Do I practice long enough?

[marijn1999]

Hi everyone,

I am pretty new to Piano Street but let me give you some background first. I love classical music since I was about 6 and have been playing on and off since I was 7. I really began to get serious about it when I was 10 and have remained serious about it ever since. I am 16 years right now and, as my profile shows I am a student at the intermediate level right now. In my case that means having perfected the following (amongst others) pieces:

• Mozart: Sonatas 1, 5 and 9
• Beethoven: Sonatas 1 and 10
• Bach: Preludes and Fugues 1, 5, 8 and 21 from WTC Book 1 & Preludes and Fugues 2, 5 and 11 from Book 2

I practice piano for two and a half to three hours per day, and half an hour to one hour is dedicated to theory. My question is, do I practice these things enough for my age and level?

Thanks in advance!

BW,
Marijn

[kawai_cs]

Considering your age and the fact that you probably go to high school and have lots of homework every day it seems you are devoting a good amount of your time to piano practice.
However I do not see why does it matter if other people think it is enough time or not enough time. I assume you a have a goal in mind of studying music after graduation?

[pencilart3]

yes

[pantonality]

For me the question is never did I practice long enough, but did I practice well enough. It's perfect practice that makes perfect. So for me, was I mindful or was I mindlessly repeating without thinking? So in my mind the quality of practice is important. If you're getting in 3 hours of quality practice a day you should be doing quite well. Will that be enough to get you to a career as an international concert pianist? Nobody knows. Good luck!

[mjames]

If its not 25 hours a day then you're not trying hard enough.

[pencilart3]

If its not 25 hours a day then you're not trying hard enough.

haha

[quantum]

Are you achieving all the goals you set out when you practice?

[marijn1999]

Are you achieving all the goals you set out when you practice?

I am. I never start practicing before I am absolutely a hundred percent sure about what I want to achieve in my practice session. If I'm not ably to achieve that goal, I leave it for the day and come back to it the next day.

[gmunford]

Love you all! New student here, and wife and son both just commented no how obsessive I seem practicing for hours and playing same damned little sections over and over. Reading these comments, I just went from worried to proud!

[pencilart3]

Haha great just make time the the other things in life too but if you are then by all means, FIRE AWAY!

[birba]

I am. I never start practicing before I am absolutely a hundred percent sure about what I want to achieve in my practice session. If I'm not ably to achieve that goal, I leave it for the day and come back to it the next day.

You sound much more serious then I was at your age.  One of my teachers said to me once, "If you can't cut it in 3 hours a day, give it up."

[briansaddleback]

It is not long enough is the question, it is how focused and efficient and goal-oriented are you in practice.

[recnepspencer]

I wish I had your attention span!! I'm 16 at an advanced level, but I only practice for up to 1.5 hours a day, but longer on the weekends. You've just inspired me to have more reformed practice. Thank you.

[pencilart3]

I am also 16 I practice like 3 hours/day lol

[trollbuster]

I am. I never start practicing before I am absolutely a hundred percent sure about what I want to achieve in my practice session. If I'm not ably to achieve that goal, I leave it for the day and come back to it the next day.

oh bullsh!t     

   

I'm 16 at an advanced level, but I only practice for up to 1.5 hours a day, but longer on the weekends. You've just inspired me to have more reformed practice. Thank you.

and even more BULLSH!T

give it up you do not have a clue what you are talking about and you ain't foolin' nobody   you have no music vocabulary and you ask the dumbest questions.   the hardest classical piece-yep-in your dreams.   do you honestly think you can fool people into believing you are an advanced player here on a classical piano forum?  it's so sad you want to play but you don't want to work  so you come here and pretend you are a pianist    you think you are the only one.
   you idiots come through here all the time and you stick out like sore thumbs.  Always  so pretentiously handing out advice like some kind of piano guru it's hilarious repeating sh!t your teacher told you.



come back and post when you can actually play those pieces you have listed

 

[marijn1999]

oh bullsh!t     

   
and even more BULLSH!T

give it up you do not have a clue what you are talking about and you ain't foolin' nobody   you have no music vocabulary and you ask the dumbest questions.   the hardest classical piece-yep-in your dreams.   do you honestly think you can fool people into believing you are an advanced player here on a classical piano forum?  it's so sad you want to play but you don't want to work  so you come here and pretend you are a pianist    you think you are the only one.
   you idiots come through here all the time and you stick out like sore thumbs.  Always  so pretentiously handing out advice like some kind of piano guru it's hilarious repeating sh!t your teacher told you.



come back and post when you can actually play those pieces you have listed

 

You've had a rough day buddy?

[reiyza]

It is not long enough is the question, it is how focused and efficient and goal-oriented are you in practice.

