Hey all, I’m trying really hard to get better at playing the piano, but it has always been difficult for me. I end up relying way too much on my ear and muscle memory, which gets me fairly far, but then I get lost in my own thoughts and have no idea where I am / how to recover if I make a mistake. It feels like the better I get at playing something, the more susceptible I am to completely biffing it because I got there by relying on my crutches instead of actually processing it the way (I think?) it’s supposed to be learned, if that makes sense. I can read music and all that, but between the attention span and the hand eye coordination issues, I start to glaze over the actual notes on the page. Any good pianists with ADHD? Any tips? I know slow and steady is the main thing, but the glazing over makes that so hard to manage. Maybe I just need to accept that this will always be difficult for me, but I would love to hear others’ perspectives. (Also this community seems pretty dead, so if there are any more active non-meme ADHD communities that Beehaw federates with, please point me in the right direction!)

  • wicked_samurai@beehaw.org
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    4 days ago

    How is it going lately? I am in the same boat RE relying on muscle memory. I want to get a teacher - do you have one? I wonder what a piano teacher would say…

    • rozwud@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 day ago

      I don’t have one; I don’t feel able to make that kind of weekly commitment right now, but I’m sure that would make a big difference. It’s been going okay; I practice a few hours each week, but it’s usually in one go, which I’m sure is not the best way to go about it. I’ve definitely been improving, not as fast as I would like, but I’m trying to be gentle with myself about that.