What would you do if you were given a piece of music by your teacher that you really don't like playing.

Do you 'grin and bear' it, force yourself to practise anyway (hating every second of it), and hope you get something better next time?

Or do you pick something else that you do like, work on that instead, and explain why to your teacher at the next lesson?

I would grin and bear it as, once you start getting to know it better, you will probably find that you hate it less and less.

What's the piece?

Cluless One,

What a great dilemma.

I struggled through the Scarlatti Sonata in A Minor (from last years' Gr 8 exam list) for several months, without falling in love with it one bit. My teacher insisted it was a good piece to learn, and persisted in making me practice it for 4 months, despite my hints that it was 'not my favourite piece in the world' (bonus points for subtlety anyone?).

In the end, it was clear that my dislike of the piece was having a negative impact on my performance of the damned thing - I think by that stage I was actually played it far worse after 4 months than when I first sight read it.

I often find, strangely enough, that the music I enjoy playing is not the music I enjoy most listening to ...and vice versa. Maybe stick with it for a while and see if it grows on you - if not, speak up!

You do not say which piece of music it is that you dislike so much. Is it a piece from the established piano repertoire, or is it merely a teaching piece designed to address a particular technical point ?
As you are a beginner I strongly recommend that you follow the advice and guidance of your teacher and if the piece is to give you practice in overcoming a technical difficulty then when you have done so it will have no further purpose and you can say 'goodbye' to it.
On the other hand if the music is an 'entertainment' piece having no didactic purpose then you should talk to your teacher explaining your dislike of it and either suggesting something you would like to learn or asking your teacher to suggest something else. A good, understanding teacher will not take offence at that and may well, indeed, welcome your 'feedback'.

As you say I am a beginner (I've only had 2 lessons so far) so I honestly couldn't say whether it was given for addressing technical issues or just as something to do.

The piece I don't like is called something like 'cool calypso' (I don't have the music book in front of me to check at the moment).

I've been forcing myself to practise it and it's not getting any better in terms of my liking the piece (maybe because I know I'm having to 'force' myself to practise it). I've heard it played (by someone else) and I still don't like it.

In fact I like it even less now than when I was given it.

If you really don't like it then just tell your teacher straight, my teacher is often happy to move on from a piece if I say I don't like it (some exceptions!), and will usually play a piece to me and ask me if I like it before we start learning it.

I'd ask what is in the piece that would be worth your while learning, and see if you can stick with it for a bit: I know I've played pieces I've disliked in exams, even fairly advanced ones, about which I've moaned and griped, but from which I've still had some benefit: I dislike avant-garde music, to listen to most definitely, but also really to play it, but did find that doing the slog of learning a few pieces in the genre helped the rest of my playing in unexpected ways.

The important thing though is not to let the piece spoil your enjoyment of your instrument - and if it's doing that, I'd ask your teacher if there is an alternative from which you can learn whatever it is the piece is meant to be helping you with.

Also if you are a beginner and it's your first instrument I'd generally expect that pieces would be learned within a week or two at most so if it's taking longer then maybe it's also a bit beyond you at the moment which won't help. It's easier to tolerate something you are not fond of for a short time.
Apart from that if you really aren't getting on with a piece for any reason it's best to talk with your teacher about it. Even if there's a good reason for using a piece there's usually plenty of other pieces that will do exactly the same job.
Later on you might find that things you initially don't like grow on you but I think that this is a little less likely in the early stages.
So long asking to let a piece go because you don't like it isn't a regular thing I don't think there's a problem with it.

I've been learning this piece for less than a week (I was given it at my lesson on friday). So maybe I should give it a little more time, but right now I just can't stand it. I'm finding learning it ok, but I'm really not enjoying it.

In that case I'd just give it your best shot and you'll probably be leaving it behind anyway.
The trouble is you don't necessarily know how much you like or dislike something until you've tried so having to put up with it for a week it pretty normal.

everyone has music they'd rather not play.

i think theres somthing to like about 98% of all music though even if its just a section or a couple of phrases. i focus on those for motivation. however if the piece is in the small part of repertoire that is just rubbish through and through (and there are some) i just put it to one side- there are plenty nicer pieces you can learn that will more or less develop the same things im certain.

