I grew up in a Musical Family with both my parents playing the Piano each day as far back as I can remember.
It was not a conscious choice, but every evening after dinner they would play the piano together for fun.
As I grew up , I followed suit and I even used my pocket money to buy sheet music.
Night after night I practised piece after piece “just for fun”. As time went on I got better….
If you really want to do anything , then you will find yourself doing it “ just for fun” If you find it a chore then you will give up.
When someone contacts me about starting lessons, I always ask “ why do you want to start learning the Piano?”
This is to measure the level of desire they have to play.
Quite often it is just a passing fancy. Something that they have seen someone else do or they follow a particular artist who plays the keyboards.
I explain that without a deep desire to play and commitment to practice each and every day then very soon they will lose interest.
Generally speaking, if the student has been “having a go” at learning themselves before approaching me then this is a good sign. They are doing it for fun and are self motivated.
My ultimate aim is for my students have fun whilst they learn and naturally seek out more material themselves.
This is what makes the difference between just following what happens during our lessons and “ really” wanting to play.
My role as a teacher is to offer an enjoyable structure of learning that needs to be followed daily.
Hopefully the student will then discover if there desire to learn is strong or not.
Do they feel happy practicing each day or is it a chore?
For me, it always has been so much fun and it always will be.