Paul:

Yes, I would support that and agree that it is advice given elsewhere in this forum. However, this is a topic I believe to be worth exploring. Some people are not affected at all by this issue, and others can be completely derailed by it, while most will probably fall somewhere in between.

It is not at all uncommon to see this sort of thing among undergrad students in college. Many people (including myself) graduated from their undergrad program with quite a few more credits than would be needed for one, focused major. The reason is most often that the student changed his or her major at some point (sometimes more than once). There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is really a normal part of the exploration that is inherent in the undergrad stage of education. I believe the same to be true for our musical avocation too.

Providing a one-line description of this subject is fine, but most people that I have encountered involving this issue would more readily identify the issue for what it is by having a context for understanding the real import of that one lne description.

Initially, I just wanted to raise the point within the context of a person needing another person to help with a motivation issue as something to think about. It was not my intention to need to post nearly as much as I have on this. Hopefully, though, somebody reading all this will have gotten some useful information. There are many lurkers as well as active participants elsewhere in the forums who may read this thread without feeling the need to post. It is a sad thing to see anybody eventually give up on music because they did not get whatever they really needed at some stage of their journey. This whole discussion is but one piece of what some people may need.

Tony

David Sudnow, by the way, was a fervent fan of classical music, loved Glenn Gould, and even played some classical music. He just regarded "song-playing" as more easily accessible to most people and build his Method around a narrow desire to, as he often said, "Teach adults to play songs" as a subset of "playing the piano."

Interesting that Sudnow particularly liked Glenn gould - the master at interpreting Bach.

Regarding people not wanting to put in the time, that has certainly been my observation teaching guitar over the years. But I did not always see that as a negative (not that imply goodness or badness in your comment either way). In many cases, once a person realized what was involved in playing to a reasonable level that one could enjoy, they would decide that it wasn't the priority in their lives that they originally thought. Considering that many of these people were adults who were very good at other things and productive members of society, I thought such an assessment on their part was fair enough. The only problem i had with this was with those people who somehow expected me as teacher to "wave a magic wand" and make them good players. Fortunately, such people were in the minority.

I came to the piano originally to learn that which I could not find reasonable teaching for on the guitar, hoping to bring that back to the guitar. The sudnow method seemed a reasonable way to do this. Though I learned a lot about how to frame the problem, as well as about how to teach myself more effectively, I have always gone back to the guitar with whatever I learn. The guitar is, and has always been, my first instrument.

Many people seem to think of the guitar as something to just bang out chords on to accompany somebody singing, or as that obnoxious instrument that is all distorted and slamming - the stereotypical image of the rock "guitar god". But there is a much longer tradition of the instrument than these that has produced some wonderful instrumental music. Due to the nature of the fretboard, getting to the point where one can "see" it as clearly as one can the piano keyboard the way Sudnow teaches, is difficult at best. I can do it, but it took a lot of years of - yes - EFFORT on my part.

For me, the piano is the instrument I go back to when I need a change of pace. It is not at all uncommon for accomplished jazz musicians of any other instrument, for example, to also play piano. I have a CD from Stephane Grapelli, the jazz violinist, called "My Other Love". It is a CD of him playing standards as solo piano instrumentals. He does a fine job with it. I can sit down at the piano and work out tunes a la Sudnow, and will continue to do so - but not as my main focus. Instead, I do it on the guitar daily, and will continue working at improving this skill as long as I live. The piano has added to my musical experience without having to be my only musical experience.

I sympathize with those who give up all too soon with learning ANY instrument, because they are walking away from a very rewarding experience that is not dependent on good weather and does not have to cost mre money every time the person wants to engage in it (after the initial investment in an instrument and learning materials is made) except by conscious choice (i.e. to take ongoing lessons or whatever). Music is something we can enjoy long into retirement when our bodies would no longer be able to withstand most other physical activities such as serious dancing, tennis, etc. In Minnesota where I live, golfers (for example) have a VERY short season, and an avocation such as playing a musical instrument is something one can do year around.

Whatever a person can do to stay motivated is a good thing, but to choose the right thing takes personal insight and honesty as to what the real problem might be. To have the courage to look unflinchingly into such issues and resolve them, will pay off tremendously over one's life with very enjoyable music-making.

Just some closing thoughts...

Tony