[00:00:00] VO Artist: Welcome to Your Creative Chord Podcast, where host Jenny Leigh Hodgins, author and educator, shares unique insights dedicated to empowering your creative flow and inspired living. Through solo reflections and dialogues with creators and wellness experts, Jenny Leigh shares holistic wisdom influenced by her Buddhist practice, alongside poetic insights and practical strategies for living authentically.This podcast helps you overcome challenges and unlock your full creative potential.

[00:00:43] Jenny Leigh: Welcome back to Your Creative Chord. I'm your host, Jenny Leigh Hodgins.

[00:00:48] If you're new to the podcast, I'm here to guide you in unlocking your full creative potential.

[00:00:53] Whether you're a creative pro or just starting to explore your creative journey, you're in the right place.

[00:00:59] Today's episode is all about piano practice and how to get the most out of your time at the keyboard. If you've been feeling stuck or frustrated or burnt out with your piano practice, you're not alone.

[00:01:10] In fact, I've been reflecting on my own experiences with this lately, and I have two practice strategies that I want to share with you today.

[00:01:19] These two strategies, one that focuses deeply on specific goals and another that's more relaxed and meditative, can complement each other really beautifully to help you keep moving forward with your piano progress and reignite your joy in the process. 

[00:01:37] Before we jump into today's tips, let me remind you of some helpful resources I've got for you.

[00:01:43] If you're looking for a way to make your piano practice more effective and stay on track, be sure to check out my free Unlock Your Piano Potential ebook, which is packed with strategies to help you build solid piano habits from the get go. You can grab it at yourcreativechord.com/pianostrategies.

[00:02:05] All right, let's get into today's episode. I'm going to play a clip from one of my recent Facebook live presentations with these two opposing practice strategies. Let's have a listen.

[00:02:18] I want to share with you two strategies that can really make a difference in your musical progress at the piano. First up is one I call the one goal at a time practice strategy. This is a great approach for any level at the piano, especially for beginners who are just learning how to practice or intermediate level.

[00:02:39] Instead of sitting down at the piano and mindlessly playing through a piece, you focus on the goal. on only one single aspect or goal. It could be playing the correct notes, chords, a specific rhythm, dynamics, fluency with a particular musical passage or phrase, reaching large interval leaps or changing hand positions on the keyboard.

[00:03:10] No matter which specific goal you're selecting, the key is concentration. When you focus on just one thing, Your brain has the space to fully absorb that musical information or skill. Here's how it would work. At the piano, you choose one goal. Whether it's note reading, dynamics, a technique, articulation, a rhythm, or playing with a steady pulse without stopping.

[00:03:39] Just pick one. Play that section of music with your full focus on that one goal. Nothing else. If you make a mistake. With that goal, you must stop immediately, rewind, go all the way back to the beginning of that section or phrase, reset your goal, reset your mind, and try again with your full attention only on that one goal.

[00:04:04] Once you get it right, play it three times in a row, making sure it's solid and correct before you move on. If you make a mistake, Stop immediately and go back. Once you play it correctly, repeat it correctly three times in a row. If you've played it two times in a row correctly and then you make a mistake, you stop, reset, you start again to play it correctly, then you play it two more times correctly in a row.

[00:04:33] You gotta start all over again until you can play it three times in a row correctly. Correctly is the key. If you're a more advanced, you know, intermediate, late intermediate or advanced player, try repeating it five to twelve times correctly in a row. Especially as you get more advanced, you can repeat it more times.

[00:04:50] When you repeatedly correctly play something multiple times with focused attention, it helps reinforce and deepen both your cognitive, your brain recall, and your muscle memory. And that makes the skills that you're practicing more automatic. In your playing. So don't just do it a couple times. Repeat it correctly multiple times.

[00:05:14] This approach is very focused and especially effective if you feel like you're spending time on the piano without improving. It helps you build a strong foundation and avoid practicing mistakes and ingraining those mistakes. Practicing incorrectly will ingrain those mistakes over time. But if you're using the one goal at a time practice strategy, it will help you make more progress in playing the music correctly in every single practice session.

