How many hours?

[Kel]

i was just wondering if u could tell me
how many hours each of u practice a day
and how long on each pice/technical work u do and your age as well is thats ok  
im spening approx 4 hours on both however im in yr 12 as well at the moment
thanks everyone  

[Franz_Liszt]

Are you 12 years old or have been playing the piano for twelve years?
Well, I'm twelve years old and whatever much I practice, I spend 90-95% on Repertoire and 5-10% on Scales and Arpeggios.

[Kel]

im in grade 12 at school i meant....sorry!!
yeah im praticing 4 hrs i dont think its enough tho

[Franz_Liszt]

Practicing more than your limits is uncomfortable and dangerous. Read the Joe Townley story
https://www.joetownley.com
Here are good limits for different age groups
4-6 years old- 30 minutes a day
7-9 years old- 45-60 minutes a day
10-12 years old- 60-120 minutes a day ( I practice 3-6 hours a day)
13-15 years old-2hrs-3hrs a day
16+-3-4 hours a day, up to 6 if necessary
. Anyway, Joe Townley is an excellent pianist for such a long break, and he has only been playing for the last 2 years after the 19 year break.
I've been playing for 8 months, and expect to play Chopin Etude No.10 Op.4 in another year or so.

[ThEmUsIcMaNBJ]

now that it's summer (YAY)...  I can really focus a lot better on practicing.  Before summer I would go anywhere from 4-8 hours a day and every once in a while not practice at all for an entire day cause of school    but now i get a steady 6 hours in a day for sure sometimes more often more actually but at least 6.  I'm 16 going into my senior year in highschool next year.  I've been playing for 2 years...  I spend anywhere from an hour to 2 hours on technical things and warming up depending on how enthusiastic I am that day.  Then I go all into repetoire I'm currently working on 5 pieces and I don't time how long I spend on each piece, I just set a goal for that day before I start and start working till I meet it.  If it takes more then my 6 hours to finish all my goals for each piece I work longer if it takes less I set some more goals until I get to the 6 hours.  But after doing this for a while I'm able to predict how long things will take me pretty accurately, so I barely ever go under but often go over purposely depending if I have to do anything that day.

[JTownley]

 I don't know.......many here are, i feel, practicing 4-8 hours a day because they think it's going to make great virtuosos out of them. Would you be surprise to find out that many pianists
1) do most of their practicing AWAY from the piano (Helene Grimaud, by her own admission)
2 Do (or did) just fine on3-4 hours a day (Horowitz)
This 8-10 hours a day stuff is inviting "burnout" for many of you. Believe me, I've been there. Course, we're all different, but we all have our saturation points, where beyond that practice becomes a waste of time. Trick is finding that point. I think we're all intelligent enough to listen to our brain when it starts screaming at us "Enough, already!" Heed that warning, my friends.
https://www.JoeTownley.com  Lots of piano videos!

[sasson]

I think it depends on your goals and schedules.
I work , so i try to grab 30 mts before work and about an hour or two after work depending on my day.
if you're young and have the time i think it' s best to practice now, cause once you have to pay bills, forget it !

S~  

[Narcissus]

Riiiight...I practice about 2 hours a week.  I'm feeling slightly inadequate.

[NetherMagic]

i practice depending on my current mood and condition, some days i practice for 15 mins, others 4 hours or something

i guess thats why my technique isn't so good   but i find it rather enjoyable and relaxing =]

[chopinetta]

i practice for how long exactly i can play the pieces assigned to me this may take 30 minutes only for the easy ones or 2 hours or more

[Hmoll]

JTownley is right. That 8-10 hour stuff is a not so pleasant trip to burnout land.
However, there were times when I was in school where I had to practice 10 hrs a day just to keep up with the music I had to learn (accompanying recitals, my own jr. and sr. recitals, chamber music, etc.). There is no way I could maintain that for an extended period of time though.
Also, as Chopinetta rightly said, you should practice enough o learn the specific pieces you're working on. If I am leaning a difficult Chopin etude, that requires a lot of time, and imaginative practice techniques. There is a slow movement to a Beethoven sonata I'm working on which I read through every day, try to memorize a little every day, and that 20 minutes is adequate for that piece (Now the first movement is a different story).
Another thing I - and others like me with day jobs and  families - do is take a free 15 minutes that we happen to have unexpectedly, and work on a section of a piece.

All in all, I now practice about 2-3 hrs per day.

But, most importantly, it is quality - meaning focus and concentration - and not quantity that matters.

[ThEmUsIcMaNBJ]

I understand the quality thing and burning out is understandable as well.  But if you have the time and you can have quality and quantity then I can't see how that is bad.  If you can put in 10 hours of good quality practice and keep it up without burning out then I don't see how that can be bad.  Except most people can't do that because of other responsibilities.  Thank goodness I'm 16 it's summer time and I have absolutely nothing to do  

[Hmoll]

Themusicmanbj,

If you can have both, that's fine. The problem is, one is usually sacrificing quality when they  overextending their daily practice time. As a result, their overall mental state when practicing is not as focused, and there is less concentration. This type of unfocused practice establishes itself as a habit, and it is hard to break.
Learning the piano is not just about results achieved in practicing. Learning to practice correctly and in a focused manner is a skill that needs to be learned as well. That is something that a lot of people have less patience for, but it will serve you very well as you progress.
That is one aspect to the issue of practicing long hours. One of the other issues is what JTownley, and myself have seen alot , which is burnout. Just as the accumulated effect of  playing with the wrong technique can cause injury even though you may not feel it right away, practicing too long can have the same accumulated effect  burnout wise.
Like I said, I've done it in the past on occasion, but only when my workload required it, and I would not reccomend it for the long term.

