DOES PIANO PRACTICE MAKE PERFECT?

Yes, it does, really!

The more piano practice you do, the better you become. However, there are ways that you can make your piano practice sessions more effective. On this page, I am going to talk about some of the things you can do to get most out of your piano practice.

This is one of the most crucial things and also it is one of the hardest things for learners. We are all busy and juggling time can be a bit of a struggle for lots of learners young and older. Practise little and often is ideal and is much better than a big chunk of practice once a week.

For beginners, 10-15 minute piano practice 5 days a week will be sufficient.

As your level gets higher and your pieces become longer and more difficult, your practice time will become longer accordingly; e.g. 20-30 minutes 4-5 days a week for Grade 1-3 level students, at least 30 minutes 4-5 days a week for Grade 4-5 level students, and so on. If you are thinking of starting piano lessons, please consider whether you would be able to practise regularly and consistently.

It is most ideal if you can practise at the specified time every day and make it your routine; before/after school/work/dinner, etc. If you are not able to concentrate for 30 minutes of practice, then have 2 or 3 shorter practice sessions for 10 or 15 minutes each time.

If you are not good at following routines, then you could employ the “whenever” method. We all probably have a bit of time to kill throughout the day here and there; waiting for dinner to be served, waiting for your favourite programme to start, waiting for your school bus to arrive, etc. If you made those 5 minutes useful by playing your pieces on the piano every time you had to wait for something, then you would have done your share of practice by the end of the day.

Here are some tips…

1. Put your piano/keyboard in a quiet environment – your practice room needs to be quiet and should be free of any distractions, as you want to just concentrate on your music during your practice session.
2. Warm up is important – playing the piano is like playing a sport, and needs a little warm-up. Stretching exercises on your arms, shoulders and upper body will help prevent an undesired injury such as an RSI (a repetitive strain injury). Also, warming up your hands by soaking them in warm water for 5-10 minutes beforehand will help your fingers move smoothly. Once you sit at the piano, play some scales/arpeggios or an etude such as Hanon or Czerny before you play your pieces.
3. Play a little bit at a time – do not be intimidated by pieces that seem to last forever! Just learn little by little, e.g. 4 or 8 bars hands separately for a start.
4. “Analyse” your piece and find repeats – almost all pieces have sections that are identical to each other in them, so you may only have to learn 1/2 or 3/4 of your piece.
5. Identify “hard bits” and focus on them – it is most enjoyable when you can play your whole piece fluently but there will almost always be “hard bits” that will come in your way. Find those bits and play them really slowly (hands separately and together) at least 5 times before you play the whole piece each time you practise. You can save time and you will notice that you have become better at playing your hard bits after a week of practice in this way.
6. Pay attention to details – even if you practised 3 hours a day every day, if you always played without thinking how you were playing, then the whole hours could be wasted. There is lots of information in piano pieces; notes, rests, dynamics, articulation, fingering numbers, tempo markings, etc. When you are playing a piece, pay attention to every detail, not just to the notes and rhythm, but things that make music truly interesting such as dynamics and articulation. In order to do this, you will need to play your piece slowly initially so that you can be alert enough to take in and remember all the info that is in your music.
7. Always listen to your teacher and take on his/her advice! – piano teachers normally write tips and notes in your notebook and the reason why they do this is because they want their students to practise well at home as they cannot be there to help them. Make use of your notebook and read it every time you practise, so that you can be aware of what needs to be done and focused on during your piano practice session.
8. Finally….have fun and enjoy your music! If you get tired of playing the same piece, take a rest from that piece and play something else that you enjoy playing. Also, it is a good idea to finish each of your piano practice session with your favourite piece. The most important thing is that you have fun making music on the piano!