YWS Music

YWS Music

The musicians of YWS :)

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  • Created Fri Jun 12, 2015 10:31 pm

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  • Hijinks
    Hijinks · Jun 5, 2021
    Heyo, question for all you musicians -- how do you deal with frustration and feeling like you're not improving at your instruments/at a specific piece?

    I'm preparing for a piano exam in 2 weeks, and I feel like I've hit a block where I'm just so sick and tired of these 6 pieces I've been working on for over half a year, and I don't feel like my practicing is doing much. Like it's gotten to the point where several times in an hour-long practice I'll be really tempted to cry and/or do a literal keyboard smash but I definitelyyyy haven't done either of those things multiple times what no

    And that ends up making my practices even less effective because it's very hard to get much good practice in when you're frustrated and angry at yourself and the music the whole time.

    Sooo...do any of you experience this? And if so, how do you deal with it/prevent it/practice effectively regardless?

    yoshikrab replied · Jun 6, 2021

    Oh no! I am so sorry to hear that whatcha!

    I definitely feel your pain. So many times I've had to play a piece for a recital or test, and after practicing it so many times, I just had no drive to continue.

    Nevertheless, I've got a few tips and I hope they help you!

    1. Slam the brakes. Since from what I've read, it seems that you feel your practice is futile, I would suggest you take a break. Not exactly give up, but just slow down for a second. Read a book. Take a walk. Hang out with friends and family. If your practice is having negative effects on you mentally, then you should slam the brakes for a moment and breathe.

    2. Seek help. In almost any situation, seeking help from those close to you (and a shoutout through social media ^_^) will be effective. Get your peers to listen to your music. Accept some comforting words from some friends. And most importantly . . .

    3. Perform. Play your pieces for those close to you! Since I'm guessing you're most likely familiar with your pieces, you should let friends listen to you! I'm sure they'll enjoy it, and it'll give you an incentive to play to the best of your ability.

    This advice isn't a lot, but I hope it helped. Mostly, to figure this situation out, you'll need to feel it out for yourself. I'm sure you play beautifully, and I know that a lot of people will agree!

    --from yoshi, who knows you're the best whatever you do!


    Que replied · Jun 6, 2021

    oooof yeah I've definitely felt that. :/

    Do you feel like you're prepared? Because if so (or maybe even if not!), you can let those pieces take a backseat for a hot second. Play some chill music for fun (my go-to is this super easy Lord of the Rings piano book that I can play through without worrying about anything) and remind yourself why you practice and spend time with piano. <3 I've had days where in order to keep myself practicing something I break up my "real" pieces with silly stuff in between at frequent intervals. My friend does a lot of piano improv, I think, to break it up.

    If you feel less prepared and maybe frustrated that you're getting nowhere, I would say you can still take a break. If you want to keep working with these pieces but in different ways, you could take a break by listening to recordings of them or even taking a recording of yourself! It could always change your outlook. :)

    I think the main thing is that when you're frustrated, don't push yourself too far or too hard. (for me, at least, every time I do that I get worse :p) Step back and take a deeeeeeep breath. You're gonna do great. :)


    Hijinks replied · Jun 8, 2021

    Thank you both, I appreciate the advice and encouragement ^^ I did decide to take two evenings off to give myself a breather so I'm hoping that'll help. And Que that's actually a great idea to listen to performances in place of practicing -- I usually do that at the start of learning a piece but I hadn't thought to do it now!

    You're both wonderful <3



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