[00:05:46] It also trains your brain to develop greater focus, which will accumulate into greater musical expression over time. While we're focusing on this one goal at a time strategy that helps you refine specific skills, there's also a completely opposite strategy that I find it has immense value. It's a more relaxed, meditative approach that brings a fresh perspective to your piano practice.

[00:06:15] If you've been practicing with careful concentration for a while, using this one goal at a time approach, and now you feel like you want to reach deeper musical experience, or maybe you've been feeling burned out and disconnected from the music, or you've been through a period away from the keyboard.

[00:06:34] And had a hard time fitting in your piano practice or making the most of it. And then you feel this inner critic negativity that you're behind schedule and progress and all these pressure thoughts come in. This mindful meditative practice approach is perfect for that situation. That's where I recommend switching things up from the one goal at a time practice to a more meditative opposite approach in your piano practice.

[00:07:03] While focusing deeply on one aspect can lead to great improvements, sometimes we can bring powerful progress and reignite our motivation for piano skill development. When we switch gears and approach piano practice from that opposite direction with a more mindful, meditative approach. I discovered a unique perspective on this approach a while back when I was listening to some podcasts and it really resonated with me.

[00:07:29] The idea comes from a guy named Bob Ross. He's not that, um, mellow painter guy that used to be on TV, but he's a Zen practitioner, pianist, and educator. He suggests that we sometimes need to let go of perfectionism and embrace the art of simply being at the piano, not doing being at the piano. Here's how this approach works in your piano practice session.

[00:07:56] Do you want to accelerate your piano practice in 2025? Great. I knew you would. I've got two exciting offers that will support you in your piano success. First, mark your calendar for January 21, 2025 for a special piano panel event in my New and Returning Piano Learners Facebook group. This is your chance to hear from me and expert piano educators on how to reach your piano goals for the new year, whether you're just starting out.

[00:08:27] Returning to your piano or aiming to break through a plateau. And if you're ready to lay a solid foundation and start making tangible progress at the piano this year, my essential piano basics course officially launches on January 22, 2025. This course is designed to guide new and returning learners step by step with all the essentials you need to set up and practice effectively and confidently.

[00:08:55] To join us for the piano panel event, head to your creative chord.com/events and register to attend. I'm so looking forward to seeing you there. If you're ready to take things to the next level, register now for the January events@yourcreativecord.com slash events. Let's make 2025 our best piano year ever.

[00:09:21] I discovered a unique perspective on this approach a while back when I was listening to some podcasts and it really resonated with me.

[00:09:27] The idea comes from a guy named Bob Ross. He's not that, um, mellow painter guy that used to be on TV, but he's a Zen practitioner, pianist, and educator. He suggests that we sometimes need to let go of perfectionism and embrace the art of simply being at the piano, not doing being at the piano. Here's how this approach works in your piano practice session.

[00:09:54] Rather than focusing on playing one goal at a time correctly, And that concentrated effort on one specific goal and repeated, uh, performances of it. This approach instead asks you to relax your mind and your ego. Let go of that doing mindset and shift into being at the piano. Here's how you could try being at the piano this week.

[00:10:25] Sit at the piano and rest your fingertips lightly on the keys. You might want to close your eyes and just really focus on your breath to get started. Then turn your attention to the sensations of your body. The feel of your fingertips on each key. The sensation of your wrist loose and your hand curved and relaxed.

[00:10:51] The weight of your arms. How far away or close they are to your body or the keyboard. You may need to adjust yourself at the bench or how far away you are at the keyboard and just feel your body sensations and the subtle movements in your shoulders and your neck. Maybe notice any tension in any of those areas.

[00:11:12] Notice your feet touching the ground, grounding you below and feel the sensation of your legs. Um, and how relaxed everything is. Just tune into it. Feel all the feels of what it feels like physically. At the keyboard and then just really be present and let go of the urge to play perfectly or correctly and focus instead, as you play something, we'll talk about that in a second, how it feels to be at the piano.

[00:11:48] Tune into the simple joy of the sound of every tone and touch. Just experience the music and your physical sensations. You could start with something very simple, like playing a five finger hand position. And just tune in to the tone and the feel and the sound and all your physical sensations. Or if you've got something memorized and you can keep your eyes closed or you can look at the keyboard if that's too challenging for this moment.

