Piano Practice

Playing the Piano

Learn how to bring joy and success to your daily piano practice!

It can be done! (Really!)

I came back to music after 10 years of not playing. College practicing and performance pressure burned me out.

I didn't like practicing... at all!

When I started playing again, I knew I had to find a new way to think about practicing.

One day, it dawned on me:

Think about that for a second.

What if you left all of your expectations at the door?

All of your negative thoughts about how you play. All of your bad experiences of the past. All of your ideas about "making progress."

What if you just let yourself play?

I did. It worked! And it's how I think about practicing to this day.

The first step in building a joyful, successful habit of piano practice is to simply play, every day. Play what you love.

If you only know chopsticks, play it all over the piano, loud and soft, and on different keys! Play simple tunes that you learned way-back-when.

Noodle around with one hand, just enjoying the sound of the piano.

Think how easy and fun that would be. Wouldn't you look forward to such a relaxing time in your busy day?

As you develop of habit of playing what you love every day, you'll find yourself wanting to branch out and learn new things. You might be ready for piano lessons.

Or it might be time to pull out that box of music hiding in the closet. :-)

Help! What if I'm already taking piano lessons?

So you have assignments to conquer!

And you sit down at the piano bench every day with a big sigh. Bor-ing. Same old, same old.

First of all, have you told your teacher how you feel? Quite likely she thinks everything is fine - and would be happy to help you spice up your practice time.

Being a teacher myself, I'll share my best piano practice tips with you. :-)

How about that tricky time when you start practicing hands together? It can be frustrating, but it helps to understand why it happens.

And here's how I practice to bring my hands together in the easiest, most frustration-free way: hands together practice tips.

Next, let's think about when to practice.

If you're like many people, piano practice gets squeezed in after so much else in your day that you barely have any energy left.

That's a recipe for frustrating, unsatisfying practice.

Think about when, in the time you have available, you are at your best. Are you a morning person or a night person? When do you have the most energy and a positive attitude?

For me, it's morning. I'm so much more productive before 2:00pm than anytime after!

My ideal practice time is actually first thing in the morning. But that's not a time when many people think to schedule piano practice into their days. They put it at the end, sometimes just before falling into bed.

Make your practice time a priority by choosing when will work best for you, your mind, and your body.

You'll be much more successful and productive!

More Practice Ideas

Create a piano practice log. Pretend you're a kid again. Go get some poster board, stickers, and markers.

Decorate to your heart's content. Make a graph for a week or a month at a time. You'll smile every time you see it! And, like a kid, you'll look forward to adding a sticker when you've finished practicing!

Silly things like this often help turn even repetitive, less-than-fun practice tasks (scales, anyone?) into something you might even look forward to doing!

Make a fun, unique piano practice game! Use big popsicle sticks (craft stores and WalMart have them). Write - or paint! - on one end the repertoire, scales, and exercises you need to practice.

You might write, "Minor Scales," "Current Hanon Exercise," "Right Hand of Current Etude," and "Recital Piece." Write down everything you think of. Put the sticks in a cup. When you sit to practice, close your eyes and choose one stick at a time.

Or, dump them on the floor and see what order they land in!

Sometimes, practicing everything in a different order will give you a fresh perspective.

One of the fundamentals of piano practice is to practice slo-o-o-owly. I tell my students to make a game out of it. Play in slow motion, as if you're in a slow motion scene in a movie.

Play each note until the sound almost dies out! If you've got a metronome, set it at the slowest tempo and play. It's hilarious - and really effective!

No Pain, No Gain?

It's not true for working out, and it's not true for playing the piano. In fact, it's one of those enduring piano practice myths that make practicing dull and - yawn! - boring.

The truth is, you don't need to practice 2 hours per day to see success. (Unless you're a college piano major - then, you'll need even more.)

When you practice to the point of being tired and cranky, you're not making progress.

Trust me on this.

The best learning happens when you are joyful and well-rested!

So what are you waiting for? Go practice!

Helpful Links

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