So I managed to start playing piano again.

During my summer vacation, one of the 'goals' that I had set for myself was that I would start playing piano again. I was thinking that if things would go really well, perhaps I would be able to find motivation to start playing the instrument after a 20+ year break.

Indeed, the last time I played piano was in high school during a school event when I was 18. I played the instrument for our school's choir during an independence day's event, which subsequently was the last time I played it for more than twenty years.

So naturally, with a history like this with the instrument, the chances weren't obviously that high that I would start playing piano again. It was at least somewhat unlikely that I would pick up on this hobby after having been on a break for so long.

Fortunately, even though I hadn't played piano for so long, as it happened, last week I actually started playing it again. I managed to get back to playing the instrument and even managed to get some encouraging results during my practice sessions.

Return-wise, the biggest reason that I started playing again had to do with me hearing J. Halvorsen's beautiful piano composition 'Passacaglia' (based on Händel's musical piece). The piece was so beautiful that I just felt that I had to give it a shot, no matter what. 

Naturally, getting started wasn't easy and I had some real troubles trying to get my muscle memory back (hands to synchronize etc.). It was a bit scary and even hopeless to do basic stuff like where you had to use your both hands simultaneously (left hand two octaves, right hand blind).

Practice-wise, for me the best way to practice was to do it three times a day. I would play for an hour after I came back from work, have another 30-40 minute session in the evening and the next morning play for 5-10 minutes to check how I had progressed.

 

Progress-wise, the good thing about having a practice routine like this is that it allowed me to not overload my brain and my muscle memory too much. Once I inevitably got a bit frustrated after almost every session, I could just go on a break and come back later that day.

Indeed, especially after the evening sessions, when I could feel how my brain really started to turn into mush, it was obvious that I had practiced enough. It was time to call it a day and get some sleep, before I would get too desperate about the whole thing.

Thankfully, as I kept going, every single day I got progressively better at playing the song. I practiced it in sections and it didn't take more than five days before I was ready to play the song at work and show my progress for my friends (we have multiple pianos in our school).

In that sense, when it comes to whole thing, now that I've gotten back to playing piano at least a bit, I think it's clear that I should keep going. I need to keep practicing and find new material that inspires me without getting too complacent (I think I'll do 'La La Land' next).

Indeed, even though I obviously have no desire or intention to become a great player or anything like that, that's not a reason to not take this hobby at least a bit seriously. I definitely shouldn't be thinking that I wouldn't have time for this instrument.

On the contrary, as long as I pick new songs to practice and take things slow enough, I'll get better at it. I'll become a better piano player and even though practicing takes time, it's worth it and shows that I can do other artistic things too in life than just write scripts.