Practicing times

[bernadette60614]

I've usually aimed to practice one hour a day after our son goes to bed.  However, since I've begun working with a demanding teacher, I find that that time (when I was tired, but just awake) seems unproductive for all but playing through sections I've already learned.

Is it better then to practice in the 20 minutes here or there during the course of the day when I would be more alert...than to practice after my work/family day is concluded?

[j_menz]

Is it better then to practice in the 20 minutes here or there during the course of the day when I would be more alert...than to practice after my work/family day is concluded?

Yes. Absolutely.

[hfmadopter]

Any time you can spend where you can dedicate a clear mind to your study is better than an hour when you are half asleep. Doing things like putting on the timer and the burner down low on the stove to bring a pot of water to boil. Go to the piano for the 15 or 20 minutes it will take the water to come to a boil or for the timer to go off to let you know that it should now be boiling and ready to put in the pasta, which you then get another clear 10 minutes to practice. The roast is in the oven, you have 45 minute of clear mind to dedicate to the piece of music you are studying. I did this sort of thing a lot. My wife was working retail at the time and I had supper duty as I was home from work at 3:45. The kids were playing or the oldest off with her friends ( we have 5 children  long since grown adults). We planned a lot of oven or one dish meals accordingly. I got in a lot of practice time that way and the kids can attest to us always having a sit down supper when they were still at home back then, often with a friend or two visiting them.

As they got older and into high school age I had more time. I often put in 2 -3 hours per day study on the piano at that stage in my life and their growth.

[keyofc]

Bernadette,
If you practice a very long time, (whatever that is for you)
and you are just repeating yourself - it doesn't do as much good as you might think it would.

So doing it in smaller increments as you are thinking - is really a great idea.
First if you're not alert - you are not really hearing yourself well.  And get used to passing over tough parts and playing what you already have down. 

But if you highlight some areas you want to work on - and take one - and work on that for a short time - and later return to it the same day - you will work it out and by doing it twice in a day - you help your mind reinforce it.  It becomes more pleasurable because even if its a couple measures that you were having a hard time with - you realize next day - you worked the kinks out of it - and it sounds so much better.

So many times teachers do not tell people how to practice - just tell them to practice.