice session. It was so weird. It's usually easier to learn things the second time, but I was surprised at how quickly I was picking it up and how much muscle memory I had retained. Although I didn't remember which keys to play exactly, as soon as I started playing my hands generally knew what to do without me really thinking about it. I could "feel" if what I was doing was right or not.
It's like my focus kicked in and and all of the dots started connecting super quickly. I didn't have to read the notes in much detail. It was more like I skimmed them to remind myself of what I needed to play. It's like riding a bicycle for the first time in 10 years. You might be a little awkward at first, but you never truly forget.
I've been looking into other sheet music and reading the notes, which had always been one of my weak points (I tend to get impatient and just want to play), had become much easier. Although I still can't read and play simultaneously in tempo I'm becoming much faster at learning new pieces. Again, a lot of it has to do with experience with picking up on patterns. What used to be a really long and arduous process is now coming to me more naturally. I felt like I could see my progress come to fruition, and that feels amazing.
I feel like this applies with anything we do in life. When I was doing my Inktober challenge (that I half-completed) I noticed the drawing ideas coming more quickly and naturally. The more I've studied and practiced Japanese the more quickly it's become for me to pick up on new vocabulary and my speaking has become much more natural compared to before. Cooking, which I use to be terrible at (still not so great), isn't so intimidating and I've become much more comfortable with trying out new recipes. That's how progress works. Whatever we try, it may be difficult and awkward at first, but with time it comes more naturally and it does get easier. Just stick at it and keep it up.
Peace
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| It might be slow at first, but if you keep working toward a goal eventually all of that hard work will bear its fruits. |
What progress are you working toward making?
ReplyDeleteHave a great day~