Good or Bad Practice Routine/Habit?

[elconquistador]

Accidentally put this post in the wrong place, sorry...

[elconquistador]

I'm intermediate. Playing seriously for almost 3 years (after playing clarinet for 4 years, trumpet for 1 year) and 21 years old.

Repertoire:
1) Solfeggietto by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach
2) Themes: New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorak
3) Sonatina in G Major Opus 39 No. 2 by Clementi
4) Circle of Life out of Hal Leonard book
5) plus miscl little radio songs that I want to learn

If I have to do a 30 min practice on a busy day:
1) 5 min scales
2) 5 min Hanon exercises
3) 20 min repertoire

If I get my full 1.5-2 hour practice:
1) 15 min scales
2) 15 min hanon exercises
3) 1-1.5 hours of  repertoire

Is this a good practice routine? Anything I should add or subtract?

Any and all advice will be very helpful!! Smiley

[faulty_damper]

Your idea of what practice looks like is actually wasting the only precious thing you have in life - time.  You view practice in terms of time when, instead, you should view practice in terms of process.  By focussing on the process, you save yourself from the time spent wasted.

This is what my practice routine looks like:
1. play mm. 57-58 easier than yesterday.
2. sightread something.

That's it.  No time is wasted practicing anything else.  If there are more things that need to be practiced, I work on those.  I never practice scales unless it's in repertoire and I never do exercises.

[pianoman53]

Your idea of what practice looks like is actually wasting the only precious thing you have in life - time.  You view practice in terms of time when, instead, you should view practice in terms of process.  By focussing on the process, you save yourself from the time spent wasted.

This is what my practice routine looks like:
1. play mm. 57-58 easier than yesterday.
2. sightread something.

That's it.  No time is wasted practicing anything else.  If there are more things that need to be practiced, I work on those.  I never practice scales unless it's in repertoire and I never do exercises.

You're also the one saying Pop and and Chopin should be played the same, so I wouldn't take your advice too seriously.

Though, I'd put up goals, instead of saying "play this for 5 mintues". Scales and Hanon might be different, but in repertoire, it's proven to be more effective if you have an actual goal, rather than a specific time.

[bronnestam]

I play exactly what I feel like to play. I ponder a bit over what attracts me the most today, and then I work with that. If I'm in an ambitious mode, which I often am - yes, really! - I start by planning my work with this particular piece. Should I concentrate on certain tricky spots/sections, or should I try a run-through? Sometimes I experiment wildly with tempos, omitting certain notes and other stuff. Sometimes I try to stick exactly to the written notes.

Sometimes I feel like doing technical exercises. Sometimes I just read the music and test the fingering out.

You might think this is extremely wishy-washy and unefficient. The traditional view on practicing is "no pain, no gain", right? If you are SERIOUS, you should be SYSTEMATIC and word HARD etcetera. But one thing I learned, many many years ago, is that this engine cannot run without its fuel, and the fuel is MOTIVATION. Anything to keep your motivation up, that is my slogan. So, I aim to have fun at the piano. And I have proven that my theory is right, because dramatic things have happened since I started with this approach. Yesterday I had a lesson and at the end my teacher was like "I cannot believe how much you have learned! And I have never seen anyone practice with such devotion and determination as you do!"
I did not write this as a gesture of stinking self-praise, but again: this is the result of just amusing myself at the piano. Back in those days I worked after a schedule, I made very little progress and finally I lost my interest in piano studies, and I was convinced that I did have any talent.

Some days I just don't feel like practicing at all, some days I work for hours. I go with the flow!