by Howard B. Richman
Why do adults tend to take a break immediately after starting piano lessons? I’ve been teaching piano since 1975 and I’ve noticed trends, but this has never been articulated by others, to my knowledge. When an adult wants to start piano lessons, or wants to return to the piano after many years, it is usually in the midst of very big life changes…… cancer, death of spouse, heart attack, just moved, just divorced, just married, just got fired, just got a new job, just started a new business, won the lottery, bankruptcy, empty nest, birth of baby, etc. The reaction is… “OK, I’m FINALLY going to do something for ME! I’ve been wanting to do this FOREVER and I’m going to take PIANO LESSONS!”
THEN…. after a few weeks of glorious “me time,” and actually starting the lessons, these very large life-changing events still have to be addressed. So I’ve noticed that after the initial start, the student needs to take a break to go deal with these big life changes. It doesn’t mean you are not serious. It just means that things have to be taken care of. So it is a little bump but not permanent. I would say that this happens 100% of the time, so do not be discouraged or embarrassed when you start up lessons and then suddenly you have to quit temporarily.
