How To Practice Piano Effectively

Although this article is written for pianists who want to learn how to practice effec­tively, it is also a good advisory for any musi­cians wanting to hone their skills in any musical instruments.

The great Vladimir Horowitz, an acclaimed Russian-American concert pianist once said, “If I do not practice for a day, I know it. If I do not practice for two days, my wife knows it. If I do not practice for three days, my audience knows it.” This is indeed a very wise statement regarding prac­ticing on any musical instru­ments including the piano.

The hours we all put into prac­ticing on the piano are very important if you want to become an accom­plished pianist. We all practice to maintain or improve our playing styles. However, do you know that very often, much of the time aspiring pianist spent prac­ticing on the piano is not at its most effective? Why is that so?

The above ques­tions bring up the old debate of quality versus quantity of practice sessions. If the pianist’s focus is correct, much more can be accom­plished in just 30 minutes rather than two hours prac­ticing on the piano.

Many pianists do not really practice but simply “play” the piano. What does this mean? This means that they sit down and simply play what they already know. This can be good for the main­te­nance or perfecting of certain compli­cated tech­niques or scales but, with the excep­tions mentioned, these pianists are not progressing at all.

The essence of every piano practice session is to strive for perfection and improvement. Perfection, improvement and musi­cality should be the goals for a productive practice session. Every tech­nique should be executed as perfectly as possible. This will include hand/finger posi­tions, wrist move­ments, touch, expres­sions, and inter­pre­ta­tions among others. Prac­ticing the wrong tech­niques will develop the wrong skills. To strive for perfection is the first step in prac­ticing on the piano.

Every piano practice session should create a chal­lenge for the pianist to accom­plish some­thing never done before. I repeat — some­thing NEVER previ­ously done by the pianist before, unless he/she wants to perfect some earlier learnt skills. Each practice session could include a new rudiment, new song, or a new exercise. It could also be a new tempo for an old exercise and the tempo does not neces­sarily have to be faster, just some­thing different will do. The main point is that a new accom­plishment should be attempted at every practice session. That is where new tech­niques are learnt and there are improve­ments instead of just being status quo.

The purpose of playing any musical instrument is to play music and thus, music should be kept foremost in mind whenever you are prac­ticing on the piano. Even when playing a rudiment or tech­nical exercise it should be thought of musi­cally and how it can be applied to the music being played.

How Long Should Each Piano Practice Session Be?

The amount of practice time will differ with each indi­vidual pianist and also whether you are a beginner or an accom­plished pianist. A beginner may need to practice for half an hour to an hour a day and grad­ually increase the time to 2 hours per day as he/she progresses along.

A serious profes­sional pianist should practice for about 4 hours or more a day because of his increased reper­toire and skills of music. As playing engage­ments and other respon­si­bil­ities increase with a devel­oping career, then practice time can be decreased and you practice in accor­dance to your needs your profes­sional and personal schedule allows. Whichever the case, practice sessions should be a continuing process throughout the pianist’s entire profes­sional career.