Success in piano study is 10% talent and 90 % practice.
You will not be perfect. Practice and play anyway, despite your imperfections. Give silent applause to yourself for following your dream and daring to enter the magical orchestra of the keyboard.
Practice regularly and you will learn to play the piano. Create technical exercises from difficult passages in your pieces. Never try to practice when you are hungry or sick. Practice more slowly than you want to. Practice the hands separately, giving special attention to control of the left hand. When you practice, always strive for a beautiful sound and fine tone quality. Practice with your heart, mind, ears and hands, in that order. If you find that you do not love the piano, try a different instrument.
Play each technical drill assigned 6 – 10 times – 5 days a week
DO NOT JUST PRACTICE YOUR MUSIC
Repeat each Method until you can do each Method with no mistakes.
- Read the notes of your music 3 times
- Work only on 2 – 4 measures at a time
- Play right hand
- Play left hand
- Play it so slow you do not make any mistakes
- Play it and count the beats
- Play it with metronome set at: 69 – 75 – 84 – 96
- Play it as written with no mistakes
Use this method of practice with all of your music and you will never have a problem. You will have excellent lessons every week.
The following is from “A Prelude to Practice” by Russell Gilbert, Etude, May 1925, Theodore Presser, by teacher Russell Gilbert:
Before Practice
- Wash the hands. If the piano keys are dirty and sticky, wash them also.
- Decide just how long you shall practice. Then divide up your time among the things that are to be studied.
- Have a pad on the piano. If you think of anything that you must do atter you have finished practicing, write it down so that your mind may be free.
- Never begin to practice until you have swept from your mind all other thoughts than those of your lesson. Concentration is the secret of the artist’s practice.
- Think what your teacher told you to do before you begin to play, not afterwards.
- When you feel drowsy and unable to concentrate, walk around, or do anything that will cause the blood to circulate through your brain. Then you will be ready to resume your work. Little children need frequent breaks for exercise.
- Do not thump the piano when you lose your temper over a hard spot. Play the passage more softly and slowly. The more softly you play a passage the more you will hear and appreciate the beauty of its harmony.
- If people enter the room while you are at practice and annoy you, just play scales in fourths and fifths and they will soon find duties afar off. Words are unnecessary.
- Always air the room before you begin practice. You cannot concentrate while breathing in bad air. Do not have the temperature over 70 at the most.
- If your fingers are cold, rub them briskly and open and shut your hands quickly to start the circulation. Octave playing is good to arouse the circulation. Cold fingers must move at a much slower tempo than warm ones; but they can be just as accurate.