Ahhhh, fluency ! To pick up a new piece of sheet music, sit down at the piano and simply play it as written, with maybe one or two small errors - at full tempo with a steady beat so it moves along as expected. THAT'S the most common goal of any adult pianist, whether that sheet music is a showtune, some blues, or a bit of ragtime.
"Fluency" is the ability to play your favorite music with little effort.
It's much like fluency in reading. For example, you pick up the latest John Grisham novel, sit down with a sandwich and simply start reading. Every so often there's a word you are unfamiliar with but context gives you some idea of the word's meaning. Even if it doesn't you don't sweat it and the word's unfamiliarity takes nothing much away from your enjoyment. In fact, as you read, you can see "in your mind's eye" the action, and even get an idea of how the characters look. That's fluency, and most adults have had lots of experience with it (except those poor folks who somehow never became literate.)
Of course, there are books that most folks are NOT fluent with - such as medical textbooks, detailed descriptions of the tax code, or the owner's manuals of musical instruments ! Those remain a huge challenge and require actual study to get throught. It's WORK and few folks read these things for pleasure. Fluency IS pleasure, no doubt about it, and we'd love to know any possible shortcuts to achieving this level - right?
Keep reading !
The first thing you need to know is that every pianist is fluent - at some level. I want you to think of this fluency thing as an elevator in a very, very tall building. Absolute beginners get on in the lobby and begin to move up to various floors, each floor representing some level of ability at playing the piano. If you play at all you have a level (a floor) at which you are challenged and a lower floor at which you are fluent. Now I don't want to stretch this comparison out too far, but I can still say that your "fluency floor" is always lower than your "challenge floor" and that by going higher in the building (raising your challenge floor) you automatically raise your fluency floor.
Enough of this building thing! You get the idea, so let's talk piano. There are pieces that require great effort for you to master and pieces that you can play just fine RIGHT NOW. Don't believe me? Pick up a kid's book and try some of those pieces. You'll be able to do them easily. The problem is that they won't satisfy your adult level of musical sophistication. This gives you the mistaken impression that there is no music you can play fluently. The accurate statement, the real truth is that you cannot yet play the music you love fluently and you so very much want to.
Now that we have stated the problem accurately, I can offer you two solutions:
1. Continue raising your challenge level. Do more and harder pieces and master them well. Some day (and no one can say for sure when) you WILL be able to play the music you now find challenging fluently. Of course, you will still have a challenge point, it will just "be on a higher floor."
2. Learn to "sightread" the music you most want to play. This is a job in itself, and requires much more explanation. As a matter of fact, this would be a very good reason to buy and apply my ebook How to WIN at Piano Lessons, since I cover this topic extensively in Chapter Six. If fluency is indeed your goal, it will cost you both the price of the book AND the effort needed to follow its directions. Unlike some piano "teachers" I will not tell you that any miracle cure exists. It does not. But learning to do the RIGHT effort sure beats wasting time with things that will not work.
"Fluency" is the ability to play your favorite music with little effort.
It's much like fluency in reading. For example, you pick up the latest John Grisham novel, sit down with a sandwich and simply start reading. Every so often there's a word you are unfamiliar with but context gives you some idea of the word's meaning. Even if it doesn't you don't sweat it and the word's unfamiliarity takes nothing much away from your enjoyment. In fact, as you read, you can see "in your mind's eye" the action, and even get an idea of how the characters look. That's fluency, and most adults have had lots of experience with it (except those poor folks who somehow never became literate.)
Of course, there are books that most folks are NOT fluent with - such as medical textbooks, detailed descriptions of the tax code, or the owner's manuals of musical instruments ! Those remain a huge challenge and require actual study to get throught. It's WORK and few folks read these things for pleasure. Fluency IS pleasure, no doubt about it, and we'd love to know any possible shortcuts to achieving this level - right?
Keep reading !
The first thing you need to know is that every pianist is fluent - at some level. I want you to think of this fluency thing as an elevator in a very, very tall building. Absolute beginners get on in the lobby and begin to move up to various floors, each floor representing some level of ability at playing the piano. If you play at all you have a level (a floor) at which you are challenged and a lower floor at which you are fluent. Now I don't want to stretch this comparison out too far, but I can still say that your "fluency floor" is always lower than your "challenge floor" and that by going higher in the building (raising your challenge floor) you automatically raise your fluency floor.
Enough of this building thing! You get the idea, so let's talk piano. There are pieces that require great effort for you to master and pieces that you can play just fine RIGHT NOW. Don't believe me? Pick up a kid's book and try some of those pieces. You'll be able to do them easily. The problem is that they won't satisfy your adult level of musical sophistication. This gives you the mistaken impression that there is no music you can play fluently. The accurate statement, the real truth is that you cannot yet play the music you love fluently and you so very much want to.
Now that we have stated the problem accurately, I can offer you two solutions:
1. Continue raising your challenge level. Do more and harder pieces and master them well. Some day (and no one can say for sure when) you WILL be able to play the music you now find challenging fluently. Of course, you will still have a challenge point, it will just "be on a higher floor."
2. Learn to "sightread" the music you most want to play. This is a job in itself, and requires much more explanation. As a matter of fact, this would be a very good reason to buy and apply my ebook How to WIN at Piano Lessons, since I cover this topic extensively in Chapter Six. If fluency is indeed your goal, it will cost you both the price of the book AND the effort needed to follow its directions. Unlike some piano "teachers" I will not tell you that any miracle cure exists. It does not. But learning to do the RIGHT effort sure beats wasting time with things that will not work.
You can find the ordering instructions for my ebook here:
http://danstarr.com/pages/ebooks.html
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