Learning to play the piano is often seen as a life-long pursuit—one that can bring joy, fulfilment, and a deeper connection to music. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been playing for years, it’s important to ask yourself: Are you enjoying your piano journey?
Too often, we focus on progress, technical mastery, and hitting milestones like completing a piece or mastering a new scale. There is also often a focus on exams or grades, however these ‘goals’ often focus more on the destination rather than the journey. For some this is a huge motivator and for others it takes away some of the joy of the process itself.
So, my question to you is are you truly enjoying your piano journey? If so, how can you maintain that joy even through the challenging times?
If not, what are you not enjoying, is it the focus on the progress, is it the time it takes to learn a piece, is it the repertoire choices? By asking these questions, we, as teachers can help to ensure that our students really do enjoy each stage of their journey, whether that is by helping them to choose repertoire which they like and are ready for, (there really is something for everyone), helping them to practice more effectively, and offering a positive and unpressured environment where students can share their challenges without fear of being judged.
- The Joy of Discovery
One of the most exciting aspects of learning an instrument is the constant sense of discovery. Every new piece you learn, every technique you master, opens up new worlds of possibility. Are you taking time to celebrate the small victories, even if they’re just getting through a particularly tricky passage? The act of discovery should always feel rewarding, and the process itself should be satisfying—not just the final result.
If you find yourself feeling frustrated, it’s okay. But if frustration is the norm, it may be time to reframe your approach. Shift the focus from perfection to exploration. Consider each practice session as a way to learn something new about the music and about yourself.
I want my students to really enjoy the process and to look forward to each practice session rather than dread it.
- Find the Balance Between Challenge and Enjoyment
It’s easy to get caught up in the cycle of pushing yourself to be better, faster, or more proficient. But the most enjoyable piano journeys are those that strike a balance between challenge and the sheer pleasure of playing. If you’re playing pieces that are too difficult, you might feel overwhelmed. Conversely, playing pieces that are too easy might not give you the sense of accomplishment you’re seeking.
Finding that sweet spot—where the pieces you’re working on stretch you but don’t leave you feeling defeated—is key. Celebrate the moments when something clicks and you suddenly realize you’ve improved, even if just a little. That sense of progress is what keeps the journey exciting.
I suggest that my students have a repertoire list of their favourite pieces they have learned, and that once a week they make time to have a practice session which consists of just playing through some of these pieces. This offers a real sense of pleasure and playing for the sheer enjoyment of the music and can really be something to look forward to when spending lots of time learning new works which can leave students feeling as though they can’t actually ‘play’ anything.
Many of us can get caught in a cycle of “serious” practice, where every minute spent at the piano feels like an exercise in perfectionism. However, the most enjoyable piano journeys often include moments of playful exploration. Playing just for fun—without worrying about hitting every note perfectly or learning an advanced piece—can bring a sense of lightness to your playing.
Take time to improvise, to play your favourite songs by ear, or to revisit old tunes that bring back memories. Music, at its heart, is about enjoyment. If you’re too focused on doing everything “right,” you might forget why you started playing in the first place.
- The Power of Connection-Share your Music
Piano isn’t just a solitary pursuit. The magic happens when you share your music with others or connect with other musicians. Whether it’s performing for friends, participating in a recital, or simply sharing your practice progress with a teacher or fellow student, the act of sharing can reignite your passion.
Engaging with a piano community—whether in person or online—can provide you with valuable feedback, inspiration, and motivation. It’s easy to get lost in the isolation of practice, but when you connect with others, you’re reminded of the emotional and social power that music brings.
Joining a piano group and playing duets or accompanying a fellow instrumentalist can be a wonderful way of sharing music. These activities also help you develop other skills too, a keener sense of balance of sound for example and a stronger sense of pulse when playing both duets and accompanying other musicians.
There are numerous courses and summer schools for pianists of all levels to explore too, these can be a fantastic way of connecting with other musicians whilst also further developing your own skills.
- Piano as a Form of Expression
As you build your skills, you have more freedom for self-expression. A strong technical foundation gives you the freedom for expression and to play more repertoire, however, this doesn’t have to mean hours of technical work.
There are many ways to build a strong technical foundation using the repertoire you are playing. A good teacher will help and guide you with this.
There are many apps and lessons available to watch, however my experience is that these are okay when used in addition to having a good teacher, in my opinion and years of experience, nothing can replace one to one lessons with a good teacher when it comes to building strong foundations.
Of course, we need more than just a good technique, we need an understanding of what the music is saying, we need to understand how to shape a phrase, how to create a beautiful sound, and so much more. Technique helps us to execute the music and enables us to play more expressively because we have the ‘tools’ to do so.
- Embrace the Journey, Not Just the Destination
One of the most important things to remember on your piano journey is that it’s not about a destination—it’s about the journey itself. Piano is a lifelong process. Whether you’ve been playing for months or decades, there will always be new techniques to master, new styles to explore, and new ways to connect with the instrument. If you’re constantly thinking about what you should be achieving, you might miss the beauty of the moment. 55 years into my own piano journey I am still learning, I am still developing as a Pianist, I am still a work in progress, and I hope this will continue to my very last days on this earth.
Someone asked me the other day what I am going to do when I retire, and would I be selling my pianos then. Why on earth do I ever want to retire from playing the piano, in many ways I often feel like my journey is still beginning, there is so much to learn, so much to develop and so much repertoire to explore and for me that is the joy, the never-ending journey at the piano.