Just a thought.
What don't you like about it?
Sometimes pieces in the early stages can be a little less than inspiring due to the necessary simplicity.... especially for a teenage or adult learner.

I trust my teacher.

She knows very well that I don't care much for Ravel's musiuc nor do I have any deep feeling for Schumann, and that while I like Bach's music and appreciate his genius, I'd still rather spend my time on the works of Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Grieg, Skryabin, Prokofiev, or any of half a dozen other composers.

But I need to learn things that are best learned from Bach, Ravel, and Schumann - so I work at what she gives me anyway.

Hi there

I have been through more or less the same situation as you for every exam, we are prone to get songs that we don't like but do try to 'get into the mood' and play it as often as you can. As others have say, the more you play it, you'll tend to hate it a little less. If possible, try to listen to other versions of people playing the same songs on youtube or to the CD, it might inspire you to play better and develope your own style

I hate Grade 3 C2 Quajira..... thankfully at 2:42 today i will be playing it for the last time. Unless i play it incredibly badly of course.

I've occasionally been given something that I didn't like at first. I never used to like Demnitz studies (clarinet) but my teacher loves them and I've come round to agreeing that they can actually be quite musical. A couple of weeks ago she gave me another study to have a look at. At first it just seemed like a jumble of notes, but I'm now beginning to see that it's not as bad as I first thought.

If I was having to work on something I didn't like for months on end, then I think I'd be quite dispirited. But for a few weeks I don't mind too much if I can see that I'm learning something from it. Although as someone else has pointed out, there's always more than one way to skin a cat ( where *does* that saying come from, sorry cat lovers...) and there must be other pieces that enable a student to learn the same lesson. For just a week or two though, I wouldn't think it's worth bothering about.

I've also discovered that a piece which has instant appeal is often the one that I've most quickly tired of practising. Again though, if it's only for a week or two, it's not really important.


PS. Good luck in your exam HC!

I've gone through my 'dreaded' piece a few more times (like it even less now than when I started).

*sighs*

I think I'm just going to have to accept that I'm not going to like it. But, fortunately, I should see the back of it after tomorrow.

However, if my teacher tries to get me to continue with it for another week I think I may find myself on the floor, on my knees, begging for mercy. (just kidding...I think...)



PS: I hope your exam went well hello_cello

Thanks both of you
It did go well, and I had the nicest examiner! He was sooo nice, and he said when I sat down, that i could try the piano out for a minute or two if i wanted to... never had that before! I wasn't at all nervous as he said Hello, asked me how i was etc.

Good! How do you feel it went, HC?

very well surprisingly, one of the peices (Quajira) hadnt been doing to well, but there were no problems with it, the only problems were with two of the scales, i played Bb major, but accidently put in an Ab on the first 8ve, but then realised... and had to restart a chromatic. Other than that, the only mistake with the peces that i can think of was playing a chord at the wrong point in L'elephant.

Well, it's over. The dreaded piece is gone.

I still have no idea what it was about it that I didn't like (it may even be that I come across it again later and decide it's grown on me...though I doubt it ). But, for now at least, I don't have to play it any more.


I did try to work out precisely why I didn't like it.

I listened to a lot of different pieces to try to find out what I do/don't like. Some searches on youtube threw up a few random links to pieces I really enjoyed, that I'd never have thought to listen to in a million years (yay randomness ).

So while I'm still no closer to working out what it is about this particular piece of music that I don't like, I now have a whole list of pieces that I do like (and may never have found out about otherwise). So I guess some good came out of it after all.

I've decided to keep the list I made as well.

There are a few pieces on it that I'd like to learn to play someday (a mixture of easy and 'not so easy' pieces). Some of them I might be able to play sometime soon, others...well...it will be quite a while before I can even look at the music without getting dizzy. (a girl can dream ) and it will give me something to aim for.


PS: Glad your exam went well hello_cello

Glad you're exam went well HC. I quite like Quajira and have just started learning it. I can play the RH OK and the LH OK but it all goes completely to pot when I try and put the 2 hands together

Waiting for my eureka moment...................

Lois

If I didn't like a piece I'd tell my teacher and we'd find another one that I did like. This doesn't often happen though as I get quite a lot of choice in what I play, normally she'll give me a few options and I pick the one I like best.

has your teacher explained the significance of learning the piece and what you're expected to get from it?