Tips on Practicing Part I

Tips on Practicing

For Students, Parents, and Teachers — Part 1

“I love playing piano, I just don’t like practicing.”

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone — piano teachers hear this sentiment quite often. Many students enjoy their lessons, playing for friends, or sitting down at the piano spontaneously to play familiar tunes. But as soon as you mention “practicing,” the piano becomes a burden — a chore that many dread and put off.

Many things can affect a student's ability to build good practicing habits: age, attention span, personality, prior knowledge, and home environment, among others. Nevertheless, the tips I'm about to share should be of interest and use to all piano students, parents, and teachers.

Let's start with some not-so-good practicing habits and see if we can turn them around — here is the first set of tips.

1. Playing over and over with the same mistakes

We sometimes try to fix a mistake simply by repeating the passage, hoping it will disappear on its own. In fact, without addressing it directly and thoughtfully, we only reinforce the mistake — which can lead to frustration and a growing reluctance to practice.

What to do

● “Alice gets smaller and smaller” (Alice in Wonderland). Cut your passage into smaller parts, then smaller still, until you almost need a magnifying glass to see each bit.

● Play each little part, isolate the ones that give you trouble, and figure out what the problem is. Common culprits include incorrect notes or rhythms, poor fingering, tension in the body, weak coordination, rushed or uneven playing, and a lack of ear control.

● Fix the problem — if you're not sure how, bring it up at your next lesson — and reinforce the correct version a few times a day, for several days in a row.

● Now, “Alice gets bigger and bigger.” Expand outward from the former trouble spot back to the full passage: first play the section before it and connect the two, then add what comes after. Keep checking that the fix has stuck.

● Does this sound like something your teacher has told you before — more than once, maybe? You guessed it: your teacher was right!

2. Playing inexpressively, and planning to add musical meaning later

Learning only the notes, with the intention of adding musical meaning later, is a bit like reading a text without taking in its meaning. Practicing without fully engaging your mind and feelings leads to boredom, apprehension, and eventually a loss of interest.

What to do

● Expand your musical horizons by listening to more music — your ear will start recognizing patterns and phrases. Then, when you read music, notes will come together into meaningful units called motives (the way letters combine into words), and those motives will become musical phrases (the way words become sentences).

● Learn the notes securely, so you're not figuring them out again and again.

● Play with correct rhythm right from the start. If needed, work out the rhythmic patterns first — an incorrect rhythm ruins the melody and obscures its meaning and flow.

● Pay attention to phrasing as soon as you can. It's often marked with slurs; if not, try to identify the beginning and end of each phrase yourself — sometimes two phrases begin identically or similarly, and often share the same length.

● Take a moment to consider the character of the phrase and the emotion the music evokes in you. Play with feeling — it's far more interesting and rewarding than playing notes alone! As Wanda Landowska put it: “I never practise, I always play.”

3. Bad posture at the piano

The connection between posture and enthusiasm for practising isn't immediately obvious, but sitting at the piano like a sack of potatoes will drain your energy fast. It turns practice sessions into a dreadful chore, with consequences like back and neck pain, tired arms, reduced focus, and, in some cases, repetitive strain injuries.

What to do

● Warm up before playing: back stretches, arm swings, shoulder shrugs, head turns and tilts, and finger movements. Your teacher is your first resource for warm-up exercises, and there are plenty of online resources for musicians, too. I like to use poetry and finger games to keep warm-ups focused and lively.

● Once at the piano, pay attention to your whole body: feet steady on the floor (or a step stool), correct bench height with your forearms slightly above keyboard level, upper arms away from your body, head light and high, back wide, shoulders relaxed.

● Take breaks often. After 20–30 minutes, get up, stretch, have a drink or snack, take a few steps, or lie down on a flat surface and let your muscles relax.

● Break your practice time into shorter sessions — it helps both body and mind. You'll feel more focused, refreshed, and ultimately happier with the results.

4. Coming to the piano with anger and tension

“I don't want to do it,” “My parents are making me,” “I'd rather watch TV, play video games, or chat with friends.”

Nothing good comes from anger and tension at the piano.

What to do

● As Jelly Roll Morton put it: “Get up from the piano — you're hurtin' its feelings.” Be positive about your time at the piano, and about the piano itself. It's your partner, and a sensitive one at that — hurt its feelings, and it will hurt yours right back.

● Before you start, think about the upsides of practising: getting better overall or on specific pieces and skills, enjoying new music, having fun revisiting old favourites, and losing yourself in music as a break from the day's negativity. Think about your goals, too — preparing for a recital, passing a level, getting through an exam, or making Mom happy by playing her favourite song better.

● Remind yourself that getting started is half the battle, and that you'll feel better once you're playing. Make practising a daily routine — you don't get angry about brushing your teeth every day, because it simply has to be done. Learning piano is like feeding your brain: it makes you smarter, and it has to be done.

● Get someone to listen to you play. Piano practising can be a lonely pursuit, and having a parent, sibling, friend, or even a pet listen is like having a teammate to share both the fun and the struggle with. It helps you stay positive and motivated.

● Reward yourself! As a child, I used to break a chocolate bar into little squares and allow myself one after every 45 minutes of practising — it felt so good.

Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more practising tips in Part 2.