how to practice, how to become better?

[jtabbott8]

i have been playing piano for almost 4 years, and i feel like i should be much farther ahead than what i am.. i practice about 30 minutes a day, i would like to practice more but im really not sure what to practice really.. i want to major in music in college and its what i love to do.. I understand piano to an extent, i can read music to an extent too.. but i am just not satisfied with my playing.. could someone help me on "how" to practice, or some good excersize books, sight reading books, books about piano.. ANYTHING.. i just want to be a great and confident pianist and i feel like im not progressing.
thank you

[roseamelia]

Sometimes I feel I'm not progressing but actually I'm and you are to you just do it so much you don't know your progressing.

[j_menz]

i have been playing piano for almost 4 years, and i feel like i should be much farther ahead than what i am.. i practice about 30 minutes a day, i would like to practice more but im really not sure what to practice really.. i want to major in music in college and its what i love to do.. I understand piano to an extent, i can read music to an extent too.. but i am just not satisfied with my playing.. could someone help me on "how" to practice, or some good excersize books, sight reading books, books about piano.. ANYTHING.. i just want to be a great and confident pianist and i feel like im not progressing.
thank you

Do you have a teacher at present?  If so, this is something you should discuss with them. If not, you probably should consider getting one - the college thing will be pretty difficult without.

[ajspiano]

J_menz is right, consult a teacher - in person.

However that aside, consider the following ideas/thoughts

......................

Do you have a detailed understanding of where you intend to go with piano over an extended period? - such as the next 5 to 10 years.

Make a list of pieces that you'd like to learn - have no concern for their difficulty - at least 50 works, 100's if you like. Start trying to organise them into an order to learn them in, reference information such as this websites grading list, the sheet music on IMSLP, and books such as this - https://www.amazon.com/Pianists-Standard-Teaching-Performance-Literature/dp/0882846558/ref=pd_sim_b_1/177-0291710-6304214 -

If you feel the works are to hard for you start trying to fill in the lower grade gaps by looking for pieces that have similar technical elements, but are less challenging - you may be able to do this by looking at the scores, perhaps start by looking at pieces by the same composer that have been graded lower.. Or search for pieces in a similar form, different composer, that have been graded lower

This site may be of use for the gradings - https://www.henle.com/en/search/index.html?Level

..........

Allocate some daily listening time, look for as much piano music to listen to as possible - this is both good for getting to know more of the literature and for developing your musicality.

...

a few other references for you to look at (and carefully consider before following blindly)

Chang - fundamentals of piano practice
Fink - Mastering piano technique
Sandor - On piano playing
Golandsky/Taubman - The Taubman Techniques
Fraser - Craft of piano
Listersink - Freeing the caged bird

[marao]

Hi, I would like to take advantage of this question to know about the study time daily too. I know this and a recurring question, but is also inevitable. My teachers advised me to study one hour per day that would be enough, but I find very little to take care of everything and following the rule of 10,000 hours it would take almost 30 years! the question is: to play well in five years and VERY WELL over 10 years, reaching autonomy to the piano (following the reasoning of ajspiano), how many time  would be necessary to study each day?
I understand that in this case of dedication as much as better , but it is not always possible because of  the time( work, family, etc),  so realistically for a mere mortal, how long it would be per day?

Thanks

[roseamelia]

Simple 45 minutes per day. ;D:)

[jayeckz]

Something that you may be overlooking is your instrument.

Yesterday I had the joy of playing a badly maintained Kawai Grand.  It was impossible to play forte in the top registers, the piano had uneven touch, and there was no tonal contrast.  Forte would sound similar to piano and vice versa.  I haven't strained myself for probably 4-5 years while playing the piano, but yesterday I had to put so much effort to try to produce the sound I wanted I strained my right arm.

The Kawai reminded me of the instrument I grew up with.

