I got this Instagram DM from a future superstar:

“I’m not moving my body freely when I play piano, because I’d rather play well first. I’ve always struggled with hand positioning, you brought up a weird way I put my hand that I hadn’t noticed, accepted and now try not to.”

That’s not good enough.

Remember what Yoda said: “Do or do not. There is no try.”

So, let’s make this practical. Otherwise, it’s just philosophy, and that won’t make you any better at piano.

Yoda tells you to “do”. Do what? What, Yoda? Specifically, what do I do?

And he’ll reply: “Make a video where you focus on theatrical spice instead of playing well.”

Don’t “try” to make a video. Make a video. Don’t “try” to focus on theatrical spice. Focus on theatrical spice.

Do it. Don’t try.

So, here’s my offer: if you do it, send it to me and I’ll give you some comments.

I won’t “try” to give you comments. I’ll give you comments.

—Michael

P.S. Stop trying to play well. If you want to learn piano as an adult, moving your body freely has to be more important than playing well. There’s a reason kids learn faster: they move their bodies freely, by default. But, as adults, we’ve been taught to disconnect from our bodies (I don’t mean you were taught that by a piano teacher, but by society, your friends, your parents, everything). So, you have to fight against that programming, or you’re screwed. Fuhgeddaboudit.

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