Does anyone think this is a good idea? and if doing this plan, would lead to good results?
my plan at the moment consists of this daily routine:
starting at 10am.
Piano Theory – 1 Hour
Scales/Arpeggios etc. – 1 Hour
Liszt technical exercises – 1 Hour
Czerny, op 740. – 1 Hour
Chopin – 30 mins
Liszt - 30 mins
Bach – 30 mins
Mozart – 30 mins
Beethoven – 30 mins
Schumann - 30 mins
As you said yourself, what you have there is not a plan, but a daily routine.
A plan is an organised way to achieve a goal.
Hence, you must first define your goal. However, such a goal must be stated in as specific terms as possible. To say: “My goal is to play the piano well” is too unspecific to have any usefulness. Also goals must be self referenced. To say “My goal is to amaze my friends with my piano playing” besides being unspecific refers to your friends reactions – something you have no control over. (I am not saying these are your goals, I am just giving examples of bad goals).
Once you have figured out your goal, than you will be in a better position to judge if your present daily routine is conducive to it.
I usually suggest to my students that their goal should be the acquisition of repertory, that is, to have a number of pieces they love learned to a most comprehensive degree (composer´s bio, historical backgroud, style, analysis, appropriate technique, interpretation, memorization, etc.), and played to perfection (an unachievable goal, but then what is life for?). Once this goal is accepted, than planning can start, and this will involve three levels:
i. Long term plan: What would you like your repertory to be in Five years time? In a sense this is the most important level, and from a planning point of view (as opposed to a pragmatical point of view), it is the most important level, since it will determine the other two.
ii. Medium term plan: This is what you set out to achieve on a month-to-month basis, and also at the end of the year. It is at this level that you will be able to estimate how realistic your long-term plans were, and perhaps modify them.
iii. Short term plan: Here we are talking what you do from day-to-day, week-by-week. From a pragimatical point of view, this is the most important level, since this is what you will be actually doing (as opposed to envisioning results in the far away future).
It is not that different from building a house. Before you start buying bricks, tiles, cement, etc., you must make a Project for the finished house. This is fun work because you can be as visionary as you wish. You can make it a castle, or an underground house, or a geodesic dome. Trying to figure out on paper how to Project such a house will also show you how realistic or unrealistic your Project is (since for a start you may not have the financial resources to do it). Once you have that level sorted out, then you must make a chronogram of the actual building: You have to build the foundations before the roof, but depending on your Project, you may or may not be able to build the roof before the walls. You must make sure you will have the necessary resources for each stage, and that the materials will arrive in time. Finally you can start building the house, following your chronogram and guided by your Project. If you have never built a house before, your lack of experience will translate into some costly mistakes and maybe even in utter failure. That is why involving an experienced builder (or architect) can save you a lot of time, money and stress (that would be your piano teacher).
Or think about making a movie. Without a good producer, and a good production plan, your movie may never get made.
On the other hand, builders, architects and producers can be poor professionals, or they may have their own ideas which may not be what you had in mind in the first place.
Therefore, make sure you do have a plan and watch out for people who will derail you. (Of course there is nothing wrong about changing your mind about your goals and plans to achieve them, if you are convinced alternative plans are better).
Finally, drop the Czerny, drop the Liszt technical exercises (unless you love them as pieces of music and would like them to be part of your repertory). Instead, replace them with Scarlatti sonatas, and Bach 2 – 3 voice inventions / little preludes. They will be far superior as far as technical/musical benefits go, and they are repertory of the highest quality.
Read more about planning (and related subjects) here:
https://www.pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,7872.msg79188.html#msg79188(How to plan your work for the next five years)
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4710.msg44538.html#msg44538(explains once more about 7 x 20 minutes – Progress is the ultimate decider – How to break a piece in practice sessions – Example: Satie gymnopedie – importance of planning – aim at 100 pieces per year – Example: Bach Cm WTC 2 -)
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4750.msg45125.html#msg45125(more details: learned – mastered –omniscience – why repertory must be paramount – how to work on 20 pieces per month – a case for easy repertory – importance of discipline and of having a plan – analogy of mastering a piece and making wine – musicality is ultimately good taste – Example: Beethoven op. 49 no. 2- A list of progressive repertory to lead to Rach prelude op. 32 no. 5 – mastery is when it is easy)
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,10129.msg103508.html#msg103508(Hanon x Czerny – 192 Scarlatti sonatas graded in order of difficulty)
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2948.msg25927.html#msg25927(Czerny x Scarlatti to acquire technique)
Just the tip of the iceberg!
Best wishes,
Bernhard
Topic: good long term practice plan?