Practicing - This Way - Really Does Make a Difference!

There is one thing that any pianist can do with their practicing that will make a huge difference in how fast and how well they grow in their piano playing.

Whenever we take physical steps and actions to change something in our lives, we start with the idea of it – or the concept of it. So it begins in our minds and our imagination. This is important because we’re going to start there in talking about practicing piano this way.

Where does piano practice fall into your daily schedule … more importantly … does it fall in your daily schedule?

• Is practicing something that you only do a couple of days each week?
• Have you ever had a few weeks that you were able to practice most days of the week?
• What about those weeks where you only practiced one time?

Why so many questions? :)

Because…I want you to look at your practice habits and observe how often you practice and compare those weeks when you practiced daily to those weeks that you didn’t practice daily.

When you practice just a couple of days each week you might see the results in your playing in these ways:

• You lack confidence in some of the harder passages
• You still may not have mastered the new techniques that the piece offers
• Your left and right hands aren’t playing well together

Now if you practice daily you might see these results in your piano playing:

• Harder and/or fast passages seem to flow easily
• You can focus on dynamics, phrasing and the musical expression more because the notes aren’t tripping you up
• You have more enjoyment while playing

That’s quite a difference! But…why the difference? Simply put – it’s the way that we work physically!

As we repeat an action, our brain creates a unique nerve pathway for that specific action. The more we repeat that same action, the stronger and wider that nerve pathway becomes.

The more we break something down and focus our attention on it, the easier it becomes. It takes us longer to learn something successfully when we can only spend a little time on it.

So when you think about how to approach your piano practicing it’s important to remember this and use it to your benefit.

Don’t think of this as any type of judgement on your practice habits. This is where our mindset becomes important and is actually the first thing we need to address when changing our practicing.

Use this knowledge as a tool to help you accomplish your goal. That alone will really help motivate you to practice more! If you scold yourself for practicing just a couple of days each week, that guilt we drive you away from the piano, not towards it.

​Watch the following short video as I talk about this topic in depth and introduce the concept of “micro practice sessions” and how they can really take your practicing to the next level. 

If you like my tips and lessons, you will love the courses over on my website. Whether you are a beginner looking to get a solid foundation to build on or you are looking to take you existing skills to that next level, the online music courses on my website https://www.pianolessonsontheweb.com will help you do just that.