How Piano Taught Me to Climb a Mountain
I’ve been playing piano for around 8 years. Through these years, I’ve grown to love the instrument and the people I’ve met through it. I‘ve learned much about music theory, time signatures, and whatnot, but playing the piano has also taught me some meaningful life lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
Around the same time I started playing the piano, I also moved houses to a town around an hour away from where I used to live. There I made friends with a girl in my neighborhood whose mother was a piano teacher, and all of her friends too. We’d get together almost every week at her house, doing things like tea parties and making TikToks (or at the time “Musical.ly”), but we’d also play the piano every single time.
Her house had three pianos — one being a beautiful black Grand piano, like the ones you see during performances or in movies. I remember watching my other friends play pieces like “River Flows in You” or “The Entertainer” at just 10 years old. And I remember feeling embarrassed and shy when I would start playing. I’d only been playing for around two years, so at best the songs I’d play for them were “childish” in their eyes.
For months I would watch them play their intricate pieces, envying the skill and talent they had. I tried, too. I practiced whatever my teacher told me to practice very meticulously. But no matter what I did I could never be as good as them.
Fast forward to a few months later, and I stumble upon a Youtube video where a girl was playing a very complex Star Wars medley. Something clicked when I heard that video for the first time. I’d been listening to my friends play when we were together, watching experts play on Youtube, and practicing whatever my teacher had told me to practice for the week. But that was all I was doing: watching others, listening to others. That’s when I realized that “others” were never going to improve my piano ability — that it was something I had to grasp and do for myself.
So, that very week I printed out the sheet music for the Star Wars Medley that was way too complex for my level, and I brought it to my piano teacher. She told me it would be a lot of work, and that I’d have to practice diligently in order to play it, and I told her that I was ready. And ready I was. It took months of practice, frustration, and sweat, but I did it. I was able to play a piece that was almost three levels above where I was.
My skillset as a piano player had been plateauing, and all it took was one day to change my mindset and begin climbing a mountain.
For this lesson, I am forever grateful to have been surrounded by such hardworking people that have pushed me to improve not only my piano ability but also my mental ability. My biggest takeaway from this experience is that if you want something, you have to go get it. It’s important to remember that everyone is at different places in their journey, so you shouldn’t compare yourself to someone that is farther along than you are.
And it’s not only my piano that I’ve been using this mentality in. Since then, I’ve been focusing on myself and not comparing myself to others. I focus on my journey, and not the people around me that are a few steps forward or behind. Having this “epiphany” completely changed my life.
Once I realized that this moment had to do more than just piano, I implemented it in other aspects of my life. I stopped comparing myself to my older brother, my classmates, the girls I danced with, and of course, those same girls I would play piano with. And while I have not yet climbed a mountain, having this “way-of-life” will never stand in the way of that distant, distant goal.
If there is one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s to never compare yourself to others. To not worry about how far ahead of you the “others” are. To be your own person.
So stop comparing yourself to the “others,” and begin climbing your mountain.
Here is the link to the piano piece that inspired me to start climbing my own mountain! If you enjoyed this article and want to talk more about the “others” or “mountains” in your life, be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, or schedule a meeting on my Calendly!
