Many
times parents ask me how they can motivate their child to practice. Or if they
are practicing enough. Or, my favorite, if I can change up their practice routine. That is what I try to help
the student do on a weekly basis. Students come into my studio and seem to have
forgotten somewhere in the last seven days how they are to practice. And so I
take them to a problem spot and we work on it exactly as I want them to
practice that and all problem spots at home. And they come back the next week
with the same problem spots. Well, knowing from students who have followed my
practice instructions that there is nothing wrong with the way that I want them
to practice, I can only assume that they are not sticking to the practice plan
outlined for them. And who can blame them? A thirty minute lesson of dedicated,
focused instruction contains a lot of information. Far too much for me to write
down every week. My hand is starting to cramp just thinking about it. Besides,
who wants half of their lesson spent with the teacher writing stuff? I
certainly would not! I’ve decided to write out my practice strategies for
students and parents to reference at any time, so that what I write down for
them can be addressing the specific problems encountered in the lesson. I have
divided this up into what I consider to be a few of the biggest practice mistakes
made by students and parents when they leave the lesson.
The first practice mistake students
make is waiting too long after the lesson to practice. I recommend a 15-20
minute “cool-down” practice session when you get back home. Go over all the
concepts covered and outline your practice strategies. This doesn’t even
require touching a piano! Look through your music, review the spots addressed
in the lesson, and remind yourself of the solution to the problem.
The second practice mistake most
students make is inconsistent practicing. In order to see faster, permanent results,
daily time should be set aside for diligent and focused practice. The amount of
time set aside is in proportion to the amount of music assigned and the amount
of time needed for you to successfully complete your practice goals. Having
daily goals is essential to successful practice. Make yourself solve a couple
problem areas daily, leaving time to review passages looked at previously. How
much time you spend practicing is less important than how you spend that time
practicing. “Smart” practicing is extremely important, which leads us to the
third mistake.
Piano
(or any instrument/voice) practice is mentally taxing because we must
constantly be thinking. Students often forget this and resort to a tendency to
try to “play” through pieces rather than “practice” them. You must discipline
yourself to isolate areas that are giving you difficulty, whether it be
technical or musical. If the problem is technical, can you figure out what is
wrong? Perhaps you are using the wrong fingering. Perhaps you aren’t allowing
your arm weight to release into the keys. Perhaps you are not allowing the arm
to move in/out, up/down, or from side to side as it needs. Perhaps you are
slumping. Perhaps your wrist is out of alignment with your arm. Perhaps your
fingers are curled or collapsed. Any one of these, or a combination of them,
could be happening. It is important to check thoroughly and make sure you
figure it out. When you do isolate the problem, practice it in isolation. Play
the 3-4 beats surrounding the spot, making sure to end on a beat. Once you have
it fixed, try to play it correctly 5 times in a row. This helps to solidify the
correct way in your mind and in your muscle memory. If the problem is musical,
practice the piece in phrases. Know how you want each phrase to sound. Be aware
of the preceding and following phrases and how they relate to the one you are
fixing.
Every time a problem arises, you
must run through that list to discover what is happening. Once you isolate the
root of the problem, you must focus on the solution to the problem, and not the
problem itself. So, it becomes not only about thinking, but about how we think? Let’s say you’re playing a
wrong fingering (a simple example), it’s not enough to just know that you are
messing up the fingering. You must know exactly which finger(s) is to play and
the note on which it is to play. And that is where you focus your thinking to
solve that problem. Perhaps for one problem that isn’t such a taxation on the
brain. However, for the multiple problems that arise in a piece it can get very
tiring. It’s best to divide daily practice into segments no longer than 30
minutes. To get the brain to focus for even this amount of time can be
difficult. This relates back to the
second practice habit; if you are practicing with your brain, you will be able
to accomplish a great deal more in a short amount of time than if your brain is
not actively engaged.
The last, and perhaps most important,
mistake to address is the habit of students and parents to forget to be patient
while practicing. Music making is an emotionally tiring activity. The emotional
portion of it comes at us from two sides. The first side is from the need to
tap into that raw human emotion and incorporate it into the story which we are
trying to communicate. The second side is the “superficial” emotional reactions
which we have to the music we are making. I call them “superficial” not because
they are invalid, but because they are subject to the success or lack thereof
which we are experiencing in trying to achieve our musical goals. These
emotions are the frustration associated with failure and the joy and love
associated with success. These emotions are often the cause of children
quitting lessons too soon; they haven’t experienced the love and joy that come
from successful music making.
Practice sessions and lessons alike
must be a balance of disciplined hard work and patience as we work toward
musical goals. If you are experiencing trouble with a problem spot in a
practice session and you simply cannot solve it, leave it alone. Bring it to
your lesson and let your teacher help you fix it.
There are so many things to say
about practicing…and I will continue to say them as this blog moves forward.
However, for the frustrated parent and student trying to make it work at home,
this will hopefully provide some encouragement and some ideas for how to make
it work. Piano lessons are a huge commitment and we piano teachers appreciate all
of you parents who are willing to dedicate the time necessary, not only to get
your children to lessons, but also to making daily practice happen.
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