Practice Tips

Everyone who starts to take piano lessons is anxious to learn to play well. Maybe there is a certain song or style of music that you enjoy and would like to learn to play, or maybe you are just looking forward to the day when you can sit at the piano and just play for pleasure. You will greatly speed your learning and enhance the accuracy of your playing if you follow these practice tips.

We have all heard the saying, “Practice makes Perfect.” Unfortunately that is only true if we are practicing perfectly. If we are careless in our practice habits, we will only succeed in making our mistakes permanent.

Playing a piece from beginning to end is NOT practicing. If you make a mistake at the beginning of the piece and don’t stop to work it out, you will probably make the same mistake the next time you play the piece, (and the next, and the next) making it a permanent mistake that will be almost impossible to correct. Before practicing a new piece, check the time signature and think about the rhythm. If the rhythm is tricky, clap each phrase before trying to play it. Check the key signature and be aware of which notes are to be sharped or flatted. Practice no more than four measures at a time, playing very slowly and carefully. If the piece is very difficult, practice hands separately first. Try to get all the notes and the rhythm correct the first time you play. Make sure you can play the first four measures accurately three times in a row before working on the next four measures. After learning each four measure section, always go back one section and play that eight measure section before going on. (Ex: after learning section B, go back and play sections A and B; after learning section C, go back and play sections B and C. Do NOT always go back to the beginning.)

This method may seem tedious, but TRUST ME. You will learn your pieces more quickly and much more accurately if you practice this way.