GROWTH MINDSET AND PIANO LEARNING

CHALLENGE WITH THE PIANO LEARNING PROCESS

Learning to play the piano can be a long, slow, challenging and yet a rewarding experience. It requires years of dedication, consistency, and a willingness to push past obstacles, setbacks and negative self-talk. So learning the Piano is more than just learning to play an Instrument. There are Life Skills that are developed that can be applied to other walks of life. This post is about how one can develop Growth Mindset in the context of Piano Learning.

GROWTH MINDSET VERSUS FIXED MINDSET

A growth mindset is the belief that one's abilities can be developed through hard work, persistence, and determination. This mindset is in contrast to a fixed mindset, which suggests that our abilities are predetermined and cannot be changed. When it comes to learning the piano, a fixed mindset can be particularly damaging. It can lead to feelings of frustration, self-doubt, and a lack of motivation to practice or improve.

In contrast, a growth mindset can help you approach the learning process with a more positive and productive attitude. Here are some ways in which a growth mindset can benefit your piano practice:

HOW TO DEVELOP GROWTH MINDSET

Developing a growth mindset can be achieved by:

1. Embracing challenges and seeing them as opportunities to learn and grow.

2. Practicing perseverance and persistence in the face of setbacks and failures.

3. Focusing on the learning process and effort rather than just the end result.

4. Seeking out feedback and constructive criticism to improve and grow.

5. Cultivating a love of learning and a curiosity about the world.

HOW PIANO LEARNING FOSTERS A GROWTH MINDST

1 - EMBRACING CHALLENGES AND SEEING THEM AS OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN AND GROW

In piano playing, one is constantly dealing with pieces or techniques that might be difficult or just beyond reach. Instead of avoiding these 'challenges', one should approach them as opportunities to learn and grow. This can not only help you develop new skills but also build confidence in your ability to tackle new challenges.

2 - PRACTICING PERSEVERANCE AND PERSISTENCE IN THE FACE OF SETBACKS

A growth mindset encourages you to view mistakes as opportunities for growth, rather than as a reflection of your abilities. Students who take Music Exams would know from experience that often things don't go as per plan. A Memory Lapse that was never anticipated creeps up in performance, or the Sight Reading/Aural Tests were far too difficult; or the Scales had too many slips. These are perfect opportunities take a step back and analyze what went wrong without getting caught in the emotions. One should use this information to make adjustments and improve future practices.

3 - FOCUS ON THE LEARNING PROCESS RATHER THAN THE END RESULT

In Piano Learning, the results are often never seen immediately. A parent may hear their children toil away on the same Scales for months together; or the teacher may spend hours with the student repeatedly working on the same passage over and over; or students may be asked to count and practice at a slow tempo for months together. To an observer, not much progress may be seen from week to week or even month-to-month. But when seen from larger time-frame (such as a year), immense amounts of skills are developed and refined - be in new repertoire, or new technical or aural abilities, or Reading abilities. This view must also be applied to life.

4 - SEEKING OUT FEEDBACK AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM TO IMPROVE AND GROW

Feedback is an innate part of Piano Learning. Typically, ever week the teacher assigns homework that would be checked the following week after which a feedback is given. For example, the teacher might ask the student to increase the tempo while practicing a piece or a teacher might ask the student to re-work the fingering. By embracing the feedback, the student keeps making changes to the practice routines. Similarly in life one must stay open to feedback and criticism in life so that it helps one grow and evolve.

5 - CULTIVATING A LOVE FOR LEARNING AND CURIOSITY ABOUT THE WORLD

Finally, curiosity in piano learning involves exposing the student to different types of music, composers, eras, genres, instruments, performers. It also involves getting them to ask questions, experiment with different interpretations,learn about the compositional language of different composers, rhythmic ideas, sound worlds, music theory, history, technique, performance, etc. This can also be translated to life itself by approaching life with curiosity.

CONCLUSION

Piano Learning easily fosters Growth Mindset. And they can also be applied to life itself provided one is conscious about it.