| For beginners' piano lessons, there is, understandably, | | | | move the student forward - they must constantly |
| an emphasis on practice. "The more you practice, the | | | | strive to move out of their comfort zone and accept |
| better you will be" you are told. To a point, this is true. | | | | the next challenge. Practicing familiar pieces is not |
| But it should be extended to say "the more you | | | | practice at all - that is called playing! |
| practice THE RIGHT WAY, the better you will be." | | | | During beginners' piano lessons, each practice session |
| Having a regular practice schedule is important, but | | | | must have a clear goal at the outset. A good idea is to |
| knowing how to practice builds the foundation that | | | | work through various stages of the learning process. |
| underpins this schedule. | | | | This could include a new piece, where the student |
| While we're on the subject of sayings, this one is an | | | | learns notes, moving through to an advanced selection, |
| old standard - "practice makes perfect". It rings true - | | | | being prepared for a potential performance. This |
| but not entirely. For if you were to practice the wrong | | | | challenges the student, who needs to think differently |
| things, all you will perfect is a skill in something that is | | | | for each piece, which makes practice much more |
| wrong. This is even more pertinent in the world of | | | | interesting and effective. |
| piano practice. | | | | When practicing, the student needs to look out for |
| A piano student repeating, and practicing, the same | | | | problems, and develop a strategy for dealing with |
| mistake over and over again will only learn a piece of | | | | them. They should not get into the habit of repeating a |
| music with that mistake more firmly engrained each | | | | piece right through, with the hope that next time, the |
| time. This leads to increased frustration, and can cause | | | | area containing mistakes will just disappear. As we |
| the student to quit, even though they could have | | | | have mentioned, practicing mistakes reinforces them. |
| actually mastered the piece over time, and with the | | | | So the student should break the piece down into small |
| correct practice method. | | | | manageable chunks, isolating the difficult part, and |
| To reiterate, practice time is important, but the student | | | | practicing that until correct. Targeted practice will |
| who will truly master the piano is the one who learns | | | | eliminate the mistake. |
| to identify mistakes and isolates them. Then they will | | | | You will see that, for beginners' piano lessons |
| need to practice small selections of music until they | | | | especially, the quality of practice is absolutely vital. |
| are able to eradicate the areas of mistakes. Once | | | | Eliminate bad habits at this early stage, and future |
| mastered, they can stitch the pieces back together | | | | practice becomes not only more enjoyable, but |
| and play it as whole. | | | | ultimately more productive. At the end of the day, |
| As the student becomes more experienced, they can | | | | there's no point in being able to play 2 pieces of music |
| take a more active role in setting up their practice | | | | 80% correctly. It's much more beneficial to be able to |
| regime to meet particular challenges they may come | | | | play one piece 100% perfectly, and once this is |
| up against. It is quite easy to become familiar with a | | | | mastered, move on to the next piece. |
| tune and to play this at each practice. But this won't | | | | |