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Top Ten Tips For Effective Piano Practice

Wondering how to maximize your piano Practice time? The following pointers can help ensure that you get the very most out of every playing experience!

There can be no doubt that practice is crucial to developing further as a pianist. It is important to keep these suggestions in mind whenever you are ready to hone your skills.

1. Goal-Setting Is Key

Simply sitting at the piano bench with the notion of playing for a while is not likely to produce marked results. Rather, you should consider setting a specific goal for each session, such as learning to play a particular section of a piece. Doing this keeps you accountable and helps push you to achieve something every single time.

Remember, however, to set your goals carefully so that they can actually be attained during the period of time you allot for them. Read Piano For All reviews 2020 to keep you focused. Do not bite off more than you can chew during small windows of time, because you may end up feeling discouraged more often than not.

2. Engage In Warm-Up Exercises

We understand that this can seem like a tedious part of practicing, but if you do not limber up the fingers and the wrists, you leave yourself vulnerable to tendonitis and other serious physical complaints that can ultimately derail your progress at the keyboard. The right kind of warm-ups can also get you into the right frame of mind for more concentrated practice, something which will help you build skills as you go.

3. Never Skimp On The Basics

Always a lot no less than 15 minutes or so for working on fundamentals such as scale practice, fingering work, and pacing. The fact of the matter is that repetition is what breeds perfection, and as long as you do this type of practice consistently, you are sure to see dramatic improvement.

4. Slow Down To Speed Up

When it comes to mastering complex pieces, there is a very simple technique that can really help the process along. Simply play these songs slower than they are intended to be played until you have learned every note with precision. Once you can play a piece skillfully at half speed, increase the pace until you are in line with the music as written.

5. Utilize Your Metronome

If you are having trouble adjusting the time in which you practice a given song, do not hesitate to use the metronome to keep you regulated. By taking advantage of this handy time keeping device, you will master the art of learning a song slowly and then bringing it up to proper tempo.

6. Again, Keep Things Slow

While we realize we just explained the value of learning songs at a slower pace, we really do think it bears repeating! There is no substitute for this technique when you are attempting to learn especially complicated pieces.

7. Take A Listening Tour

Think about the pianists you love listening to the most. If you find it hard to name at least ten, spend some time perusing the catalogues of different artists from all time periods. Learn what appeals to your ear, and you can begin discovering the great artists of each genre. YouTube can be an ideal source for learning about skilled pianists from a range of eras.

8. Copy, Then Extrapolate

Once you listen to a range of seasoned artists, try to emulate the way they play a given piece. This gives you the opportunity to explore different ways to build on that and make a performance truly your own. You will proceed from being a technically sound player to a real virtuoso.

9. Stop For A Pause

Once you have done your warm-ups, have given some time to working on the fundamentals, and have spent some time listening to a few of the greats, how should you proceed?

Take a break. Do some deep breathing. Then resume your practice.

10. Make It Fun At Every Turn

Be certain to work on playing a piece that you love from beginning to end. Find a piece that lets you display what you have learned and that showcases your growing set of skills. Doing this serves to build confidence, and it keeps piano fun!

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