A Comprehensive Guide To Piano Practice
Are you maximizing your practice sessions on the piano or are you finding yourself not making the fast progress you're trying so hard to accomplish?
Piano practice is an art form in itself and requires an immense amount of concentration, will power and discipline. Musicians need to be aware of how psychological and physical states are married together to achieve your absolute best in training and performance. Do you know how the anatomy of your entire body works and the mechanics behind the technique at your particular instrument? What about mind body awareness? As you practice or perform, every part of you is involved!
Being aware of your thoughts and emotions is vital towards efficient practice as there is a natural cycle where the mind affects the body and in turn, body affects the mind.
In my personal experience, I was relatively clueless during the inception of my piano journey. My childhood included plenty of bullshitting, brainless repetition, lots of beginning to end practice as well as practice for the sake of fulfilling the hours my parents had enforced. Alas, with more than 20 years of musical training under my belt, more overall life experience and maturity, I’ve finally arrived at this point where I can safely say I’m a connoisseur on efficiency at the piano. Enough rambling about myself, let’s get to the nitty gritties of transforming you into being more productive.
Schedule, Structure, Micro & Macro Goals
Let’s start with the basics. Remember those days spent at school where our teachers would encourage scheduling in our diaries and set to do lists/goals? Darn, Mrs Baron was right! Setting a structured practice plan with actionable goals on a micro and macro level helps you organize all the information you receive from lessons.
Let me explain. Too often, I see students winging practice by repeating difficult sections, playing beginning to end and waiting for something to click after numerous attempts. Our brains are incredible things and playing a musical instrument requires total memory recall where musicians can create, encode and retrieve memories both quickly and accurately. Scheduling and structuring your practice will make organizing the entire process much easier and more efficient.
Step 1
Use your planner! Know yourself! What particular times of the day are you able to bring your A game? Are you a morning or night person? How many minutes or hours are you going to fit in on a daily average? I’d suggest using your phone calendar or physical planner to start mapping out your practice routine. Ensure you are giving yourself mental and physical breaks as there is only so much focus or attention you can exert in an hour. Understand your personality and monitor your concentration levels.
Although there is no finite empirical evidence on attention span durations, estimates on the average amount for a healthy teenager or adult is thought to be between 10 to 20 minutes.
So Ling Ling, how much practice should I be putting in at the piano? That is personal to you! If you are a professional pianist looking to pave a serious career I’d suggest no more than 5 - 6 hours because 5 hours of optimal practice is always better than 8 - 10 hours of grinding. Work smarter not harder! If you are a beginner or intermediate pianist, ask yourself this; how much am I willing to put in? Do I want this as a hobby or challenge myself? 30 mins - 3 hours is plenty for beginners to intermediate players.
Step 2
Great, you’ve now scheduled in slotted times for every day of the week! Next step is to start making to do lists on what you want to accomplish during a practice session. Let’s start off with the macro goals aka bigger picture stuff. What would you like to achieve during the end of one week, one month, several months and one year. Let me give you an example:
In one week I would like to finish learning/memorizing the exposition as well as development section of my sonata which is the first 6 pages.
In one month I would like to finish learning/memorizing the 1st and 2nd movements of my sonata.
In three months I would like to finish learning/memorizing the entire sonata plus perfect my artistic expression and ideas of my sonata so that it’s performance ready.
In one year I would like to be confident in my ability to make the entire sonata 150% (yes 150%!) performance ready and an accurate representation of my interpretation.
Step 3
Well done, you’ve set your macro goals and although it may seem tedious I promise that you will see results. Next, we have the micro goals. These are smaller goals within a practice session to help you complete your macro level goals. For example:
Macro goal: In one week I would like to finish learning/memorizing the exposition as well as development section of my sonata which is the first 6 pages.
Micro goals:
Monday - Hour 1: Sight read exposition and development. Start slow practice with separate hands. Identify technically challenging passages. Write in fingerings.
Hour 2: Start putting both hands together. Figure out how to approach a technically challenging passage. Ask yourself questions and experiment. Wrist higher? Pivot elbow more? More arm weight to tackle loud dynamics?
Hour 3: Start to repeat motor movements and work on details such as dynamics, phrasing, character/mood etc. Repetition should always be mindful.
Tuesday - Hour 1: Keep tackling that difficult section. Perhaps work out new fingering? Slow metronome practice.
Hour 2: Start to work on phrasing long legato lines and making the melody sing. Start to voice and differentiate the accompaniment from the foreground.
etc.
You get the overall idea. You don’t have to be as detailed but setting yourself micro goals is a good step to being mindful and asking yourself questions!
Problem Solving
Problem solving is certainly an important logical aspect to piano practice. I gave a few examples in my explanation of micro goals. Learning how to approach practice is an important skill to develop. Your goal in a practice session should be to complete a picture of your desired sound imagery as well as technical execution to perform a work with mastery.
In order to bring a piece of music to full actualization, a smooth flowing mind to body connection is needed to secure your technique and providing a clear expressive communication. Therefore, it is imperative to start practicing with a problem solving mindset.