When I was younger, I was always told that the piano doesn't matter and that a pianist should be able to play any instrument.  I grew up with this notion and would spend hours on small isolated passages or even notes to get the right sound like I heard on recordings.  My playing was extremely tense (having to play certain keys FFFF to get a good voicing tends to encourage this).  When I went to lessons on a really nice Steinway grand, I would still play with the tension I practiced with.  I eventually quit because I wasn't improving.

After moving away from home, I decided to get myself a nice grand.  My playing has improved so much since then.  If you have a poor instrument at home and don't regularly play nice and well maintained instruments, you should really try to find a piano you can practice on so you get perspective of what you can and can't do on your instrument at home.

i want to major in music in college and its what i love to do..

You love analyzing pieces and looking at music from a historic perspective?

You may or may not be aware of the academic aspects of a music major.  If you aren't, take a look at any college's music major course requirements and look at the texts they study. 

i am just not satisfied with my playing..

I don't know anyone who plays well that is satisfied with their playing.

could someone help me on "how" to practice

Get a teacher.  Someone telling you over the internet without watching you play probably won't give you appropriate advice.

[marao]

I had the opportunity to post this question on another site is also very well qualified and I could read some posts very interesting, although somewhat polemics. I would like to knowyour opinion.
I took the liberty of copying them to not make the mistake of wrongly convey the ideas:

"For the first few months or 30 minutes a day spread over three hours a week, is adequate to get to about 4 or 5 ABRSM grade. Extra team would help but on a sliding scale. The brain does not just grow more neural connections because you work longer. 60 minutes a day would not be twice the effective. Starting out at two hours a day may even inhibit long term progress and lead to burn out. There's a lot of physical and mental conditioning That has to take place.

About an hour a day or five - six hours per week would get you up to the grade six to eight bracket and two hours a day / ten hours a week is enough to reach degree.

Gradually building up to two hours a day Mon - Fri and four hours a day at weekends will see you hitting 10.000 in about ten years. It will mean Sacrifices in Other areas of your life. If the potential is there to reach the concert platform enthusiastic and determined an eight year old Could make it by Their twenties. If the potential is there.

One hour a day, carefully managed and Involvement with teacher, will be working fine for the average adult to reach grade eight (final) in around eight years and diploma in about ten. The hour beginners will be fairly relaxed. In the years team it would be more rigorous and Concentrated. "

Another placement of another experienced pianist, he said:

 "You question is indicative of what I Consider a common misconception with Those new to learning how to play piano.

That and that is the amount of Time spent Practicing Relates directly to the level of skill attained.

There is so much more to it than that. The spectrum ranges from Those Who Almost all of the practice time with little to show for it to Those Who Rarely practice and sound like concert pianists (not many of Those).

Also, by Practicing long hours you may be setting yourself up for disappointment along the way. You may do that for a month or two or three and find That you are not the Becoming skilled as you thought You Were Going to Be. That may cause you to decide to chuck it all and quit. That is the danger of high expectations.

Learning to play the piano is something to enjoy along the way and without demanding That You Achieve a particular level, at least for a few years while you gain an correct understanding of the process. You will then have a better idea of ​​what it takes and try Whether you wish to Accelerating the process with longer practice sessions. "

Acctually, I never thought in this respect of "brain saturation" when it comes to learning music. In fact when I knew (my own by logical deduction, or not) that there was a direct relationship and quantitative investment entity qualitaivo and response in the final result of the product. That is, the more you study consistently better your results will be ... 2, 3, 4 .. 6 hours until the day after this report and those who walked and reached dexterity.
I believe without a shadow of doubt, said that as "dmd" there is the illusion of ... I want my money back lol, but like the long way and we must be careful to choose the best paths. The idea of ​​studying 30 minutes a day for 1 or 2 years makes me apprehensive because the end of this period can have the feeling that was missing and I lost time and should have invested more, and know how?

On the other side as said dmd own, I know the end of 10 years I have lived very fond of this because the wonder is not on goal but the journey.

