How Learning to Create My Own Music Changed My Life Forever

Last Updated on May 31, 2022 by Rebecca

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My Piano Journey

Confession: I didn't always love piano as much as I do now!

What changed?

I learned to create my own music!

Keep reading to learn all about my piano journey: how I got started, how I got lost, and how I found my way back.

And as a special bonus, I've even included a video of my first ever piano composition!

The Beginning

During my childhood years, I had a love/hate relationship with piano.

I loved being able to play complex classical pieces. I loved performing in my local music festival every year and competing against my fellow local pianists. And I won't lie, I also loved winning and bringing home trophies!

But I didn't love practicing piano. I didn't love all the work that went into it.

For a few years in my teens, I actually begged my mom to let me quit. (And I'm thankful every day that she made me stick with it!)

My mom told me from day one that I could quit as soon as I earned the minimum certification to teach piano, and not a day sooner.

So that's exactly what I did.

I earned my Grade 8 Practical Piano and Theory certificates from the Royal Conservatory of Music, then I quit piano and never really came back to it until after I'd finished university.

(If you're wondering, no, I had no interest in studying music in university… I thought that was crazy and way too much work! Although I did take one university course about the fundamentals of harmony. And now I think pursuing a university education in music would be fascinating.)

Looking back, I can tell you that my less than excited attitude about music was the result of how I had been learning piano. (Hint: I had been learning without creativity!)

The Turning Point

In my mid 20s, I took adult piano lessons with a highly qualified piano instructor (ARCT with RCM, if that means anything to you). He taught me incredible practice techniques that I had never learned before… techniques I still use to this day when learning new pieces.

But more importantly, he helped me discover my passion for creating music.

After one of our lessons, he sent me home with a series of 3 or 4 key signatures and told me to come back the next week with a song that used all of them. I excitedly went home and played around with those scales and chords incessantly.

The next week, after I played my song for him, he just kinda looked at me for a few beats. It actually made me kinda nervous. And then he said, “Well, Rebecca, I think we've found your thing.”

And he was right. I had found my thing.

The thing that had been missing from my music education all these years.

The thing that really lit my piano fire and made me feel passionate about music again.

Another Detour

Sadly, my music journey took another detour when I had to quit lessons and put my piano in storage because I was relocating for work. Honestly, I think those piano lessons are the thing I missed most after my move.

The A-HA Moment

A year later, I walked the Camino de Santiago and came across some public pianos in France and Spain. This is when I took what I had learned about music composition and made the leap into improvisation.

I wanted to play those public pianos!

But I hadn't touched a piano in over a year, so I couldn't remember how to play any songs or pieces… so I just made stuff up.

And the people around me loved it!

On one occasion, I was playing a piano in an airport terminal in Paris, and people started moving closer to sit and listen to me play! The piano even had a little kiosk beside it where passersby could click a smiley face or frowny face button… and out of the corner of my eye, I saw people pressing the smiley-face button!

Each click of the button was such a rush!

And that's when I realized that while I thought I was “just making stuff up,” strangers thought I was playing beautiful music!

It was an incredibly freeing experience.

That was the turning point in my life that changed me forever. For the first time, I understood that it was possible to play music without having to learn songs.

And that realization absolutely set me free!

But it's not like I learned to create my own music and then turned my back on learning other music. Now that I create my own music, I actually enjoy learning other music more than I ever did before!

How My Musical Life Has Changed (for the Better!) Since I Learned to Create My Own Music

So how exactly did my life change after my musical A-HA moment? Here are all the things I do now that I didn't do before:

• Create my own compositions
• Improvise freely, for enjoyment, relaxation, and self-expression
• Learn classical pieces because I enjoy the challenge
• Learn contemporary piano pieces because they sound cool and are fun to play
  (Check out the PianoBookClub by Andrea and Trevor Dow, or their Sessions books on Amazon. I use their teen music with my students, but honestly, I love learning the songs myself! They're easy for me, but so beautiful and fun to play!)
• Analyze and recognize the building blocks of music in the pieces I learn
• Listen to classical music and truly enjoy it
• Listen to contemporary piano music and piano covers of popular songs
• Create my own arrangements of popular songs
• Practice scales, etc., with an understanding and appreciation for how they are “real music,” not just drills
• Relentlessly scour the internet for resources to help me improve my improvisation and composition skills
• Teach piano to others

And the scary thing is, none of these doors would have opened for me if I hadn't experienced a serious injection of creativity in my music education.

Which is why I'm so passionate about music creation. Many of the difficulties people (especially adult learners) experience with traditional piano lessons can be overcome if you approach learning through creating.

But what if you want to learn to read music?

Now, you might be thinking, “But wait, Rebecca! I want to learn to read music! I want to learn to play other people's music! I want to learn familiar songs that I love and that my friends/family will recognize!”

If that sounds like you, there are a few things I want to say.

First, I agree with you! You should definitely learn to read music and play songs and pieces composed by others. Reading sheet music is an incredibly valuable skill that opens so many doors for you.

Second, many of the skills you need to master in order to play well from sheet music (like keyboard awareness, technique, dynamics, rhythm, etc.) are skills you can learn through creating your own music. So why not make things easier for yourself by developing these skills before you add note reading onto your plate?

But most importantly, you should take into consideration the concept of synergy. Dr. Steven Covey discusses synergy in his well-known book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

What is synergy? Simply defined, it means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It means that the relationship which the parts have to each other is a part in and of itself. It is not only a part, but the most catalytic, the most empowering, the most unifying, and the most exciting part.

– Dr. Steven Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Sure, learning to create music and learning to read music are 2 separate skills that could be learned independently of each other.

But if you learn both skills, the relationship between the 2 skills multiplies the ability you develop in either skill.

To put it simply, learning to create your own music will enable you to play other people's music better, and vice versa.

Conclusion

Learning to create my own music saved me from a lifetime of unfulfilled piano dreams. And it drastically improved my overall piano skills.

Maybe, it can do the same for you! 🙂

Share Your Thoughts

What are your thoughts about creating music? Have you ever tried it? Have you ever wanted to? Can you relate to any of the experiences I've described in this post? Share your story in the comments!

(And remember, if you know someone who would enjoy this post, share it with them!)