10 tips for practising the piano when you only have 10 minutes

 

1 Commitment

Keep to a regular daily practice schedule come what may, even if you are tired or don’t feel like practising. It is the commitment and the regularity that matter, not the amount of time you spend. ‘Little and often’ will help you achieve far more than overdoing it one day, and then doing nothing for the next few days. You might find it more convenient to put a little time in at the beginning of the day, and again later – whatever works for you.

 

2 Set Goals

 

These might be short-term goals (what you want to achieve in this practice session, what you want to achieve by the end of the week, and so on). You may want to consider working towards an exam or participate in a music festival this summer. It is helpful to set deadlines to perform for other people (this could be your teacher, a friend) or even a date with a recording device. Listening to yourself is a real eye- and ear-opener and an extremely useful exercise once in a while.

 

"'Little and often’ will help you achieve far more than overdoing it one day and doing nothing for the next few days"

 

 

3 Organisation

 

Divide up what you have to do into compartments, such as scales and technical work, pieces, sight-reading, etc. You may find it helpful to keep a practice diary. A scale chart is also a good idea. Concentration is the key! Scientists have discovered that we learn most efficiently when the full attention of the mind is focused on the task at hand. Free your space of noise, disruption and distraction – switch off your phone!

 

 

 

 

4 Isolate problem areas

 

There are often one or two trouble spots in each piece that need special care and attention, and extra practising. Identify these and mark them in your score. As you master these places, you can erase the markings. If you have ten minutes, start the practice session by working on these bars in isolation. Go back to them at various points, maybe even making a special trip to the piano just to play these passages (TV commercial breaks are good for this!). Another thing – don’t always start your pieces from the beginning. Divide the music into sections and begin each day’s work from a different section. Otherwise, you will always know beginnings of pieces better than endings, and first movements better than last movements.

 

 

5 Craftsmanship

 

Learn to practise methodically and to make progress one step at a time. Think of practising as saving or investing, and performing as spending. There has to be a balance between the two activities. Even a piece you have perfected will need constant care and attention. Use the analogy of a brand-new car from the showroom: when you drive it off the showroom floor, it will be gleaming and shiny, the engine finely tuned and all the tanks full. After a short time, you will need to refill it with petrol, polish its windscreen and have the engine serviced. So it is with our pieces, they require constant tinkering and maintenance. If you develop a sense of craftsmanship, you will relish this work and take enormous pride and satisfaction in it.

 

"If you stick to the same fingering each and every time you practise, you will eventually form muscular habits – reflexes that won’t need any conscious thought"

 

 

6 Fingering

 

Write in a fingering and stick to it. Try out a few possibilities and then choose the fingering that best suits your hand, remembering that the fingerings in printed editions are just suggestions. Keep a pencil by the piano and write the fingerings in your score. If you stick to the same fingering each and every time you practise, you will eventually form muscular habits – reflexes that won’t need any conscious thought. Your fingers will go where they should, automatically! The British concert pianist Margaret Fingerhut, who appears on the cover of Pianist 143, is a firm believer of sticking to one’s fingerings.

 

 

7 The three S's

 

If we had to recommend one formula for success, it would be this one, which we’ve taken from regular Pianist contributor Graham Fitch: ‘Slowly, Separately, Sections’. Practise at a snail’s pace, if not slower, and start off in small sections that you repeat. Repetition will form habits. Graham likes to use one bar plus one note, repeated at least three times. Then start from the next bar (from the note you have just ended on) and repeat that three times. As you get more familiar with the notes, you can increase the length of the sections. Practising with each hand alone is also indispensable, especially the left hand. When you work like this, you need to listen intently and constantly evaluate your results as right or wrong, even or uneven, comfortable or uncomfortable, and so on. Learn to be your own teacher.

 

Watch Graham Fitch's masterclass on Practising Correctly: 

 

 

 

8 Practising v. playing through

 

Remember that ‘practice makes permanent’ – any wrong notes, bad fingerings, and stumbles you make repeatedly will soon become ingrained and will be next to impossible to correct later. Try to resist the temptation to play through your pieces until you have dug firm foundations. Wait until you have done enough of ‘The Three S’s’ and then alternate playing through your piece with returning to slow, careful practising. Have other pieces you play through – pieces you have already learned, or simpler music you can manage quite easily.

 

 

9 A balanced diet

 

Choose pieces from different periods and in different styles, and also consider pieces in more popular idioms. Exploring unfamiliar territory can be very inspiring, and it is good to challenge ourselves and play music outside of our comfort zone. Playing the piano can be an isolated pursuit – teaming up with someone to play duets can be an extremely rewarding activity.

 

 

10 Find a teacher

 

Find a qualified, professional piano teacher to help and support you. Use professional bodies such as EPTA to locate teachers in your area. There are teachers who specialise in teaching children, others who have more experience with adults. If you are an adult beginner, or a re-starter, your teacher will appreciate the courage it takes to come for lessons.

 

 

Watch dozens of videos, including more lessons on how to practise correctly, on the Pianist YouTube channel