[danhuyle]

To play well you'd want to

- get your rhythm internalized
- not be affected by technique
- know how to interpret
- know how to use rubato effectively
- interpret the music in 10 or more different ways

There's 2 types of slow practice, one that gets somewhere and one that get nowhere. If you practiced slow correctly, then you could play a piece at performance tempo whenever you want.

Record yourself constantly then assess yourself from that. Do it until you're satisfied with the outcome you're looking for.

[marao]

thank you dan.

[ajspiano]

so realistically for a mere mortal, how long it would be per day?

It is absolutely and unequivocally a product of the efficiency of your practice.

As a teacher I can when necessary produce results in 15-20 mins for a passage that a student has struggled to achieve in several hours over the course of a week because I can see exactly what they need to do. This is the idea behind bernhards teaching method of everyday lessons, maximise the efficiency and you minimise the practice time..  or if you are particularly keen, you keep the practice time the same and just learn more.

[pianoisthebest23]

i practice about 30 minutes a day, i would like to practice more but im really not sure what to practice really..

My suggestion for this would be to spend more time practicing what you're working on at the moment. If you don't need to practice your music for more than 30 minutes each day, then try something a little bit more difficult. If your hands are too sore to play for longer than that, then you should try practicing at a slower speed and warm up a lot before going on to the most difficult parts. If you just aren't enjoying what you are playing, than find a piece that you like and look forward to playing every day. Chances are, you will find yourself playing more often without even thinking about it. When I get really into a piece of music, I get lost in it and then the next thing I know, two hours have gone by!

To improve your piano playing, try to do some sight reading. Start out with really easy pieces rhythmically and notewise and as you improve, move to more complex stuff. The kinds of music I like to sightread are usually jazz and pop music. Another thing you should do, is listen to lots of recordings of different pianists playing different works. My favorites are Evgeny Kissin, Vladimir Horowitz, Mark Salman and Boris Berezovsky. This has really helped me with expression and interpretations of different songs. Last of all, like many others have said, getting a teacher would be a very good idea. Good luck!

I hope this helps 

[jayeckz]

If your hands are too sore to play for longer than that, then you should try practicing at a slower speed and warm up a lot before going on to the most difficult parts.

I must be practicing wrong or not intensely enough; my hands have never gotten sore as far as I can remember.

[ajspiano]

I must be practicing wrong or not intensely enough; my hands have never gotten sore as far as I can remember.

Oh dear..   

Best to keep it the way it currently is - getting sore means it's wrong, not the other way around..

[jtabbott8]

hi, thanks everyone for your replies. I do have a piano teacher, i feel like my major problem is that i feel like im memorizing everything.. for example this week my piano teacher gave me one of Clementi's (spelling?) Sonatinas.. and i have been taking it line by line, but after going over the line a few times i have it memorized...and i dont feel like im learning that way... is this normal?

[ajspiano]

I'm a little unsure what the problem is..

if you are unable to play the piece immediately on sight, and after practice for a short time you are able to play the piece then you are obviously "learning".

If the aim is to become better, you're really trying to accomplish 2 basic things here - the technical capacity to produce the desired musical end, and the interpretive ability to come up with it.

So, if you manage to go from having any difficulty getting your hands around the notes to being able to play comfortably and fluently then you're technical skills are growing. And, if you make concious decisions about musical elements, or practice execution of musical elements as directed by either your teacher or the composer (and you do it in such a way as to convey some kind of 'meaning' in the music) then your interpretive abilities are improving also... and obviously the 2 go hand in hand and are more or less inseparable.

So really are you just saying that after "learning" the piece you do not have a conscious knowledge of how you've improved? - two thoughts come to mind, firstly try something a little bit harder so you have enough hurdles to overcome that you feel as though you've achieved something substantial upon completion. Secondly, realize that it takes A LOT of experience to objectively assess the technical skills (and their development) of a pianist, and a great deal of experience learning and thinking about how to play the piano for you to start consciously applying skills crossed over from different pieces studied.

