fbpx

Successful Piano Practice

Keep calm and practice piano

What’s the key to successful piano practice? With so many distractions, it may be difficult to squeeze in piano practice along with everything else that needs to get done. I often hear questions from parents (and students!) along the lines of “How much time should be spent practising?”

Aside from professionals, not alot of people have the luxury of devoting several hours a day to the art of perfecting a piano piece. Nor should the average piano student be required to do so! Maybe a good question to ask yourself is, “How can I spend my practice time most efficiently in order to have successful piano practice time?”

I know there are alot of teachers that give guidelines for necessary practice time for their students.  Some piano teachers suggest that practice time be equivalent to the lesson time.  So if you have a 30-minute lesson, you need to put in 30-minute sessions.  It is a good start and a good guideline, but not necessarily the best answer for what works.  My best guideline for practice time is to be goal-oriented.  Set do-able tasks as goals and spend as much time as you need to accomplish those goals with concentration and focus.

So that being said, here are a few tips on how to have successful piano practice.

1. TREAT IT LIKE WORK.

Get your space organized. Have all your materials in one space. Bring a notebook to every lesson so your teacher can write instructions in there for you. Bring a pencil with you, so that you can put notes in your music to remind you what you need to focus on. Plan your practice time–what do you hope to accomplish each day? Keep a practice log of what you practiced and for how long. It’s fun to look back when you’ve finished a piece to see how far you’ve come and what it took to get there.

2. HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES!

Set some goals. Part of setting goals is setting a deadline for when you want something to be achieved. From there, you can work backwards and plan your practice sessions. If you want to memorize a piece in a month, what do you have to do to get there?

3. TREAT IT LIKE MEDITATION.

You need to be focused, mindful and practice with full concentration. Concentrated practice is always more valuable than unfocused playing. Don’t practise for too long!! It helps to have set goals of what you want to get done–then practise as long as you need to get it done. If your mind is wandering, go do something else.

4. PRACTICE SLOWER.

You are training your fingers, your mind, your ears, your eyes and your body and you are trying to get all these to work together harmoniously! Working slowly and carefully will ultimately help you in your memory efforts and in your accuracy.

5. DON’T PRACTICE YOUR MISTAKES.

It is best to correct mistakes as soon as possible. (Look at Rule #4!) If you continue to play through the whole piece, ignoring the mistake, it is likely that you will repeat that mistake when you go back. I like to correct mistakes as soon as possible by playing the correct passage several times–to mentally “erase” the mistake that you made. Start as close as possible to the actual mistake.

CAVEAT: In certain cases, for example if you are sight-reading, or playing in an ensemble, you can’t take the time to go back and correct. Make a mental note of where the problem was, and correct it in individual practice. Recovering from mistakes is another skill that needs to be learned, and that is separate from this rule.

6. GO ON A MUSIC “DIET”!

Practice small, easily digested passages. Perfect a passage and add slowly to it with time. In the long run, this is more beneficial than running through an entire song badly.

7. HAVE A ROUTINE.

Find a time that works for you and stick to it! Try to find a time where you are well rested and able to enjoy and concentrate fully! Having a regular routine allows you to establish good practice habits.

8. FRIENDS, ROMANS, COUNTRYMEN–LEND ME YOUR EARS!!

(In other words, improve your listening skills!) The best way to improve your playing is to record it. Listen for things that your teacher has pointed out to you. Be your own critic. Listening isn’t limited to your own playing either. Go out and see concerts, go and hear professionals in your field. Watch Youtube videos of other artists.

9. READ. READ. READ.

Absorb as much sheet music as you can. Music is made up of musical patterns. The more you play, the more you will start to recognize these patterns. Do your weekly assignment, then play through some of your old songs, and take a look at new ones. It’s fun to see how far you’ve come and see how you can apply what you’ve learned to new songs.

10. PULL UP THE COUCH!

It’s time for analysis! I’m talking about studying and analyzing your music, sometimes before you even play it. Look at the overall form, look for themes, look for motifs and patterns. Analyze the chord structure. Get to know the piece in depth. The more you engage yourself–analyzing the music, seeing how your fingers play on the keys, thinking about the note names, looking at patterns, hearing how it sounds–the easier you will find it to memorize later.

If you’re a parent, you might like this article “How to get my kid to practice … and like it“.

Return to the top of Successful Piano Practice.

Return to home page of the-piano-studio.com.