Talent Takes Practice!

I hate to admit it, but there have been times when I thought to myself, “I don’t think this student has any natural musical ability. In fact, there have been times I’ve wondered if they even had the ability to learn piano at all! My experience, though, has contradicted those initial concerns. You know why? Because like everything else in life, the more you do something, the better you’ll become. In my opinion, that’s a fact. 

Talent is learned. Specifically, it’s learned through repetition. True; a gift, or “natural talent”, might stand in its own, separate category. But far too often, we hear someone play an instrument, create a painting, or erect a building, and we assume they were created with some talent. We may even say something like, “I wish I could do that. I’m just not talented in that way…”

Excuse me! Don’t diminish their hard work! They practiced, practiced, and practiced! At Wagner’s School of Music, 99% of our students come in with no musical ability, knowledge, or talent. Sure, plenty of moms rave about the way their sons can poke around and find similar notes on the piano to what they hear on Spotify, or dads will exclaim, “My daughter can clap right on beat!”, but the fact is that these kids are total beginners. I’ve seen it in my own kids. 

My oldest daughter began taking a group piano class at Wagner’s when she was 6 years old. That was 10 years ago, which means she’s had 10 years of practice, repetition, challenge, and maybe best of all, positive peer pressure from her classmates who are working just as hard as her. Now 16 years-old, she’s chosen to play a Hans Zimmer piece for this year’s recital, she performed a Chopin waltz for the previous year’s recital, and she filled our house with Debussy’s “Clair De Lune” during last winter’s colder months. If one were to ask her friends to tell us something she’s good at, they’d undoubtedly say, “music!”. She’s a really good musician!”. 

Do you know why she’s a really good musician? It’s because she’s been practicing at least 5 days-a-week for 10 years! She’s probably played piano more than 1000 days! The same results would exist for any other activity, such as golf, swimming, or dancing.   

I’ve taught piano at Wagner’s for 25 years. I can confidently tell you that anyone who practices for 10 years will undoubtedly be considered a “talented” pianist. And yes, they are talented. They’re talented because they learned, they practiced, they repeated, and they worked at it. So the next time you’re impressed by someone’s abilities, along with complimenting their “talent”, you may also want to admire their work-ethic and dedication!     

Piano is Rad!

I remember the first time I felt grateful that I was a musician. I was nineteen

and working in a downtown San Diego building that belonged to what I thought was

one of the raddist skate magazines in the world. There I was hanging out with known

skaters, surfers, interns, and their friends. Cool people.

On this particular day, Jon, a twenty-one-year-old professional skater, was

taking a break from the indoor half pipe and attempting to pick out a Beatles tune on

a vintage piano that sat just behind it and not having much luck. He’d never had

piano lessons or the benefit of a piano instructor, but he had a good ear, he loved

music and was a talented guy. But no matter how hard he tried, the notes coming

from the piano were just barely close enough to allow me to recognize his attempt at

“Come Together.”

I walked over to where he sat at the piano and said, “I think I know how to play

that song.”

He stood and stepped aside waiting to see what I’d do. I put my hands on the

keys and, with ease, banged out the one measure pattern that so famously kicks off

the first track of the Beatles’ “Abbey Road.”                             

Jon was stunned. After repeating the riff for about fifteen seconds, five or six

more skaters and their friends walked over. It wasn’t hard to tell that they were

excited about the fact that the magazine’s shipping assistant knew how to play. I

learned something interesting that day: As much as I was obsessed with, and wanted

to be a part of the world of skating, all of those guys were obsessed with being

musicians.

Besides playing piano since the age of six, I had also picked up a few other

instruments over the years. I was surprised to learn that besides the vintage piano I

was sitting in front of, the magazine’s ‘music room’ behind the halfpipe had many of

the instruments I had learned to play. So, I picked up a bass guitar, turned on an amp

and played the famous riff from “Come Together.” Someone else jumped on the drum

set and did their best to imitate what they’d heard Ringo Starr playing on the record.

Since there was also a microphone plugged in and standing in the middle of the

room, I nonchalantly started singing the lyrics over what we were playing.

At that moment, I’m pretty sure everyone wanted to be my friend.  In hindsight,

I’m so glad I took piano lessons. I’m glad I stuck with music. I’m glad I am now a

piano teacher leading group piano lessons for kids.

Piano is rad!