If always memorising is a problem for you, and you want to become better at reading the answer is pretty straight forward - read different music everyday instead of continually playing the same passages over and over in order to learn the notes flawlessly. Balance your practice between the two, just download a stack of music from IMSLP for you to sight read, try to find stuff around the right level obviously, and look at "super sight reading secrets" (book) for a way to objectively break up the challenges found in sightreading and improve on them rather than mindlessly reading without practicing things that make you a better reader.

[nickadams]

To play well you'd want to

- get your rhythm internalized

how to do this specifically? Explicit directions would be appreciated as I am not good at coming up with programs on my own.

[jayeckz]

how to do this specifically? Explicit directions would be appreciated as I am not good at coming up with programs on my own.

The easiest would be to go get a teacher.

[danhuyle]

how to do this specifically? Explicit directions would be appreciated as I am not good at coming up with programs on my own.

You can learn from a teacher, or the other alternative is learn online from me.

hi, thanks everyone for your replies. I do have a piano teacher, i feel like my major problem is that i feel like im memorizing everything.. for example this week my piano teacher gave me one of Clementi's (spelling?) Sonatinas.. and i have been taking it line by line, but after going over the line a few times i have it memorized...and i dont feel like im learning that way... is this normal?

If you're feeling like you've memorized a piece, then you have to play it more times to not forget it, then when you play it more times, you feel like you'll forget it the next day?

Some pieces come naturally while others you'll have to grab the bull by the horns. Another common mistake is trying to memorize EVERYTHING you play. I tried that 6 years ago and I got burned out from it.

If you've seen university piano teachers, they can play a lot of pieces with the music and can just memorize it if they choose to. Plus, to play with the book fluently, it requires memory work. After I memorize, I revert back to the book and I don't force myself to memorize.

Just know that memorizing a piece is part of practicing the piece. To make progress with virtuoso pieces, some of them I'll memorize a phrase then when I play with music, it gets easier.

[pianoman53]

You can learn from a teacher, or the other alternative is learn online from me.

If you're feeling like you've memorized a piece, then you have to play it more times to not forget it, then when you play it more times, you feel like you'll forget it the next day?

Some pieces come naturally while others you'll have to grab the bull by the horns. Another common mistake is trying to memorize EVERYTHING you play. I tried that 6 years ago and I got burned out from it.

If you've seen university piano teachers, they can play a lot of pieces with the music and can just memorize it if they choose to. Plus, to play with the book fluently, it requires memory work. After I memorize, I revert back to the book and I don't force myself to memorize.

Just know that memorizing a piece is part of practicing the piece. To make progress with virtuoso pieces, some of them I'll memorize a phrase then when I play with music, it gets easier.

Sorry, but... Online helping wont help anyone. I know a few pianists who have lessons via skype or other video-thingys. It works a tiny bit, if you have total control over the technique, and just needs musical advice. But to have actual technique lessons online is just as useful as online toilets.

To focus, as Danhuyle is saying, on memorizing wont help your playing.


Some people are very super smart, so they can listen to performances and analyze it very carefully.  But most people aren't that smart, so I would suggest you to find a teacher. S/he will tell you what to practice.

[dream_pianist1999]

I have been playing for 6 years and I am taking GCE O Level Music. I practise my piano for 2-6 hours everyday.

How do I practise?
First, I spent 1 hour 30 minutes on scales. 30 minutes on Schmitt and Hanon. 40 minutes on Czerny. Next I practise my sight-reading for 40 minutes. And the rest of my time on pieces and aural. 

My advise :
1.Practise scales and hand exercises first to prepare yourself before starting on any piece. Even before a competition and performance, I play my scales and hand exercises first.

2. Train yourself. It makes you tough. When I first entered a competition, I realise how many great are out there and that puts in me in a humble state. It also teaches me to accept my success an defeat graciously.