Finally, part of being a good musician is being a well rounded person, and experiencing life. How can you do that if you spend all your time in the practice room?

[NetherMagic]

you last statement is so true, Hmoll.  I've always been wondering if those pianists who practice 6 hours a day even go out maybe 2 or 3 times in a week or even a month.  Afterall we're humans, not machines.  Sometimes when I spend a whole afternoon practicing even though it was quality piano time I felt like I've wasted those hours too.  Unless piano's your career, don't spend THAT much time on it, i mean its just not worth it if its not that critical.

But again it's your choice =]

[ThEmUsIcMaNBJ]

Ok I understand the life thing.  Haha now thats it's summer I actually get one.  I usually wake up pretty early (considering) 6 or 7...  then practice till 1 or 2...  I have plenty of the day left.  My girlfriend has summer school till 1 anyways so it's perfect  
when Joe was talking about burning out I thought he meant mentally like you just don't want to practice anymore can't keep up the schedule.  I didn't take it as injury wise.  But if your not having any pain while playing the piano are you still inviting injury if you practice for so long for an extended period of time?  And I don't know but I still havn't found this saturation point you're talking about Joe I usually wish I could practice more but I have whatever I have that day.  Maybe my saturation point is past the 12 hours that I occasionaly do... (u know once or twice a month, i guess thats occasionally  )  Because I never seem to stop getting things done.  I don't want to injure myself though is it really dangerous physically to practice 4-8 hours a day 6 days a week?  I go like 2 on sunday because I can't get to the grand I usually practice on so I have to practice on my wussy keyboard    :-/

I really feel I need all the practice time I can get because I need to catch up on the 12 years I missed learning as a kid.  And no I don't practice badly quality and quantity if you can have them both wouldn't it serve you better?  

[Diabolos]

Hm, when it comes to practising it depends; I try to have 2-3 hours of actual playing time a day, but I pause every 30-40 minutes; I figured it more relaxing and effective since after a while one loses his focus on the playing; I'm 19, by the way.

Regards,

[DepravedPianist]

I find that the reason I practice a minimum of six hours is simply because I love to play the piano. My entire life is dependant upon how my practicing goes. Besides you all may think I'm crazy, but I even love practicing drills, scales, arpeggios, thirds, sixths, octaves, repeating notes; it's all good. My life and love is the music, more specifically the piano. So finding what most would call the will power to practice is no problem. Practice requires no will power, not practice however does!!! Hehe. It's all love man! Jesus, Piano, Composing. I've got my priorities strait. Whats ya'lls excuse? LOL

Willful slave of the pianoforte!

[BoliverAllmon]

I think your priorities are just fine DepravedPianist. I am getting a very late start on playing the piano (19yrs old and been playing for a year). I have to catch up so I practice as much as possible. I may only get 30 min. hear and 30 min. there, but in the end I practice around 3 hrs. a day. I am building up mental stamina and therefore I am able to practice more and more. I plan on soon practicing around 6 hrs. a day.

BoliverAllmon

[PoSeiDoN]

Hours are irrelevant.  Don't measure your practice period in time.  First, you need to get everything else done that you want to...play basketball, go out with friends, play PS2, whatever.  Just do it, and get it out of your system.  Then, sit down at a quiet time and practice.  This should give you a clear mind, which will make your practice more intense.  The higher intensity there is, the more productive you'll be.  I used to practice many hours per day, but since I've been doing this, I make unbelievable progress in simply an hour.

Give it a try, and let me know how it goes.

- Ken

[amee]

Hi Ken,

Just wondering, wouldn't it be very tiring to sit down at the piano after doing everything else, like basketball and PS2 as you suggested?  I find it harder to concentrate at the end of the day when I'm tired.  Practicing in the morning when everything's fresh and your mind and fingers aren't tired is the best time to practice in my opinion.

[PoSeiDoN]

Hey Amee,

I guess that's where you and I differ.    I love to practice late at night.  At night, my fingers are MUCH more agile than in the morning, and my disposition is more serene, also.  Everything is off my mind, except the focus and concentration I need for a successful practice.

- Ken

[BoliverAllmon]

I agree, I enjoy playing late at night after everyone has gone to bed. In fact, it is 11:15 hear and I am about to go practice. there is just something about the erie calmness that soothes and helps one stay focused.

BoliverAllmon

[bachopoven]

Man, sometimes I wish I were a machine so that I can play anything and everything. I do have the time, but not the endurance, precision and speed of a machine.

[bachopoven]

Neither do I have the memory of a machine.

But thank God, I can enjoy music since I am human. Last I heard, machines can't.

[Ktari]

Wow, you guys all make me feel like such a slacker! I'm 17 and I practice... about an hour every day, sometimes 2. My teacher says I learn quickly though, like, um, concentrated practice time or something? I just dont have much time to practice, due to other obligations, and there's so many distractions! About what Ken said, I read a book once that says many people practice best when they're a little tired because they relax and the music comes out -I thought that was interesting and wanted to share it. Practice time really does not matter as much as how you practice though -I can practice for four days and get nothing done, then seriously concentrate for once... ^^

[danpianoman2003]

I am 12 and practice 1 1/2 hours each day. just to help people My age.