Facing an awkward technical section? Perhaps experiment with your fingering that works for your hand. Adjust how you transfer weight. Perhaps you’re too stiff therefore use more body weight and free up tension. Maybe you need to scratch up on some of your fundamentals like scales, arpeggios, Czerny, Hanon etc. Gosh it sounds too mechanical therefore focus on a rounder legato touch. What character or mood am I trying to achieve? There are so many answers to a set of problems personal to you. I can guarantee an immediate change in quality and less quantity of practice when you start approaching it this way!
Technique
Technique is so individual to each person. I used to believe there was only one way to approach technical execution because that’s what my teacher asked of me. Alas through experience I learned that making mistakes and experimenting with multiple methods is key. You can subscribe to a school of playing such as the Russian, French or German schools but at the end of the day it is so very individual because we are all built differently.
We have different hand sizes, pivot points and overall strength. Personally I took little bits and pieces from all of my teachers, masterclasses and books to form what is now the fundamental technical skills I have today. It is important to approach your piano practice with a clear understanding of technique and how the human anatomy works. I’d suggest finding a reputable teacher whom you know will help guide you. Most of the time they are expensive but the old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ is true - you are investing in your education if you want to take piano seriously.
Other resources include books, youtube, google etc. I’d suggest giving biographies a read as well to give you some perspective. Technique takes time, everybody including your idols experience doubts and slumps. I’ll impart a passage from "My early life" by Josef Lhevinne to give you his perspective on struggles and doubts we all face:
Savonoff gave me lessons every day. My technique was all wrong, and with him I started all over again, right from the very beginning. All my ideas were entirely altered. Even his method of the high-raised wrist and the use of the fingers from the knuckles was different from all I had previously been taught. For a long time it was difficult to assimilate these new methods and, above all, to forget all I had, so far, learnt. In those days the musical god of the school, and, indeed, of musical Russia, was Anton Rubinstein. He was the Director of the St. Petersburg Conservatoire, of which the Moscow school was a branch. I had been studying with Savonoff for some two years when he told me that Rubinstein was coming to see how the work of the school was progressing. He was to listen to a recital at which the best pupils were to perform. Each pupil was given ten minutes. To my astonishment I was to play for no less than an hour! My group comprised the Beethoven. Eroica Variations, a Liszt Rhapsody, three Chopin Etudes, a Bach Fugue, and an Etude by Liadov.
I was only fourteen and not particularly industrious. I much preferred playing about the streets of Moscow or shooting at a target with a rifle to practising the piano! My piano playing came with such ease that I felt that I could leave everything to the last moment. And I always did!
The night before Rubinstein was to arrive Savonoff called me to his house. I was to play my programme through to him. Always he had been very strict and severe with me. Often he had scolded me with a very loud voice, using fantastic, even bad language. But when he said nothing at all, that was worse still. And this night as I finished each piece he was terrifyingly laconic. Nothing but just an ominous "Go on!
When at last this ordeal was over, he started to talk to me. Very gently, quietly but pointedly he told me what a fool I had been, and how I had wasted my time and opportunities. I started to cry. Then he said : "Of course, I shall not allow you to play tomorrow. Everyone would wonder what sort of a teacher I was. And in front of Rubinstein, of all people ! You have lost the greatest chance of your life. Now go home. But I shall expect to see you tomorrow. You owe it to the school to hear the others play."
You can imagine the state of my feelings as I walked home. For weeks the sole topic of conversation there had been that I was to play before Rubinstein. My father was a real martinet. I hadn't the courage to tell him what had happened. At least a frightful thrashing. At most . . . I could not imagine what that would be.
When I arrived home I commenced practising with the most intense concentration. My father returned from the theatre. He stood and listened to me. "You will do well tomorrow," he said. That was terrible. Early next morning I was at the piano again. I regained my confidence. That was of little use!
I went to the Conservatoire. It was the first time that I should see Rubinstein. I stood near him—to me a most wonderful inspiration. Even now he remains the ideal which I am always striving to reach. He had the most wonderful personality of any man I have ever met. Savonoff passed, and pretended not to see me. Dejectedly I scanned the programme pinned on to a wall. I read it again to make sure that I had not made a mistake. For my name was there, and opposite all the pieces which had been arranged for me to play ! I rushed off to the Director. I asked him whether it was true that I was to play. "Of course," he replied.
Savonoff knew how to squeeze the best out of me.
I hope you enjoyed that humanizing anecdote. At the end of the day, your primary goal in technique is to minimize injury and build endurance, dexterity and accuracy. I always tell students that scales, exercises and etudes are imperative so don’t neglect technique!
Consistency
Like anything in life, without consistency you will never properly see results. The only way you can perfect a craft is to be consistent with your practice therefore try not to procrastinate but instead make it a part of your daily schedule/routine. It is completely okay to skip days and give yourself a breather or take some time off for you to recharge both mentally and physically because afterall, we’re all human. Although always remember, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice!
Environment
Concentration is best achieved in a quiet environment with no distractions. Make sure your setup is optimized for total concentration which means being in a quiet room and politely telling your friends, family or college roommates that you would like to not be disturbed. It also means taking that phone and shutting it off. Place it in another room or your bag: out of reach, out of sight. In such a noisy and technological world, we are often distracted by the virtual realms of social media and texting. Set your phone to silent and do not disturb mode.
Congratulations!
You’ve made it to the end, I hope some of these key points help you form more productive practice habits. Good luck fellow musicians! Remember that slow and steady wins the race therefore don’t give up when you are facing adversities. It’s about the journey and not the destination.