How are your New Year Resolutions going?

It’s the end of January.  What a long month?

Did you make any New Year Resolutions?  If so, how are they going?

I don’t take New Year resolutions too seriously, but I do have one or two goals in relation to the piano.

Firstly, I aim spend more time at the piano. Probably a resolution that is repeated each year. January was tough to be honest with a couple of weekends away. I also felt tired, so already this resolution is under pressure.

I read a good article recently on learning a new skill. One of the tips was to have good energy levels, which includes getting plenty of sleep. So, I think I’m improving here!

Another point was to learn from others, whether they know more than you (your mentors), the same as you (friends and colleagues you may be learning with to swap ideas and challenges you face) or from those that know less than you (teaching/explaining to others to ensure you have a good understanding of what you have learnt).

For mentors, the author suggested watching hours of videos and reading lots of materials. I tend to be a junky with books and music magazines. I could watch more you-tube videos, so I’ll aim to do more of this. I’ll post any good ones or link to them here.

Another aim I have this year is to learn more songs and enjoy the piano, rather than stressing over technique. The most powerful motivator is enjoyment and getting a buzz. Getting the balance correct between technique and learning songs is important, but for me, the balance has been more on technique in the past, so this year I will tip the balance the other way.

I also aim to improve this blog, with 6 more full reviews and a blog piece every month as a minimum.  So I can easily be measured by this resolution.

We’ll see how it goes.  Good luck with your resolutions if you set any. If not, good luck with your playing this year!