Tips for Practicing Piano and Piano Practice Success

I’m always learning how to be more effective at practicing. Learning how to practice well can save you many hours of time and energy, while also resulting in better playing. This section is dedicated to topics meant to improve your practice sessions, and therefore make your practice sessions more enjoyable.

Basic Tips for Practicing Piano

 

 

 

If you’re new to piano or musical practice, this is a good starting point. I tried to make these tips as practical as possible so that you can actually apply them.

Many people become enamored with ear training on the piano, but I believe sight reading is an incredibly important skill to develop if you ever want to be really good.

As fun as it is to constantly learn new pieces, it’s nice to be able to maintain your ability to play your favorites. This simple list is designed to keep track of your favorite pieces that you can play at the drop of a hat.

There are many ways to do this, but in this video I break down my tips for how to spend an hour of practice (length of time can be adjusted).

This series addresses the most common issues I see adult piano players run into. Being an adult while learning any new skill can be frustrating – know you’re not alone with these problems, and that they can be solved!

Tips on how to approach a new-to-you piece. I designed this video to be very structured for all of the type A personalities out there.

Tips for Improving Piano Pieces

 

 

 

 

It tends to take longer to learn a piece that’s meant to be fast. These are my suggestions for successfully speeding up a piece when you feel like your fingers can’t do it.

Music festival always fills me with new inspiration for making pieces sound better and more polished. This video features the criticism I heard the most from the adjudicator – tips we can all apply to our playing.

Practicing Technique

 

 

 

 

In this video, we explore all of the scales-related questions I’m asked on a regular basis. Questions like “what order should I learn scales in?” and “how much time should I spend practicing scales”?

Additional Piano Practice Suggestions

 

 

 

Every now and then, we get stranded on a desert island with no musical instruments. If you find yourself in that situation, here are some ways to develop your musicianship even without an instrument handy.

Whether or not it’s the new year, these tips will help you stick with your piano goals, whatever they may be.

So much of learning involves your mind frame. If you assume you’ll be mediocre, you’ll be mediocre. But what about approaching piano from the vantage point of an aspiring master?

This video explores the pace that’s best for moving through method books and grade levels.

In this candid video, I discuss why I don’t practice for many hours each day. Unless you’re at a music conservatory or preparing for something major, is it really necessary to practice that much?

In this Q&A session, I talk about my so-called “perfect” student. If you really want to impress your piano teacher and be a great student, check this video out.

This video implements a popular theory of learning to explain many mental blocks that adult piano students encounter.

Practice With Me

 

 

 

In this video, I walk you through my typical one-hour practice session. It tends to change (I don’t do the exact same thing each time), but this is the basic template.

This video takes you through my entire learning process from start to finish. I’d never heard this piece or attempted to play it before setting out to make this video. It finishes with a full play-through.

In this video, I talk through my 20+ hours of practice on this grade 10 level piece. I share bits and pieces of my practice and progress.

This is my (2018) list of the piano music I LOVE, and eventually must learn. #dreamgoals