Getting beyond rote practice

A girl plays the piano during a performance. [Photo/CFP]

When I was 6 years old, I learned to play the nursery rhyme Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star that Mozart wrote when he was 5.

But the intensive piano lessons throughout my childhood did not make me a fan of Mozart, or any other musical genius.

Playing the piano was the last thing I wanted to do when I was a kid. But at that time, most children in my neighborhood were taking piano lessons. And I was one of those who went with the flow.

I thought I loved playing the piano in the beginning. But, as I learned more, I was told to pass piano exams.

It was a laborious process, especially before the exams, when I would seat myself at the piano for at least two hours a day, playing endless repetitions of the required pieces. It was painful. At times I even hated the lengthy, boring music.

Music theory was even less fun. Understanding chord patterns and scales was a mathematical and theoretical process.

I can still remember the nerve-racking experience each time I had an exam. My piano teacher treated me like a precision instrument that was not allowed any errors.