[00:12:17] Just immerse yourself into what it sounds like. The tone of everything you're playing. What it feels like sensation wise. What does it feel like when you're reaching for that musical passage. How are your arms? Is there any tension in your legs, arms, your shoulders as you're playing? Immerse yourself into connecting deeply with the sound and the tone of each note and the physical sensations of your body as you're doing that.

[00:12:45] And just really focus on being there, feeling it, physically hearing it, and paying very, very close attention. To every single tone of every single note you play, just really tuning in to the immersion of sound and sensation in the music. This meditative practice can really be helpful if you're injured traveling, or you just don't have time for full dedicated, concentrated practice session.

[00:13:17] It's about connecting or reconnecting with the joy of playing and moving beyond just technical practice. Or cognitive practice, this broader focus can open up new layers of connection to the music, helping with performance anxiety and creating a more profound experience at the piano. It will deepen your grasp of the overall oral picture of the music as well.

[00:13:46] So whether you're a beginner or an intermediate or advanced player, taking time to simply experience being at the piano can really help. You connect or reconnect, if you're coming back to it, with your love of music and release tension, release the ego and the pressure of your spinning wheel monkey mind, and deepen your grasp of the full, whole picture of the music.

[00:14:14] It's a very different experience pulling ourselves away from notation or technique or specific focus. On skill development, instead we're focused on the experience of music and the ability to play the music and just connecting to it as a human being. So there you have it. These are two completely opposing strategies that complement each other beautifully.

[00:14:39] The focused one goal at a time approach for effective skill progress. And this meditative being mindset for deepening your connection with and enjoying the music, whether you're a beginner or an advanced player, using a mix of these strategies can take your practice to a whole new level of depth by alternating or combining the intense focus of the one goal at a time practice approach.

[00:15:06] And with the meditative being mindset, you can ensure your practice sessions. are going to be both productive and really fulfilling. Please keep connected to your musical voice at the piano through your regular piano routine and this mindful moment of practice that you can incorporate and keep believing in your potential.

[00:15:31] You can get there little by little, but as you're working towards the next goal in your piano progress, Journey, be mindful and enjoy the moment as well while you're there. That's the whole point of playing music is to really enjoy it and bring that enjoyment to other people. Let me know which of these practice, um, tips you're going to be incorporating or a mix of both and share any more detailed questions or struggles or ideas that you have about this.

[00:16:01] Happy practicing this week. Thank you.

[00:16:03] Thank you so much for tuning in today. I hope these two strategies, one goal at a time and the meditative being approach, help you feel more connected to your piano practice, no matter where you are in your musical journey or level. And I'd love to hear from you.

[00:16:20] Which practice strategy are you going to try next time you sit at the piano?

[00:16:25] Drop me a comment in the Facebook group to share your thoughts, questions, or progress. Or if you're part of our Creative Currents newsletter, and you will be when you sign up for the Unlock Your Piano Potential ebook, let me know by hitting reply where you're going to start with these strategies and how they're impacting your piano practice routine.

[00:16:44] And before we go, speaking of which, if you found today's episode helpful, make sure you grab that Unlock Your Piano Potential ebook. It's packed with tips to help you stay focused and keep your progress moving forward once you've set up a solid foundation. And it helps you with all of that. 

[00:17:01] Head over to YourCreativeChord.com/PianoStrategies and download yours today. You'll also get my Piano Practice Tracker to help you stay motivated and track your progress.

[00:17:14] Thanks again for joining me today. And I look forward to seeing you next time with more tips, inspiration, and insights to help you continue unlocking your creative flow and living an inspired life.

[00:17:26] Keep practicing. Keep focused. Be present mindfully at the piano and always believe in your creative potential. 

[00:17:34] VO Artist: Thank you for listening to Your Creative Chord Podcast. If you found inspiration in today's episode, please leave a review and subscribe to the show. Your support helps spread the message of creativity and inspired living. Stay connected with Jenny Leigh and a vibrant community of creatives and curious minds.

Visit YourCreativeChord.com for more resources. Remember daily life is where your creative flow begins. Embrace the journey.