The Best Piano Practice Strategies
So what is Mindful practice? And what makes it different from any other practice?
Students often sit down and play through a song a few times and think they have done their due diligence in practice. Yet their music sounds very little improved from the first time they sight-read it, making it seem like they have to practice hours to learn even simple songs. Why?
The answer lies in how they practiced.
There are ways to practice our instrument that help us, and there are ways to practice that hurt us, creating unnecessary extra work for ourselves.
Sitting down at the piano and playing through a song will only make a dent in maybe the first few bars of a piece. After that, students will see little success or progress in the rest of the music for a long time - unless they practice mindfully.
So here’s how to do just that:
Step 1
Eliminate all distractions.
Scientists did a study on different groups of violinists. They have found the difference between one group of violinists that excelled better wasn’t just that they practiced significantly more hours than their counterparts. They got “deeper” practice without distractions!
Think about when we sleep. If we get interrupted before we hit REM sleep, we have to start all over through all the cycles again before we can get back to REM.
When we are awake, it’s similar. Every time our concentration is interrupted, we have to start over again to get back to that deep train of focus.
So get rid of any distractions so you can get lost in the music.
Set your phone on do not disturb and face it down so you won’t see any notifications. Or put it in another room until you finish practicing.
Step 2
Begin With the Sections You Don’t Know.
Once we sit down to practice and hit our stride, our best practice comes, and our most significant progress begins.
Always start with the tough parts of the song first.
It’s tempting to want to play the part we already know and sounds good, but if we practice those measures first, they will only get stronger and faster while the slow, weak-sounding sections stay slow and barely get easier.
Never practice more than a couple of bars at a time.
Just like when you work out, there’s a time for sports and full-body exercises, and a time to work on technique and individual muscle groups.
Playing larger sections and the whole song will come later.
Step 3
Only Play as Fast as You Can Play the Troublesome Sections of Your Song
Never play any faster than you can play the complicated parts of a song.
When we play certain sections faster than others, we practice tempo changes, stopping, and unsteady rhythms.
Most importantly, when we practice incorrectly, it takes even more work to correct it. Who wants to work more unnecessarily?
And lastly,
Step 4
Listen to Yourself
How does it sound? How can you improve? Is there a transition you need to start with each time you sit down to practice? Is it monotone? Do you need to add a more rich dynamic range?
My article on recording yourself covers a lot of practical tips to apply to this topic and will help any beginner student grow exponentially.
For even more great piano practice tips check some of my other blog posts:
