How a music student practices is more important than how much time a student practices. If students practice incorrectly, it won’t matter how long they practice; there will be no improvement. But, when practicing correctly, a student can make a huge difference in the shortest amount of time. Most students think practicing means playing a song from start to finish…WRONG! That’s what I call a performance!
Multiple-Measure Practice
Start a new piece by playing each measure multiple times before the next measure. Doing this is a great way to get familiar when the entire song is equally difficult. You may think doing this takes more time to learn a song, but you’ll learn it quicker in the long run. Once you’ve finished, it’s time to decide what challenging parts to spot practice.
Notes Without Rhythm
If the notes are difficult, play them slowly without adhering to the rhythm. For the piano, start with hands separately, then together when you’re ready. Once you’re familiar with them, play with a slow, steady beat, increasing your tempo until you reach the desired tempo.
Rhythm without Notes
Likewise, if the rhythm is challenging, play it on one note, counting aloud, first without a steady beat. Once you’ve learned the counting, play slowly with a steady beat, increasing your tempo until you’re at the desired tempo for the song or exercise.
Position Practice
Position practice helps when you pause between notes because you’re unsure where the following note(s) are. To fix this, hold the note(s) (both hands for piano), then slowly move to the following note(s) and notice the distance. Repeat until you can go to the note(s) without a delay in the rhythm.
Alignment Practice (Piano Only)
Alignment practice is a great way to practice when you can play each hand separately without mistakes but have difficulty when playing your hands together. Play notes that align in each hand together very slowly without adherence to the rhythm. Doing this helps you to feel the movement of the notes you play simultaneously. Once you feel how the notes are played together, play with a slow, steady beat, increasing the tempo.
Three-Part Blog
This blog is a three-part series. Part one was about how much time a student should practice, and part three will teach the student how to prepare for a performance.