Are you achieving all the goals you set out when you practice?

I second both of this, very well said. It's not important how long, but how can fast and efficient you can achieve your goals during your practice time. It's very difficulty to practice three hours straight, when I get to the 2 hr. mark, I start to get sleepy, it's my brain telling me that it can't take no more.

Goodluck and very impressive for investing time to piano playing.

[marijn1999]

I second both of this, very well said. It's not important how long, but how can fast and efficient you can achieve your goals during your practice time. It's very difficulty to practice three hours straight, when I get to the 2 hr. mark, I start to get sleepy, it's my brain telling me that it can't take no more.

Goodluck and very impressive for investing time to piano playing.

Yeah, I know that feeling. I used to get tired after practicing for about three hours straight, so I decided to start breaking my hours into sections of 20-30 minutes in which I have different specific goals for specific pieces every time. That way I started to be able to practice for about two hours without a problem every day. Now I'm at about three to three-and-a-half hours a day.

The process you can make if you invest quality practice time into your pieces is unbelievable.

[edbogie]

I feel like a practice schedule is a very personal thing, and there never can be a concrete answer to "how much" is "enough." As others have said before, it all depends on your goals and what you hope to accomplish. If you feel like you should be practicing more, then practice more, but only as much as you're physically and mentally capable of. Past a certain point and you do more harm than good. Any time over two hours should realistic be broken up into smaller chunks of time anyway.

That said, you say you practice three hours a day and seem pretty disciplined (I try to have a set goal "every time" I sit down to practice, but alas, I'm, well... human), so, I have to ask, what prompted you to make a thread about this? It sounds like you have your routine pretty well established. What is it about your progress/practicing that you're unsatisfied with? Perhaps if we know the concern, we can better address the remedy.

[romancatholicpianist]

It sounds like you practice long enough. You must have a real love of the instrument! I need to work on longer practices, but I tend to break mine up into 30 minute sessions and I do two or three sessions each day. I need to practice voice and violin too, so that is part of the reason that my practices are a little short.

I like your idea about making a plan before you begin practicing. That must help to make practices more focused and efficient. I think I'll start applying that to my own practices! 

[louispodesta]

oh bullsh!t     

   
and even more BULLSH!T

give it up you do not have a clue what you are talking about and you ain't foolin' nobody   you have no music vocabulary and you ask the dumbest questions.   the hardest classical piece-yep-in your dreams.   do you honestly think you can fool people into believing you are an advanced player here on a classical piano forum?  it's so sad you want to play but you don't want to work  so you come here and pretend you are a pianist    you think you are the only one.
   you idiots come through here all the time and you stick out like sore thumbs.  Always  so pretentiously handing out advice like some kind of piano guru it's hilarious repeating sh!t your teacher told you.



come back and post when you can actually play those pieces you have listed

 

I used to respond in kind, and I was kicked off of Piano World.  The obvious "Bait" here is to have me jump on board, so to speak, and be treated accordingly per this website.

Accidents do not happen, but reality does.  In the common American vernacular, I ain't that stupid!

Because, there is nothing over the top regarding the Op's initial post.  Accordingly, stirring up the pot on this post will not happen on or during my particular watch.

[reiyza]

I feel like a practice schedule is a very personal thing, and there never can be a concrete answer to "how much" is "enough." As others have said before, it all depends on your goals and what you hope to accomplish. If you feel like you should be practicing more, then practice more, but only as much as you're physically and mentally capable of.

apparently this is true in so many ways, I asked my genius teacher(and his great students) on how they practice, they told me different things, then each one ended up telling me "you have to find the schedule where you are comfortable".

It's hard to set up a practice time because you also have a life besides the piano, then structuring a practice PLAN is a much different story. It's hard to plan out what your goals should be for a specific practice session.

[jgallag]

In my opinion, you are practicing too much. During my graduate work, I was a study buddy for one of my mentor's 14-year-old students. She practices 1.5 to 2 hrs per day, normally less (she can be tough). She recently (a year ago) gave a stunning performance of Liszt's Waldesrauschen (I got the lovely task of introducing those leaps to her). She can also play Gnomenriegen. Other pieces we studied together include Debussy's La Plus Que Lent, Shostakovich's Fantastic Dances. Right now I know she's working on Ginastera's Suite de Danzas Crollas (which I played for my grad school audition). Point is, she's doing fine, and she's got plenty of time to enjoy soccer practice and hanging with friends. Piano is fantastic, but you will likely play for the rest of your life. Don't forget what else life has to offer as well. You can practice three hours daily when you get to college.

(And don't worry. She's also got enough first-place trophies under her belt. You can still win competitions with less time. Just be efficient!)