A New Year’s Message from The Piano Guy
By Scott Houston
I had one of those “big number” birthdays this year that always makes me laugh as of course it’s no bigger than any other year that has passed by, but boy—starting to put a 6 in front of my age sure seems… OLD! Ha ha! The good news is I worked my (somewhat literal) buns off for most of the year and haven’t felt this healthy since I played competitive tennis in high school. So here’s to acting the age you want to be rather than acting your age… it’s freeing!
In the “you never know what life will hand you out of left field” department, our home in Fort Myers Beach was completely decimated by Hurricane Ian. Pardon my crassness, but hurricanes suck. It’s just been grim stacked on top of more grim since the storm with no clear path forward. We’ve been pushing forward “eating the elephant one bite at a time” with some really frustrating days mixed in with a few intentional slack off days to ride the waves of motivation and interest in the seemingly endless tasks ahead of us.
Over the last couple months, I’ve made a conscious connection between how I’m trying to approach this storm fiasco with the way i’ve always approached my musicianship and encouraged my piano students to do the same. Being 100% nose to the grindstone all the time trying to “eat the elephant” as aggressively and quickly as possible is no way to go through life. It’s a recipe for burning out, hating the process, and quitting.
Instead, I’ve always tried to take small, but very consistent, bites and find some kind of fun in the process to get through “the big stuff” in life. And when it comes to getting through the big stuff, I can think of nothing that sustains me more than being able to sit down at a piano or keyboard and just play. By play I mean not only the physical hands-on-keys stuff, but also just having fun purely for recreation. In my now “advanced youth” I have come to realize that trying to have fun for fun’s sake alone—playing while forsaking any serious practice goals—is a secret super power that keeps me playing rather than burning out and quitting. I am 100% convinced that it’s one of the biggest secrets to the awesome success we continue to see with my online lessons at pianoinaflash.com—students can’t help but have fun along the way!
Another constant joy that continued this past year is knowing that we welcomed 8,100 new people who have started learning piano as an adult, and that there is sheer unadulterated fun being had worldwide as more and more of my students learn to appreciate and enjoy the process versus trying to reach some seemingly never-attainable goal line. Let me share a few of the really heartwarming testimonials I’ve received over the last year:
“Super excited about this program. My piano had become just an expensive piece of furniture. I always promised myself I’d get back into piano when I had time. Well, I finally have time. Only two books into your course and I’m amazed at the beautiful music I’m creating already. Sitting behind the piano brings me great joy and relaxation!” – Anne
“Scott, your Piano in a Flash has sharpened my listening skills to my inner voice—in discerning different notes and chords. As a result, my inner voice is now more vibrant, alive and far greater than its external counterpart. If music resides in the soul, then you enabled me to reach out to my spirits.” – Vee
Whether you decide you want to learn piano as an adult like those folks or have something else in mind for your new year’s resolution—I hope you always remember to make plenty of time for plain old fun all year long. I know I will! If you’re interested in seeing just how fun and mindblowingly simple learning the piano CAN be, then go ahead and click the button below to sign up for my free intro course. In it, I’ll teach you a tune in just 45 minutes!