HOW TO MAKE YOUR PIANO PRACTICE EFFECTIVE AND FUN!
Playing piano during your lesson can be so fun, especially when you get to interact with your teacher or with other fellow piano students. However, when you go home and it’s time to sit on the piano to practice, sometimes you may feel lost or not sure where to start. This quick guide will make sure you not only use your time wisely but that you also have the time of your life when practicing piano at home.
Start your practice by playing something you are a master at! By playing a song you already know very well, you will begin your practice with a very positive attitude. That means you will boost your confidence and get less frustrated when you make a mistake because you already know you are good at what you do. At the same time, you are making sure you don’t forget how to play your old songs. That’s what I call a win-win!
Work on a section at a time: Instead of playing the same song 20 times, stop at that passage you always struggle with and work on it. You don’t have to repeat this passage 20 times either, but just until you feel you have grasped it. Once you have done this, then you can move on to the next section. You can also take a short break before you continue. Remember: you don’t have to cover the entire song in one sitting.
Make chords your best friends: Chords are truly the foundation of music. That’s why I always advise my students to spend some time of their practice working on these. But practicing chords doesn’t have to be boring. For example, you can choose a random chord and try its different inversions throughout different octaves. You can give yourself a challenge by playing them as fast as you can or playing them with your eyes closed (this will help with your precision). You can also put a timer on and see if you can play all the inversions of a single chord under 30 seconds.
Add some singing to your practice: Like I said before, chords are your best friends. If you go online, you can find the chords for any song that you love. Singing along to your favorite song while you play the chords on the piano can make your practice so much fun and it also encourages the brain to release feel-good chemicals that will put you in a better mood!
Get creative: When you sit on the piano, you don’t only have to work on what your teacher has asked you to practice for the next lesson. It is also very important to spend some time releasing your own creativity by making your own tunes or creating lyrics for any song you’ve already learnt. A very useful tool I like to use to write lyrics is brainstorming: think about a topic, come up with 10 words related to that topic and then try to put them together. To make a song, you can start, for example, by choosing 5 keys and building a sequence. You can repeat notes or you can create variations on top of that sequence as well. The best part? There are endless possibilities!
Your piano practice doesn’t have to be repetitive. By following these tips, you can make your practice much more enjoyable and productive! You’ll start seeing awesome results in no time.