practice time

[sonata76]

 hi,i need ideas on helping me practice.what i need to know is how long to play scales/arpeggios and how long to play pieces.i play for about an hour an night but i have a tendency to practice one aspect of piano instead of say pieces,sight reading,then scales.also does anyone think that arpeggios help scale technique?the reason i ask is because for the last week i have been arpeggios every night and my scales have improved.do you think its a wrist flexibility thing?anyway hope you can help.

[maestoso]

do a search on here for tips. read changs book. ultimately it will come down to what you feel is the right way or length to practice.

[andresdo]

Hello Practise time. I've done grade 8 in Piano (cum Laude). That's the sort of level before you do tertiary education. So, I'm not very experienced. I'm only 18, but I can tell you something: Practising a certain combination of scales and/or arpeggios EVERY DAY is VERY important for good development in the regard of the physical act of playing and to become more aqainted with your instrument.

Depends also on when you need to have the pieces ready for performance. If it's tomorrow, practise the pieces. If it's next year, play some scales. Please! And also: Rather get a few scales to a good standard, than playing a lot but with none absolutely correct. Don't add too much scales a day - it makes the brain confused!!

Good luck

[netzow]

I would second the search function. Just search for Practice time and you should come up with some good threads. I find it helps to remember it isn't how long you practice but what you acomplish. In other words practice time is irelevant what is relevant is what you acheave in that time. Hope this is helpful.

[a1]

  HA. For me no need practice time because i am busy.

[ichiru]

maybe this is a little bit out of topic... but... is it okay to practice just one piece for an hour? Or should I divide it for example for 30 minutes, change it with different piece for another 30 minutes before then going back?

And I wonder... how should we practice in order to make it effective?

[franzliszt2]

I always practice 1 hour scales and arpegio's. (Thrids, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, everything I can think of)

1 hour on a piece or even section of a piece with a difficulty in, for example today I did the 1st 2 paganini variations by Brahms tokeep my 6ths nice and heathly. Or a Chopin etude, or anything etude like.

Break


Then 1 hour per piece. With breaks between each hour. At the end of the day revise what you have done very briefly. If you have a big piece to learn like a concerto, spend longer on it. As the piece develops, you'll start spending less time on it, and when that happens, just start memorising, and memorising seperate hands and stuff like that. 

To practice effieciently just stay focused. Make things fun, spice it up. Make the pieces harder, look deeper into the music. If you get bored, leave for 5 minutes, and just have a cup of tea.

[tiasjoy]

We're more alert when we first sit down at the piano, but then we're also not as warmed up. 

Here's what I suggest my students try and follow to help them develop a routine.

1. Warm up.  By using five finger patters, scales arpeggios you already know and play really well, etudes etc.  In other words, nothing that's taxing on the brain, something that is easy for you to do, but also gets your body and mind in a ready state.

2. Technical.  Move on to developing scales/arpeggios you're still learning and still trying to master.  Get out some music you don't know at all (easier than you play) and spend some time sightreading.

3. Learning.  Tackle those new pieces you don't know at all, break everything up into sections, repeat often (with precision, avoiding mistakes etc). 

4. Polish.  Go to the pieces you know how to play (because you've been practising them for a while like the above way) and play them from beginning to end.  You may like to play each piece this way a few times, or only once.

5.  Perform.  End each practise session with pieces you have already polished and you love and want to keep in your repertoire.

There's no time limit, but of course the bulk of work is probably done in stage 3.  You'll know your own attention span.   If you're too tired by step 5, you'll know the next day to shorten each section a little.

I give this program to students who are finding it difficult to establish a routine.  This helps until they've worked out what's the best way for them.