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How do you suppose you come up with an accurate performance of the piece if you "can't" count? I would argue that if your performance sounds even at all rhythmic that you can count, you just can't consciously focus on it. When you listen to a performance of a piece that you like and then proceed to learn and eventually reproduce a somewhat-similar performance, you're employing your sense of the rhythm into learning/playing the piece. Because of your metronome use, you can likely feel, or at least orally count or physically tap your foot to keep a beat (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4...), but you may not be able to purely mentally consciously focus on it at the same time as what notes your playing. I've heard this takes years to become proficient at

Have you talked to your teacher about your feelings? This will help tremendously because then they will know how to better teach you. Communication is essential between student and teacher. S/he wants you to succeed but can't read minds in order to give you everything you need. You need to meet them part way.

As for the reason for counting out loud, yes it is hard and makes you play slowly, but believe it or not, it actually does help: 1) it makes you realize when you've played an incorrect rhythm, so every time you "mess up" the counting and have to redo that measure, you are actually self-correcting, and 2) it forces you to play a bit slower.

I'd like to also add that counting MUST be done when you are first learning a piece. If you try to play the notes first and add counting later, it will not work because you will have gotten in your ears the incorrect rhythm and will make your counting match that instead of your playing matching the counting. Likewise, after you've learned how a piece sounds you can stop the counting and only use it in spots that are still rhythmically troublesome. There is a point after which counting out loud is no longer helpful.


This is the result of unrealistic expectations of yourself. It also shows you are a very caring person because you want to please your audience, but this is to your own detriment. When you are talking to a friend about how your day went, or a special event in your life, do you worry about proper grammar and enunciation? No, you simply want to share with your friend. You need to approach playing for anyone (including your teacher) in this same way. You are sharing this piece with them, you are sharing the progress you've made on this piece, or even, you are sharing the difficulty you are having with this piece. Your teacher is your partner on this journey, not someone to impress each week. Stop trying to impress and be humble. Know and accept that you are a beginner (it takes several years to learn to play piano even at a passable intermediate level) and that you have lots to learn. This will go a long way to making lessons more productive.



It is both. First of all, sightreading and reading through music you are learning are two different things. Sight reading in music refers only to the first 2-3 times you are playing a piece, where you are concerned only with playing through the piece as best you can, adding as many details as you are able to. Reading a piece you are learning and plan to invest weeks or even months in will go much differently.

So for sight reading, yes, you keep going no matter what, and you try to pick a tempo in which you can best accomplish this. In reading a piece you are learning, it is best to go very slowly, slow enough where you can process all the rhythms and notes correctly. Generally, the level of piece you can sight read will always be lower than the level of piece you can learn over time.



I don't really think this is a fair statement. I understand you are frustrated, but to say you've paid attention to everything constantly and consistently to me says that you are determined to give up, and not really a fair assessment of the situation. I think it's better to say, "I dont' know what to do" than to assume you've tried it all and there's nothing more you can do. I know how you feel and I'm sympathetic to your situation, but the way we speak to ourselves is extremely important, and you are telling yourself how to fail. You've not gone through this process before, so how do you know what the outcome will be? How do you know how many steps it will take? Simply put, you don't. Believe it or not, this is a pride issue. It is far easier to accept that you've done everything and it didn't work, because then the blame is on the process and not you for it not working. Whereas if you accept that there is probably something you're missing, you realize that you just haven't found the solution yet and the journey continues.

But really, the latter isn't so bad, is it? I'm sure there are pieces you can play well, even if they are simple. Why not remind yourself of your successes, and enjoy the process of learning more about problem-solving and how to play more difficult things? There is beautiful music at all levels to be enjoyed.

Or maybe I'm learning rhythm without actually realizing it.

You can listen to the groove, see the notation for it, and tap it out

In 3 pages this is the first suggestion to tap it out. This is how I figure out difficult rhythms. The left hand taps the beat, the right hand taps out the notated rhythm. Once you know what the rhythm is supposed to be playing it is only a matter of getting the notes right.