Scheduling Practice for Success (Part 2)

Piano Practice

Learn The Importance of Goal Setting to Measure Improvement

At Phillips Music Tuition we often get piano students who have reached a plateau and stagnated. This can happen whether students are learning independently, using YouTube videos etc or have lost motivation with a different piano teacher. Consistent goal setting and an effective practice schedule can all remedy a lack of progress.

An example of an ineffective 30 minute practice session would be as follows:

1. 5 minutes of mindlessly playing through scales (usually the ones students already know) without focusing on dynamic control, utilising a metronome to maintain a consistent pulse and scale shaping.

2. Playing an ABRSM grade piece from the beginning until they make a mistake then going back to the beginning and repeating this process. Usually without a metronome and relying on memory rather then using the sheet music to help.

3. Avoiding doing any sight reading as it is too hard.

4. Clock watching to see when 30 minutes has passed.

Practice sessions should be consistently evolving depending on the needs of students. For example, a student studying Jazz would focus on learning major and minor II-V-I progressions in all 12 keys, learning some simple jazz standards such as Autumn Leaves, Misty etc. Working on a swing feel and practicing improvisational techniques using scales and arpeggios etc. Then as a Jazz student becomes more advanced they may focus in on more complex skills such as drop 2 voicing, using tritone substitution, and using modes to harmonise a melody differently. Some of these topics can take months of consistent practice to understand on a deeper level.

In our next blog post we will discuss how to construct an effective practice session depending on a students level or interests.

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