Why do we sign up for piano lessons? Why do you want your son/daughter to take piano lessons? There are many benefits and/or values that are acquired through music study, and we can certainly hear about the obvious ones often enough. I believe that one of the most important life values that piano lessons help us learn is the discipline of COMMITMENT.
Life value comes at a price
I’m sure that most of us can look back at our life and agree that the experiences that have enriched our life have not come about in the easiest of ways. I dare say that if those same experiences did not come accompanied by some degree of temporary discomfort, then we probably wouldn’t value them as much. It’s only because there was a battle that we know what victory is, and so you must be aware that to learn/teach commitment you will run into some sort of discomfort and sometimes even a battle.
The battle of long-term commitments
As adults, we are aware that life will present us with very important commitment-testers; a job, a friendship, and marriage are a few examples of commitments that cannot be easily disregarded due to how we feel at a particular moment in time. However, we do understand that it is completely normal, and actually expect, to want to “quit” these commitments from time to time. No one gets an award or trophy for a great START. The marathon winner is praised because he FINISHED the race.
“I want to quit” is a golden opportunity
If you haven’t heard, “I don’t want to do piano anymore,” or if you yourself haven’t gone through a period of the same feeling, then let me inform you that it is only a matter of time; IT’S NORMAL and part of the “long-term commitment” package. When that moment shows up quickly SEIZE the golden opportunity to teach the value of commitment. Get creative and find ways to help the student battle through the inevitable moment of discouragement. Remember, it’s only if we do not grow weary and faint that we can experience the VICTORY AFTER THE BATTLE.
I’d love to hear any experience you might have gone through in regards to this subject. Would you take a moment and write a comment about it?
Piano and Life 
Hey, i like the article.
I recently had some thought’s evolving around the possibility of totally quitting the piano.
I’ve been playing for 15 years, and im now 25. I just had enough of playing cover band gigs because of the money, and not really seizing the opportunity to develop my playing and express what i want musically.
As a consequence i decided to devote more time to teaching piano students and develop my skills as a solo pianist. A new adventure is beginning, and it feels great! 🙂
I guess, sometimes when you feel like you want to quit it’s because you need to change your perspective and go down a different road…
Kasper
Kasper,
Thanks for sharing your personal story! You’ve said a great truth, changing one’s perspective can help to stay focused and persevere.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this article. Who, as a teacher has not had a student wanting to quit lessons after some time!? Yes, it is perfectly normal. Your article is so great that I am going to forward to a particular student and parent who are currently going through this battle. Thank you!
Yiyi,
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment, it is very encouraging to me. I’m happy you liked what I wrote and hope that it helps parents get a correct perspective on what to expect in this musical journey.
Love reading your article. This is pretty true. Last summer, I had one piano beginner who wasabout to quit. Her parents decided to enroll her in a swimming class instead. She wants her two daughters to learn how to swim and just enjoy the whole summer. I encouraged them to not to stop the lessons because her daughter showed so much interest and very motivated as a piano student. To make the story short, they were convinced and enrolled their child both in piano and swimming lessons. The result turned out excellent! Now, my student is really doing great in her piano studies. And surprisingly, the parents enrolled their second daughter just couple of months ago for piano lessons, too. Isn’t it awesome?
Geraldine,
That is awesome! You know, for a long time I was not aware that it is not only my job to teach piano, but I am also responsible to guide the parents through this journey. What seems normal and part of the process to us, can be completely foreign to most parents, especially those that have never been exposed to any kind of music lessons. Thank you so much for taking the time to post a comment, I really appreciate it!
[…] I came across an article about teaching the value of commitment which explained this dilemma so well, here is the link to the article. […]