Why do we need to practice? The most obvious answer is: to get better.
But it really goes beyond that.
Piano practice gives you the ability to dive into the music and perform it to the best of your ability. Whether your performance is only for yourself, or you have dreams of playing in Carnegie Hall, our desire to get better stems from the ability to perform.
Practice might seem like an easy thing to do. Just sit down at the piano and play. But it’s more complicated than that. With only a few strategies in place, your piano practice will improve, and you’ll enjoy playing and performing even more.
Listen
Playing the piano isn’t just about touching the keys and making a sound. It’s also about hearing what you’re playing. To improve the music that you make, you have to listen to what you do. It’s also important to listen to others that play too.
Are you trying to improve the way you play classical music? Listen to it. Pull it up on your Spotify and listen on your way to work or school. Feel the way a classically trained musician puts it all together. You’ll be surprised at how much listening can improve the way you play.
Focus
There’s so much more to playing music than focusing on the notes. It’s also about the tiny details that change a piece of music from good to great. The more complex music you work with, the more the direction they’ll have written in the music. Are you taking all of those details into account while you play? It might not come easily, but focus in on every detail. Play sections over and over again, paying attention to a different detail each time. Slowly, you’ll see progress in the way you play, and hear it in the final melody.
Beat
Consider the last difficult piece of music you worked on. Certain parts flowed while others were more difficult to carry through. You played to tempo in some areas where others dragged. One of the best ways to overcome that is to set the beat. Use a metronome to create a workable rhythm, and then play the entire piece up to speed. Work on the difficult parts until you can play them well. You’ll see improvement every time you sit down to play.
What tips do you have to make your practice better?
