Repetition is the Key to Success

I have really come to love the app SimplyPiano. However, as I mentioned last week, I want to try something a little different. Prior to this class I had watched and went through the below video. It was very helpful for a beginner like me.

I discovered as I watched the videos two things. One being that I love that there is a human on the other side of the video talking to me which makes it feel more fun. Two I don’t love practicing.

Learning something via an app or other online methods can feel pretty lonely. I didn’t realize that until I started watching the videos this week. Having this kind teacher, Lisa, talking and interacting with me (as much as one can) through her Youtube video made my learning feel a little less lonely. The way that Lisa interacts with the viewer is a very fun and engaging way. I enjoyed the change up.

I also watched 7 Days to Learning Piano produced by the same people at Pianote. This video took me on a little different path than I had originally planned for this week (which was to learn some musical scales). Through this video, I got to practice moving up and down the keys and learning some simple chords. This was a fun departure from reading musical notes practice that the app provides. However, what I truly discovered about myself was that I don’t love doing repetition when there is no immediate reward. In the video, Lisa, who leads the lesson, goes through how to do the skill and then encourages the watcher to go and practice it for a portion of time each day. I found it hard to sit there and practice the skill on my own. Through the app, there is lots of repetition but that repetition is rewarded by unlocking the next lesson or a new song. It was a challenge this week to practice without those prompts or incentives.

So, all that to say, I enjoyed the change in learning mode but I did not learn to play chords well. However, I do now have the knowledge to play them and I will keep practicing them. Maybe I need to create an incentive for myself. I know when I took EMUS 202, the professor had mentioned one student who used a money jar. Every time that student practiced the guitar, they would put a dollar in it and then at the end of the semester when the class was over they used that money to buy something for themselves.

Do you have any fun incentives that you use when need to practice a skill or accomplish a task? Or maybe for those of you who are parents, do you use any incentives to help your kids practice certain skills?