Here we are having just closed out the first month of 2026, and to me it already feels as though we’re racing through the year. My students have all returned from break, with some having had holiday lessons and others starting with the school term. The usual mix of fresh enthusiasm and worried remarks of ‘not a lot of practice to be honest…’ is as familiar as ever, and what is also expected is the small flurry of enquiries from potential new students.
I’m always curious about the January enquires, have they come from sudden New Year’s Resolutions? To learn the piano, to learn an instrument in general, to do something creative, to do something just for you? What is it about the start of a new year, new month, new week that encourages the quest for a new self? And why is it that starting something and continuing something feel like entirely different challenges?
Learning something new, or even revisiting something, can often feel like it doesn’t fit. Most often for adult students but also for those in school, the idea of fitting a brand new ‘thing’ into your timetable can feel awkward and disheartening. The initial enthusiasm wears off, we find more and more excuses to avoid said ‘thing’ and before we know it we’ve added another ‘good try’ to our pile of other discarded resolutions. But before you curse yourself and/or the thing, consider this: when was the last time you learned something new?
I’m sure I’ve talked about this before but it bears repeating. As children and young adults, we’re constantly learning. It’s expected. How to walk, how to talk, how to read, how to count, how to tie your shoes, how to tell time, how to catch public transport, how to write an essay, how to how to how to. The words ‘I don’t know’ are a catchphrase, and tend to lead to more information. The older we get the more impatient we become both with ourselves and others. Why don’t they know that? Why don’t I know that? Surely 10+ years of school is enough to know…enough?
But we still actively seek new information, be it a new language, an instrument, cooking, rock climbing, coding, yoga etc etc. And for some reason our expectations are high. I don’t know why they should be, knowing how to make a spreadsheet or do a tax return or inset-random-adult-task-here has very little in common with how to make a soufflé. Speaking from personal and humbling experience learning Greek is incredibly different from learning French. Something I try to explain to my frustrated students is context, when have you ever had to use your fingers in this way? Or say ti-tika ka-ti-ka tim-ka tikatika in time to a maddeningly unsympathetic metronome? Or set aside 10 minutes twice a week to squint at a bunch of little black dots claiming to be music? Is it never? I bet it is.
My school-aged students have an advantage, they’re still in their ‘acceptable to not know everything’ years and the amount of unselfconscious ‘I don’t know’s and shrugs I get is somewhat wearying proof. But something they have in common with my adult students is that they have rarely been taught the most important skill required for literally any new thing.
How to practice.
Before learning the notes, before learning the scales, before learning how to make your hands simultaneously ignore each other and work together, you have to learn how to practice. How to set aside 10 minutes out of your day, and divide those 10 minutes across your practice tasks and not be worried about wasting time, being too slow, what’s happening with dinner. This is a learned skill. And this is why (as with any new skill) we start small. This is why I ask for 10 minutes of practice, twice a week. Students always look surprised. ‘I can do more!’, ‘surely that’s not enough?’. It is. I advise setting a timer, and once that timer goes off, you can stop! Totally guilt free! If you want to keep going, go for it! But you have completed your task, be free.
I find this encourages interest. Leave ‘em wanting more. What you should absolutely not do is force yourself to do 30, 40, 60 minutes of practice while your frustration and resentment grow. You don’t have to learn the piano. You get to learn the piano. How amazing is that? To learn a new thing? At your own pace? Preferably with an encouraging teacher who gets really excited that you did 10 minutes of practice?
Ok so it’s not always amazing. But the fact that we can keep learning anything forever is pretty cool. I’ve played the piano for over 30 years and I’m still learning all the things I don’t know. Be open. Be nice to yourself. Anyone who says ‘you can master the piano in just 2 months!’ is lying to you. And probably trying to sell you something. Don’t be in a hurry to finish learning, learn how to learn, and go from there.
-J