Here are a few ideas I use with my students for how to practice effectively.
I constantly have to remind them that just repeating sections over and over is about the least effective way of learning new material.
The main goal of these techniques is to avoid the often pointless “start at the beginning and play through” practice method that’s so common to students who haven’t been shown how to practice effectively.
In my opinion, it’s always best to take tricky bits in small chunks and to force the brain to concentrate by testing it with challenges, such as:
Hands Separately
Hands Together
Memorise it
Hands separately and slowly from memory
Play in rhythms
Half speed
Full speed
One phrase at a time, slowly with lots of repetition
Tim Topham is the founder and director of TopMusic. Tim hosts the popular Integrated Music Teaching Podcast, blogs regularly at topmusic.co and speaks at local and international conferences on topics such as integrated teaching, creativity, business, marketing and entrepreneurship. Tim has been featured in American Music Teacher, The Piano Teacher Magazine, California Music Teacher and EPTA Piano Professional. Tim holds an MBA in Educational Leadership, BMus, DipEd and AMusA.
[…] are established, the focus of lessons changes from teaching the piano playing, to teaching how to practice pieces on their own. Learning to break pieces into chunks and work them out, playing with a metronome, […]
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How to Teach Piano in 9 Easy Steps says:
[…] are established, the focus of lessons changes from teaching the piano playing, to teaching how to practice pieces on their own. Learning to break pieces into chunks and work them out, playing with a metronome, […]