I’ve learned the hard way that practicing music requires much more than simply playing notes on a page. I can remember being in sixth grade and absolutely hating piano practice. Even when I was motivated enough to sit down and play, I often ended up just plunking through a few tunes or maybe half-heartedly playing some assigned exercises and then giving up on the whole ordeal after 15 minutes. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence for both young students and adults. I’ve even heard professional musicians complain of a lack of guidance and structure in their daily practice habits.
As a teacher, I’m always looking for ways to encourage my students to practice more, yet I often neglect to analyze the quality of their practice. Do they understand what it means to practice an assignment thoroughly? Have they been taught the time management and analytical skills necessary to learn music effectively and execute it with proper technique? I have to admit the answer to these questions is often no. The available time during a lesson is often so scarce that I barely have enough time to get their assignments written down, much less walk through proper practice techniques with them.
Now let’s look on the bright side. The beginning of a new year is an excellent time to start developing better practice habits. Not only do most students have more free time because of the holidays, there’s also a greater incentive to stick to new routines and goals. I spent the past year incorporating several new organizational and analytical tools into my practice routine and I can honestly say both my performance and motivation have improved dramatically since then. Adopting these techniques has helped me not only practice more than 500 hours in 2021, but also to more efficiently use my time at the piano (i.e. no more mindless plunking). I’m not trying to brag here; this is a demonstration that consistent and structured practice can and will make you a better pianist.
Without further ado, these are the five things that helped me the most in developing effective practice habits over the course of a year:
1. Set Specific and Reasonable Goals
“Become the world’s greatest pianist” is not a specific or reasonable goal. It’s best to start with a baseline of what you think you can reasonably accomplish in the short term. Can you consistently practice five hours a week? Can you play through a technical exercise at least once per day? Once you establish a reasonable short-term goal, extend it to a long-term goal. “Practice at least 20 hours per month for 12 months,” “Learn twelve full-length songs by the end of the year,” and “be able to play through the first 20 Hanon exercises without pauses” are all specific and (I would say) reasonable goals. It’s important that you take time to think through your goals and ensure they are both attainable and challenging for you. Think about where you want to be in your musical journey one year from now.
2. Track Your Practice Time
This one may seem obvious at first, but there are more benefits involved than you might think. Tracking your practice time gives you a metric for monitoring your practice throughout the year and keeps you accountable for reaching the goals discussed previously. You also get a huge motivation boost from looking back on all the hours of practice you’ve accumulated throughout the year. You can either keep a detailed log of how much time you spend on each piece or exercise, or you can simply track how many minutes or hours you spent at the piano. I’ve posted a free practice log on my website if you’re interested. I personally like to track my time in increments of 30 minutes so it’s easier to add everything up from month to month.
3. Don’t Play Start to Finish Every Time
This one trips me up a lot. I’m hardwired to play pieces from beginning to end, but there are some very good reasons to practice piece-wise instead. Longer pieces, such as Beethoven sonatas, are very difficult to learn if you only play them in their entirety. Even single movements can be comprised of 2000 or more notes, which can be an overload for the brain if practiced in a single sitting. Start by finding common themes or patterns and work on them in isolation from the rest of the piece. If the piece you’re working on is particularly hairy, commit to practicing just the first page until you have it under your fingers. Proceed to add a page a day until you can play them all individually, then work on combining them. If there are specific passages or “cadenzas” that are especially difficult, work on creating customized exercises that incorporate the patterns in a way that’s easier to grasp. Don’t be afraid to break things apart into smaller chunks. You’ll experience less frustration and learn the music faster.
4. Don’t Play at Full Speed
This one is counterintuitive to many, but every music teacher I’ve known reveres this as a golden rule. Playing at full tempo should be one of the last steps in learning a new piece. If you find yourself playing easy passages quickly and difficult passages slowly, you’re not alone. Almost every student I’ve had has done this at one point or another. Your brain automatically defaults to playing at maximum speed in whatever passage you’re in. The problem is that transitions between the fast and slow parts end up sounding jagged and unpolished. Playing too quickly too soon will also lead to a lot of unnoticed mistakes that would otherwise be easily corrected or even nonexistent. Remember that the ultimate goal of practice is to develop accuracy and consistency in your playing, so slow down until you can maintain the flow of the piece. As a general rule, you should be able to play 90% of a piece before you focus on bringing it up to tempo.
5. Modify Your Playing to Create Your Own Performance
One of the best ways to learn a piece faster is to make it your own in some way. While the written score is still king, there’s plenty of room for modifying your unique approach to the music. This is where your practice sessions can really get creative! Try inserting some staccato in a part of the music that sounds too flat, or add legato in a section that sounds too disjointed. Experiment with dynamics and even rhythm (as long as you don’t veer too far off course). I’ve found this to be especially effective with drills and exercises that are tedious or repetitive. The more you engage your creativity while you practice, the more effective and enjoyable your learning will be.
An honorary mention in this list is to TAKE BREAKS! Practicing effectively can actually be mentally exhausting, even if you’re enjoying it. Be sure to schedule time for breaks if you’re doing long practice sessions. You can follow the Pomodoro technique, where you practice for 25-minute segments followed by 5-minute breaks, or you can simply break your practice into a morning session and an evening session. Taking breaks will allow your brain to process all of the information you’re taking in and give you a fresh start when you come back.
If you have any other suggestions for taking a new approach to your practice this year, feel free to share in the comments!