Getting beyond rote practice

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.