Does Practice Make Perfect?
Happy New Year Everyone! Can you believe 2023 is already here? This week’s blog topic is relevant every single year. What is the topic you ask? Practice. Many of my new piano parents ask how long should my child be practicing? And does practice actually make perfect?
As the teacher it’s not the quantity i.e. 30 minutes a day, but the quality of the practice I care about. What is quality practice you ask? Here are some examples.
Beginner students should be able to answer simple questions about their music.
What is the time signature
What are the dynamics?
Can I clap the rhythm of the entire piece?
My advice is pick one topic and focus on that during your practice session. Complete the music theory activities included in the book to reinforce those concepts. One of the biggest things I try to drill into my students. Another wonderful thing that my students can do that counts as practicing is play the games! Some of the method books have games incorporated into the topic we are currently discussing, and this is a perfect way to practice without feeling like it.
Intermediate Students
At this stage I find the direction of practice to be a little more straight forward. There are so many added elements to the music the students are learning. Continue asking yourself the same questions you did as a beginner and digger deeper into those concepts.
Concentrate on the articulation. (Legato and Staccato)Playing this well really sets the style of the music
Think about the dynamics. Shape the music with crescendos and diminuendos
Spend time working on your technique. Scales are the building blocks of music and playing them will help not only your technique but also enhance your theory knowledge
Advanced Students
When most people imagine advanced students practicing I believe they’d imagine someone slaving away at the piano for hours on end. While as an advanced student I did practice at the piano a few hours a day (never multiple hours at one time), there were important things I did away from the piano.
I listened to different artists performing my music. It is a good idea to listen to different interpretations of the music and a feel for the style. You can just listen freely or keep the score open and follow along.
Analyze the score. Take time to look at the structure of the piece. Is it Sonata Allegro, Ternary, Minuet and Trio form?
Look at the music harmonically. What key is it? Where is it heading? This becomes extremely helpful when it comes time to memorize your music.
For all of my students I do drive one specific point. Start at different sections of the music, and if you find one part is particularly tricky? Don’t keep starting over from the beginning. Start at the difficult part and work on it!
As you can see there are many different ways to practice, and not all of them include sitting at the piano. Sign-up for a lesson with me today and we can discuss even more practice techniques!
